Non-Soviet relations: Why the film "School Waltz" provoked a scandal

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

When in the late 1970s. director Pavel Lyubimov started shooting the film "School Waltz", almost the entire film crew doubted that the film would be released. The topic was very "slippery" - the love story of tenth graders was not chaste, moreover, the film had such plot moves that it was difficult to imagine in Soviet cinema before! What most angered critics and viewers of mature age, and why "School Waltz" received scandalous fame - further in the review.

The scriptwriter for "School Waltz" was playwright Anna Rodionova, who brought it to the Film Studio. Gorky, together with another of his work, on which the film "Carnival" was later filmed with Irina Muravyova in the title role. And “School Waltz” was offered to be filmed by director Pavel Lyubimov, and his frank love story did not frighten the tenth-graders, but interested them. Later he said: "".

The topic was indeed rather slippery and daring for Soviet cinema in the 1970s. Schoolgirl Zosia got pregnant from a classmate, and when he learned that he would become a father, he left the girl and married another of his classmates, Dina. The main character could hardly be called an example for Soviet youth, and the story of the intimate relationship of adolescents and the pregnancy of a schoolgirl looked scandalous. The director said: "". Nevertheless, Lyubimov began filming, despite the fact that no one believed in the success of this venture.

Actresses for the main roles were approved without samples. The director had long wanted to work with Evgenia Simonova, she was auditioning for his film "My Boyfriend", but then he chose another actress. And when, years later, Lyubimov saw her at the Saratov Film Festival, he realized that she was perfect for the role of Dina. True, at that time Simonova was already 22 years old, in her creative baggage there was a star role in "Athos" and "Only" old men "go to battle, she was married to actor Alexander Kaidanovsky and raised her daughter Zoya. However, the director had no doubt that Simonova would be able to transform into a 16-year-old girl on the set.

After the director saw the young actress Elena Tsyplakova in the film "The Woodpecker Doesn't Have a Headache," he approved her for the role of Zosia, also without samples. But with the performer of the main male role Lyubimov could not decide much longer - he said that he "understood more in female characters." As a result, Sergei Nasibov was approved, who, together with Tsyplakova, studied in the first year of GITIS. True, unlike a classmate who already had experience in filming a movie, Nasibov was absolutely inexperienced. He, like her, was 19 years old, but before that he had not filmed, did not know how to stay in front of the camera, and on the set he felt very constrained. Tsyplakova even had to teach him to kiss in the frame.

The GITIS management was against the students acting in films, and the young actors had to make a difficult choice. True, they were unanimous in it: for the sake of filming in this film, Tsyplakova and Nasibov took the documents from the university, and later director Tatyana Lioznova took them both for a second year in her workshop at VGIK.

On the screens, Tsyplakova and Nasibov looked like a real couple of lovers, and the audience was sure that they had an affair outside the set. But in fact, during the filming, the young actor developed feelings for another actress - Lev Durov's daughter Katya, who played a nurse in this film. After finishing work on the film, they got married, however, this marriage soon broke up.

Of course, Lyubimov assumed that his film would be heavily censored. All the filmed parts of the film were taken to the film management for viewing, but the main changes were made when "School Waltz" was already being prepared for screening. The Goskino did not approve the ending of the film - it seemed to the officials too gloomy, not giving up hope: Zosia and Gosha parted forever. The last remark of the hero was demanded to be re-voiced, and at a meeting of graduates he asked Zosia if he could see his son. "".

Nevertheless, the chairman of the State Committee for Cinematography said that he would not release the film on screens. Lyubimov had to turn to the Central Committee of the party with a request to watch The School Waltz, and only after that it was released. True, at first with a small number of copies. The picture was banned for a year, and its premiere turned into a loud scandal.

Despite the fact that School Waltz was very popular with viewers, the director often heard reproaches addressed to him, especially from teachers and representatives of the older generation - they accused the heroes of immorality and that they set a bad example for Soviet youth … In 1978, when "School Waltz" was shown at the All-Russian Congress of Teachers, the teachers were indignant: how could such a scandalous story, defaming the honor of the Soviet school, be released? And their more far-sighted colleagues analyzed this film in the lessons of ethics and psychology. Later, the film was shown in all cities of Russia with constant sold-out - it was watched by almost 20 million viewers.

However, the filmmakers and actors of the film learned about the true value of "School Waltz" for the audience only years later. So, Elena Tsyplakova, who did not have a chance to know the happiness of motherhood, admitted that thanks to this film she had a whole generation of godchildren. Young women sent her letters of gratitude, which included the following lines: "".

Unfortunately, the School Waltz star was soon forced to interrupt her film career: Because of what Elena Tsyplakova disappeared from the screens for a long time.