Video: Behind the scenes of the film "To Kill the Dragon": Why Mark Zakharov rewrote the ending of the play banned in the theater
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
26 years ago, on January 29, 1994, the famous actor, People's Artist of the USSR Yevgeny Leonov passed away. He was given only 67 years old, but during this time he managed to play more than 100 roles in cinema and theater, many of which have become legendary. He often embodied the images of kings and other representatives of power on the screens, being able to make any negative characters ambiguous. This is how his burgomaster became in the film "To Kill the Dragon". This movie tale by Mark Zakharov based on Evgeny Schwartz's play "The Dragon", which had been banned for many years, had a completely different ending, and it sounded not fabulous at all …
Philosophical movie tale by Mark Zakharov was filmed based on one of the most famous fairy tales-parables by Yevgeny Schwartz, which is called the pinnacle of his work - the play "Dragon". He wrote it in 1943, when he left for evacuation from Leningrad to Stalinabad. In this tale, it was easy to see a satire on totalitarian power and everyone who obeys it, and many were surprised that the author was not persecuted for such transparent allusions to the Soviet regime. The secret was simple - the playwright's contemporaries might think that he was describing fascism that wants to take over the world. Under this ideological cover, this play was staged at the Leningrad Comedy Theater during the war years, but after the Moscow premiere, the play was filmed, and the play was banned.
For 18 years this play has not been staged in any of the theaters. The situation changed only during the Khrushchev thaw - in 1962 the first production took place. At the same time, Mark Zakharov staged "Dragon" at the student theater of Moscow State University. However, her life on stage was short-lived. The director recalled: "".
Mark Zakharov managed to return to "Dragon" only a quarter of a century later, during perestroika. He wrote the script together with the playwright, satirist Grigory Gorin. This time, the director decided to create a film adaptation, with the participation of the actors of the Lenin Komsomol Theater, which he directed. The cast was truly stellar: the role of the Dragon went to Oleg Yankovsky, Lancelot (a descendant of the famous Sir Lancelot) was played by Alexander Abdulov, the burgomaster - Yevgeny Leonov, the scientist Friedrichsen - Alexander Zbruev. All of them were approved without trial. Zakharov also attracted actors "from the outside": he invited Vyacheslav Tikhonov to the role of the archivist Charlemagne.
According to critics, this work has become one of the best in the filmography of Oleg Yankovsky. Film critic Kirill Razlogov wrote: "". Yankovsky's dragon was both a cynical villain, and a subtle psychologist, and a real sage, who, unlike Lancelot, understood that the inhabitants of Draconia were simply not ready to exist without strict obedience.
Alexander Abdulov often refused the help of stuntmen and performed many complex stunts in films on his own. So it was this time. The actor had his own ideas about the profession, he never deviated from these principles, and it was pointless to argue with him. Therefore, Zakharov gave him complete freedom of action. In one of the episodes at the very beginning of the film, the tied up Abdulov was lifted by a crane to a height of 45 meters. Since the film was Soviet-German, a German producer was present on the set. Zakharov asked him how much the actor would have received for such a trick. He did not hesitate to answer: "". Abdulov, however, was not entitled to any additional bonuses for this - only daily allowances according to the order.
Initially, it was assumed that the film will have a different title - "Knight Errant." But in the process of work, the director decided to name the main idea of the film - "To Kill the Dragon". In the new era, the main idea of the film - "to kill the dragon in yourself" - sounded in a new way, consonant with the slogan of the second half of the 1980s. "Start perestroika with yourself."
The film was markedly different from the play. Schwartz had a happy, fabulous ending: Lancelot and the archivist's daughter Elsa want to raise a new man who will kill the dragon in himself, and people believe that Lancelot will lead them to happiness. Zakharov's ending is much more pessimistic, gloomy and hopeless: Lancelot leaves people. He meets a defeated but living Dragon. He is surrounded by boys, and he says: "". It is obvious that he is going to raise a generation of slaves again.
Zakharov was recommended several times to change the ending, and he indeed rewrote it several times. But as a result, he left him as his subtle instinct suggested: what is the point of rebellion and killing the dragon, if he continues to live inside each of the people? Evil is replaced by new evil - not at all like in a fairy tale. Nothing changes until everyone kills the dragon within themselves. The final remains open. Lancelot, Dragon and children go into the distance. The rest will have to be thought out by the audience. "Dragon" became the first work, which began the path in theatrical direction of Mark Zakharov, and the film - the last film work of Mark Zakharov. After that, he focused on theatrical performances.
These words still sound ironic and relevant today. The dragon asks: "" He answers: "". Then the Dragon turns to his wife: "" She says: "" The Dragon says: "". In an interview in 2004, Oleg Yankovsky said: "".
This actor could have played dozens more roles, if not for his premature death: What accelerated the departure of Yevgeny Leonov.
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