Behind the scenes of the film "Five Evenings": What adventure did Nikita Mikhalkov and Lyudmila Gurchenko decide on?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

February 20 marks 101 years since the birth of the famous playwright, poet and screenwriter Alexander Volodin. Based on his plays, performances and films were staged that were very popular with the audience: "They're ringing, open the door," "Don't part with your loved ones," "Autumn Marathon," and others. But the playwright categorically objected to the adaptation of his play "Five Evenings" - to him, she seemed weak and outdated. But the director Nikita Mikhalkov insisted on his own, although for this both he and the actors Lyudmila Gurchenko and Stanislav Lyubshin had to take a risk …

In the summer of 1978 Nikita Mikhalkov was busy working on the first part of the film "A few days in the life of I. I. Oblomov." When the summer nature was filmed, filming had to be postponed until winter. In this case, the film crew would have to be disbanded, and there were no guarantees that in a few months it would be able to reassemble in the same composition. To prevent this from happening, and no downtime arose, the operator Pavel Lebeshev came up with a bold idea: to use this pause in order to shoot another film. Oleg Tabakov supported this idea and suggested taking the finished play as a basis so that it would take less time to create the script. "Five Evenings" by Alexander Volodin seemed an ideal option: there are few characters, there are no extras, there is no location filming either - the action takes place in three apartments, and even in a restaurant and at the post office.

The idea of making a film in 25 days seemed completely unrealizable - then no one made a movie in such a short time. When Mosfilm learned about Mikhalkov's intention to shoot another film between the two episodes of Oblomov, at first they did not even want to talk to the director about this. The fate of the film was unexpectedly decided by the system of state planning that existed at that time: one of the film studios did not cope with the planned filming, the annual plan was in jeopardy, and Mikhalkov's idea, which seemed at first absurd, now looked salutary. They even promised to give him the green light in everything and were allowed to approve all the actors without samples. The only thing left was to get the playwright's consent to film adaptation of his work.

Alexander Volodin wrote the play "Five Evenings" back in 1959. He himself did not appreciate it highly and, reading it at the Bolshoi Drama Theater, was constantly interrupted and said: "". Nevertheless, a performance based on this play was staged, and although it was a success among the audience, the opinions of critics were divided: someone congratulated the playwright on his success, and someone accused him of pessimism, distortion of reality, "narrow everyday life", "petty topics" and "An unhealthy interest in little people and unsettled destinies."

When Volodin learned about Mikhalkov's intention to make a film after Five Evenings, this idea did not inspire him: he believed that the director was too young to adequately recreate the atmosphere of the post-war period, and the plot of the play itself seemed to him hopelessly outdated for the end of 1970. years, because everything that was unexpected and new at the beginning of the "thaw" has long been the norm. "". Mikhalkov convinced Volodin to first come to the set, watch the process of working on "Oblomov", and at the same time discuss the prospects for future filming. The creative process captivated Volodin so much that he succumbed to persuasion. All changes in the script were coordinated with him, but he never allowed to interfere in the work and agreed with both the interpretation of the plot and the choice of actors for the main roles.

Lyudmila Gurchenko at that time was already over 40, and she had already begun to lose faith in the fact that the directors could keep their word - since her triumph in Carnival Night, many promised her the main roles, but no one offered anything worthwhile. Nikita Mikhalkov has long announced his intention to work with Gurchenko, he saw her in the lead role in his film "An Unfinished Piece for a Mechanical Piano", but then on other shootings Gurchenko broke her leg and did not wait for her recovery, replacing her with another actress. However, Mikhalkov kept his promise and approved her for the main role in "Five Evenings" without samples.

For the actress, the decision to star in the film, which lasted only 25 days, was not just a gamble - the shooting lasted from morning to late evening, and it was physically difficult for a woman to maintain such a rhythm. But Gurchenko endlessly trusted Mikhalkov as a director and was ready to endure any difficulties.

Mikhalkov offered the main male role to Stanislav Lyubshin - he had already played in Five Evenings, this was his debut performance on the stage of Sovremennik, although then he played a different role. The actor was faced with a difficult task - in the play, the author made it clear that the main character did not return after the front, not because he betrayed his love for Tamara, but because he spent this time in Stalin's camps. This was not said directly, the film had no political overtones - only a love story. Lyubshin said: "".

The result of his work amazed even the author of the play. Volodin admitted: "". For this role, the actor received a prize at the International Film Festival in France and was recognized as the best actor in 1979 according to the results of a survey of readers of the magazine "Soviet Screen".

Rehearsals for "Five Evenings" began during the filming of the first part of "Oblomov". During the day they filmed, and in the evening they rehearsed roles from the new film. However, the shooting of "Five Evenings" had not yet begun officially, and the actors had to be given a daily allowance. To do this, Mikhalkov started another adventure: he summoned them, allegedly under the pretext of filming in "Oblomov", and they actually starred in several episodes - however, of all they left only one with the participation of Gurchenko. Mikhalkov really met the planned deadline - the shooting lasted only one day more than the stated, 26 days.

Abroad, "Five Evenings" was highly appreciated. The only thing that foreigners could not understand was what a “communal apartment” was. And they interpreted what they saw in different ways: someone decided that in the USSR there is such a tradition - all relatives live together, someone perceived the film as absurd - ghosts walk around the apartment of the main character, perhaps these are images of her past sins. In fact, there were no hidden meanings in this, only the realities of the Soviet post-war life.

During the premiere of the film, playwright Alexander Volodin admitted that the plot of the play was based on a real story that he himself experienced. He had exactly the same meeting with an old love that turned his life upside down. Therefore, he knows for sure: no matter how long the evening is, you must never forget that the next morning will definitely begin at dawn!

The roles of the nephew of the main character and his bride were performed on the recommendation of Oleg Tabakov by his students - 18-year-old Igor Nefedov and 19-year-old Larisa Kuznetsova. Unfortunately, the fate of the actor was tragic: The fading star of Igor Nefedov.