Behind the scenes "Ballads of a Soldier": Why the film was banned from showing in big cities

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

18 years ago, on October 29, 2001, the famous Soviet film director, People's Artist of the USSR Grigory Chukhrai passed away. One of his most famous works, which received recognition both in the USSR and abroad, was "The Ballad of a Soldier", which was released 60 years ago. She was nominated for an Oscar and was recognized as one of the best films about the war. But before gaining world recognition, the film was criticized at home, and the front-line director was accused of historical inaccuracies and even slander of the Soviet army …

It was not by chance that Grigory Chukhrai chose this topic - he himself was a front-line soldier, fought in different parts of the airborne troops, participated in battles on the Southern, Stalingrad, Don fronts. In December 1945, he was transferred to the reserve with the rank of Guard Senior Lieutenant. Since then, he has not abandoned the idea of making a film about the war. Chukhrai said: "".

There were no battle scenes in this film - in the center of the plot was a young soldier Alexei Skvortsov, who was on his way home, but managed to hug his mother only once, because he spent all the time on the road helping people he met on the way. Another front-line soldier, Valentin Yezhov, worked on the script together with Chukhrai. "", - explained Chukhrai.

Lilia Aleshnikova and Oleg Strizhenov were supposed to star in the main roles, but on the third day of filming, the director was hit by a car and lay in a cast for 4 months. During this time, he came to the conclusion that he was mistaken with the choice of actors - they were simply older than their characters, and in such images they would look unreliable. Grigory Chukhrai took a chance by choosing young inexperienced actors for the main roles. The role of the soldier Alyosha Skvortsov became the debut for the student of VGIK Vladimir Ivashov. This film not only became a successful start to his film career, but also brought the actor worldwide popularity. The American press wrote: "". This film became fateful for Vladimir Ivashov, and he even named his first son, who was born in a marriage with Svetlana Svetlichnaya, in honor of his hero Alyosha.

The main female role went to Zhanna Prokhorenko, a freshman of the Moscow Art Theater School. For the sake of filming in the film, she even had to leave the university, because the teachers did not welcome the participation of students in film expeditions. Later, Chukhrai helped her finish her studies at VGIK. Zhanna played the role of Shura, a girl whom Alyosha Skvortsov helps to hide in the carriage and get to the station she needs. This girl will remain his first and only love.

Before the film was released, Grigory Chukhrai heard many accusations against him - in the insignificance of the topic, in the absence of heroic scenes, in pessimism and even an attempt to tarnish the authority and glory of the Soviet army - after all, the hero admitted that he knocked out two enemy tanks from fright (this the director took the episode from his life). The ending of the picture, where the main character died, also aroused criticism - they say, why did you need to kill the positive hero? The director was reproached for historical inaccuracies - for example, that vacation at the beginning of the war was almost impossible, and that the military wear shoulder straps, which were introduced only in 1943. Chukhrai went for this deliberately - he hoped that the "Ballad of a Soldier" would be seen in countries that Soviet soldiers were already liberating in uniform, and that there these heroes will be recognizable.

The head of the Main Directorate for the production of films, Alexander Fedorov, told the director: "". The commission that accepted the film concluded that it did not fit into the framework of war cinema. As a result, "The Ballad of a Soldier" was released with restrictions at the box office - it was banned from showing in big cities and in the capitals of the republics. And only after the film was seen and approved by Khrushchev, it was presented at international film festivals.

Viewers were able to appreciate the film at its true worth - in the year of its release, it was watched by 30 million people. This film was very popular both in the USSR and abroad. In 1960, The Ballad of a Soldier was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, where she shared with The Lady with the Dog a special jury prize “For High Humanism and Excellent Artistic Quality”. In addition to this award and an Oscar nomination, The Ballad of the Soldier received the Director's Award at the San Francisco Festival, the David Donatello Prize for Best Foreign Film in Italy, and the main prize at the London Festival. In total, the film has earned about 100 awards.

English director Tony Richardson said: "". Pier Paolo Pasolini noted: "". This film made a big impression on Liza Minnelli. Her friend Rock Brynner said: "".

The life of the actor who played the main role in the film was not easy: The dramatic fate of Vladimir Ivashov.