Film director Grigory Chukhrai and screenwriter Valentin Yezhov went through the war, so they immediately found a common language. The former front-line soldiers wrote the script together - they divided big scenes into episodes, wrote what they liked, and then gave it to each other text for editing.
Work has begun. Well-known Soviet actors were approved for the main roles, but on the third day of shooting, Chukhrai was hit by a car and taken to the hospital with a broken leg and collarbone. The fractures were severe and the healing took several months. During this time, Chukhrai decided to replace actors with unknown young students for the main roles. Upon leaving the hospital, the director began to look for new candidates.
The searching for debutants was so difficult that later Chukhrai admitted that he wanted to quit everything altogether and do something else. Colleagues have already begun to complain about the director - which disrupted the launch of production. In the end, he approved Vladimir Ivashov, a student from VGIK, for the main male role. Then it was up to the partner...
The first-year student of the Moscow Art Theater School-Studio Zhanna Prokhorenko failed the audition for an episode in another film and decided to go try to be an extra in Chukhrai picture. The director noticed her and approved her for the role of Shura.
There were some historical inaccuracies in the film, but Chukhrai deliberately went for them. At the beginning of the war, soldiers were not given vacations, but without this there would be no film... Soldiers did not wear shoulder straps at that time, but the director thought that the film would be shown abroad, where everyone knows the uniform of a Russian soldier. He wanted everyone to see this young man as a collective image of those who went through the war and brought victory to the world. So, despite the fact that the events take place in 1942, Alyosha is dressed in the uniform of the end of the war.
The director was catastrophically unlucky - after leaving the hospital, he almost immediately fell ill with typhoid fever. Then the film studio began to doubt the script - they began to consider it petty, pessimistic, not heroic, and even undermining the authority of the Soviet army. Later, they wanted to change the ending... In a word, they tried to make such a movie about the war, which Chukhrai really did not want. He just shot a film about one person from a whole generation that was decimated by the war.
At first, "The Ballad of a Soldier" appeared in a limited box office, but the success of the audience forced a revision of the rental category, and the film went everywhere. The success was stunning: more than 30 million people watched the picture in the USSR, and there was also a worldwide distribution! The Ballad of a Soldier became the absolute champion of awards among Soviet films - the drama and its creators received more than 100 international awards, including two special jury prizes at the Cannes Film Festival.
In the USA, Japan and Greece, "The Ballad of a Soldier" was recognized as the best film in 1960-1961, photos of actors and posters were printed in the Western press, director Paolo Pasolini and actress Liza Minelli were among the fans of the drama. The film's international fame brought it an Oscar nomination for the Best Original Screenplay.
On September 16 the online premiere of the film will take place on our channel. Viewing the picture will be available from 7:00 PM (Moscow time).
Do not miss! We are waiting for your feedback and comments!
Mosfilm
"Ballad of a soldier", drama
Some facts about the picture:
Film director Grigory Chukhrai and screenwriter Valentin Yezhov went through the war, so they immediately found a common language. The former front-line soldiers wrote the script together - they divided big scenes into episodes, wrote what they liked, and then gave it to each other text for editing.
Work has begun. Well-known Soviet actors were approved for the main roles, but on the third day of shooting, Chukhrai was hit by a car and taken to the hospital with a broken leg and collarbone. The fractures were severe and the healing took several months. During this time, Chukhrai decided to replace actors with unknown young students for the main roles. Upon leaving the hospital, the director began to look for new candidates.
The searching for debutants was so difficult that later Chukhrai admitted that he wanted to quit everything altogether and do something else. Colleagues have already begun to complain about the director - which disrupted the launch of production. In the end, he approved Vladimir Ivashov, a student from VGIK, for the main male role. Then it was up to the partner...
The first-year student of the Moscow Art Theater School-Studio Zhanna Prokhorenko failed the audition for an episode in another film and decided to go try to be an extra in Chukhrai picture. The director noticed her and approved her for the role of Shura.
There were some historical inaccuracies in the film, but Chukhrai deliberately went for them. At the beginning of the war, soldiers were not given vacations, but without this there would be no film... Soldiers did not wear shoulder straps at that time, but the director thought that the film would be shown abroad, where everyone knows the uniform of a Russian soldier. He wanted everyone to see this young man as a collective image of those who went through the war and brought victory to the world. So, despite the fact that the events take place in 1942, Alyosha is dressed in the uniform of the end of the war.
The director was catastrophically unlucky - after leaving the hospital, he almost immediately fell ill with typhoid fever. Then the film studio began to doubt the script - they began to consider it petty, pessimistic, not heroic, and even undermining the authority of the Soviet army. Later, they wanted to change the ending... In a word, they tried to make such a movie about the war, which Chukhrai really did not want. He just shot a film about one person from a whole generation that was decimated by the war.
At first, "The Ballad of a Soldier" appeared in a limited box office, but the success of the audience forced a revision of the rental category, and the film went everywhere. The success was stunning: more than 30 million people watched the picture in the USSR, and there was also a worldwide distribution! The Ballad of a Soldier became the absolute champion of awards among Soviet films - the drama and its creators received more than 100 international awards, including two special jury prizes at the Cannes Film Festival.
In the USA, Japan and Greece, "The Ballad of a Soldier" was recognized as the best film in 1960-1961, photos of actors and posters were printed in the Western press, director Paolo Pasolini and actress Liza Minelli were among the fans of the drama. The film's international fame brought it an Oscar nomination for the Best Original Screenplay.
On September 16 the online premiere of the film will take place on our channel.
Viewing the picture will be available from 7:00 PM (Moscow time).
Do not miss! We are waiting for your feedback and comments!
2 years ago | [YT] | 371