Video: Behind the scenes "The Adventures of Petrov and Vasechkin": Why the film was not released on screens, and the director was advised to change his profession
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
On the films “The Adventures of Petrov and Vasechkin. Ordinary and incredible "and" Vacations of Petrov and Vasechkin. Ordinary and Incredible”more than one generation of viewers has grown up. The young actors who played the main roles became the idols of Soviet schoolchildren in the 1980s. But at first, both films were banned from showing because of satire on socialist society and debauchery, and the chairman of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company told the director that he had shot a very bad movie, and it would be better for him to think about changing his profession …
The first stories about Petrov and Vasechkin were invented by director Vladimir Alenikov for the Yeralash TV magazine, and when about fifty funny stories had accumulated, he decided to shoot a full-length movie about these heroes. To some extent, the director copied Vasechkin from himself - he was also kicked out of the class more than once for various pranks, and he borrowed his surname from his friend for him. And the prototype of Petrov was the childhood friend of the director Petya Brandt, who later became a famous St. Petersburg poet. During his school years, Alenikov was a ringleader, and his friend "took the philosophical position of Sancho Panza under Don Quixote."
Actors for the main roles were looked for in schools, circles, Palaces of Pioneers. But, having gone through about 5 thousand candidates, the director still could not decide. And then his friend from the institute, choreographer Vlad Druzhinin, invited him to invite his son Yegor to audition. From the very first meeting, Alenikov realized that before him was a spitting image of Vasechkin, agile, mischievous, spontaneous, businesslike and "with devils in his eyes." Yegor not only was not at all lost at the auditions, but immediately suggested his friend, Dima Barkov, for the role of Petrov. And he also surprised the director with one hundred percent getting into the character!
Dmitry Barkov later recalled: "".
Alenikov was very glad that on-screen friends were like that in life - they practically did not need to play in front of the cameras. The director even allowed the boys to independently choose an actress for the role of Masha Startseva - it was important for him that they felt sympathy for her in real life. And both unanimously "voted" for Inga Ilm. Alenikov had no doubt: he picked up the perfect trinity, and soon they will become the favorites of all schoolchildren. But it was not there!
Director Vladimir Alenikov shot both films at the Odessa Film Studio by order of the USSR State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. The footage had to be submitted for approval to the Moscow television association Ekran, whose director was Boris Hessin. The fate of the film depended on his assessment. When Alenikov brought his works there, he received a categorical answer: "".
The music for the films was written by the young composer Tatiana Ostrovskaya, and her compositions really sounded modern and very different from the well-known pioneer songs, although the influence of the West there was actually quite difficult to discern. The films even saw satire on socialist society and even … erotica! (In the scene where girls in swimsuits are swimming on inflatable mattresses in the pool). As a result, both films were sent “on the shelf”.
Many artists spoke up in defense of the director: Sergei Mikhalkov argued that there was no anti-Sovietism in the lyrics of the songs, Natalya Sats and Anatoly Aleksin also tried to help the director. Even the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences and the Institute of Art Education of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR confirmed that these films can be useful to the younger generation, with whom it is necessary to speak in a modern language that is understandable to them. Alenikov himself wrote letters to the Department of Culture of the Central Committee. However, for a long time, all efforts were in vain.
Trying to defend his films, Alenikov reminded the chairman of the State TV and Radio Sergei Lapin that his films received the main prize at the film festival in Spain and other international awards. In response to this, he heard: "". At the same time, the director was never explained why his films were so bad. As it turned out later, Lapin did not even watch them!
The director decided by all means to win the right of his films to be released, even if he had to apply to the highest authorities. Desperate, he turned to Andropov's own daughter, who worked for the Musical Life magazine. She promised him to find time to watch his films. Alenikov immediately ordered a viewing room at the studio "for the Andropov family." And despite the fact that on the appointed day Andropov's daughter did not find the time to come, this was enough for the ban to be finally lifted from the films and even assigned them the first category!
Not all the stars of this film later linked their lives with the acting profession: Who are the idols of Soviet schoolchildren from "The Adventures of Petrov and Vasechkin".
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