Unknown facts about 10 cult films by Georgy Danelia: What the audience does not know

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

On April 4, 2019, the cult Soviet and Russian director Georgy Nikolaevich Danelia died. He was 88 years old. Several generations of viewers have grown up on his films, and the good heroes of his paintings are the most unforgettable and beloved heroes of Russian cinema. This review contains funny, and sometimes a little sad, facts about the cult films of the great master, which the Soviet viewers did not even know about, who repeatedly watched these films.

1. Kin-dza-dza: What the American director wanted to get the Soviet military

Director Georgy Danelia said that after the release of "Kin-dza-dza!" he was approached by an American director with a proposal to make special effects, since he liked the flight of the pepelats. Danelia replied that there were no special effects here, and the gravicappu was given to him by the Ministry of Defense. After some time, the military called Danelia and said not to play the fool, because the American in all seriousness asked them for a gravity app.

When the film "Kin-dza-dza!" Was filmed, Chernenko became the general secretary of the USSR. Since his initials were KU, Danelia decided to play it safe and remove the often used universal word "Ku" from the script. The options "Ka", "Ko", "Ky" and others were put forward, but while the film crew was choosing, Chernenko died, and in the end everything remained the same.

2. Who is Rene Hobois, whose name is indicated in the credits of almost all Danelia's films

In almost all of George Danelia's films, actor Rene Hobua is listed in the credits, although he never starred in them.

Georgy Danelia and Rezo Gabriadze met the builder Rene Khobua in the late 1960s, when they lived in a hotel in Tbilisi and together they wrote the script for the film "Don't Cry!" For several days in a row, they told him different versions of the script in order to find out "the opinion of the common spectator", until Rene asked to be released. It turned out that he had come on a business trip from Zugdidi and had to "get" building materials, but instead had to listen to the script. In gratitude, his name was placed in the credits.

3. "Afonya": How to enlarge breasts to be admired by the whole USSR

In the film "Afonya", many viewers remember the episode when the main character "frames" a busty girl at a dance. Then the actress Tatyana Rasputina, in order to enlarge her breasts, decided to put semolina in her bra. The chest "played" so much in a transparent blouse that later critics sincerely admired this artistic find.

4. "I walk around Moscow": Swindle Mikhalkov

Some time after the start of filming, Nikita Mikhalkov approached Georgy Danelia and asked him to raise the fee from 8 rubles to 25. Since this had to be coordinated with the State Film Agency, Danelia went for a trick and told Nikita that another actor was being taken in his place. Nikita burst into tears, asked for forgiveness and said that Andron Konchalovsky taught him this. This film became the first leading role of 18-year-old Nikita.

5. "Autumn marathon" and the national question

Norbert Kuchinke from "Autumn Marathon" Danelia was a foreign correspondent for "Der Spiegel" magazine from Germany. After Georgy Danelia took him to the role of the German professor Hansen, disagreements arose at the level of the Central Committee of the CPSU. If the professor is German, then it would be necessary to clarify whether he is from the Federal Republic of Germany or from the GDR. But in any case, it would have been impossible to sell the film either in West German or East German distribution. Therefore, the nationality of Professor Hansen was changed to Danish.

READ ALSO: Behind the scenes of "Autumn Marathon": Why Danelia thought he had made a "male horror film"

By the way, the heroine of "Autumn Marathon" Natalya Gundareva plays the aging wife of the protagonist, with whom they have an adult, already married daughter. Meanwhile, at the time of the release of the film, Gundareva was only 31 years old, and she is a year younger than Marina Neyolova, who plays the role of a young mistress.

6. "Passport": the French against the Georgian Kikabidze

Danelia wanted to invite Vakhtang Kikabidze to the main role in the film "Passport". However, sponsors from France insisted that it be a French actor. By the way, the document called "passport" in the film is a Soviet exit visa of the second kind.

7. "Gentlemen of Fortune": Who was supposed to star in the film and did not star

The history of the creation of the painting "Gentlemen of Fortune" is as follows. At first, it was planned to make a film about a gang of swindlers who would be played: Rolan Bykov, the counterfeiter of Millimeter, Yuri Nikulin, a polygamist, Andrei Mironov, the hijacker of Dude, and Savely Kramarov, the pickpocket of the Oblique. Everyone, except for Kramarov, refused the roles, and the script was rewritten, and the actor himself was first rejected by the artistic council, and the director had to convince his superiors to approve him for the role of Oblique.

Rudolf Rudin, Viktor Sergachev and Lev Durov auditioned for the role of Khmyr, but as a result Georgy Vitsin was approved by the artistic council with the postscript "we need to work on the make-up."

They were looking for "Vasily Alibabaevich" for the longest time - the approved Frunzik Mkrtchyan could not come to the shooting. Radner Muratov was supposed to play the episodic head of the prison, he was re-approved just before the start of filming.

8. "Afonya" and "Time Machine"

In the film "Afonya", the film debut of the "Time Machine" group took place. The song for the film was purchased according to all laws, and a few months later Makarevich received money, about 500 rubles, a large sum for those times. With this money, the group bought a "Grundig" tape recorder at a thrift store, on which the musicians recorded more than one hit.

9. "Mimino": Carved Japanese twins

In one of the cut scenes of the movie "Mimino", when Mimino and Rubik enter the hotel elevator, there are two Japanese people, similar to each other, like twins. Seeing the people entering, the Japanese speak to each other in Japanese (with Russian subtitles): "How all these Russians are alike"

10. "Don't Cry": Family Ties on the Set

In the painting "Don't Cry!" Georgy Danelia filmed his cousin Sofiko Chiaureli. I must say that this is the only film in which the director shot a relative, an actress, for which his sister was a little, but offended by him. In between filming, according to Danelia himself, Sofiko annoyed him by gnawing seeds. He asked not to do this in front of him, swore, insisted. In the end, he somehow sat down with his sister, took a handful and began to gnaw the seeds himself. Since then, they gnawed the seeds together.