Mikhail Ptashuk Confession of a film director and crying and tears continued

(Beginning here and here) "Our Armored Train" Fate came to meet me and gave me a wonderful script by Evgeny Grigoriev "Our Armored Train", banned by the USSR State Film Agency and lying on the shelf for many years Zhenya no longer believed that they would put it on, he didn’t even have a copy.

I remember, they collected the pages, sheet to sheet, scene to scene .

- This is my best script! I told Andron Konchalovsky about this when they started filming “Romance of the Lovers,” said Zhenya.

- This is the fate of my country, like "The Sign of Trouble", and "Romance .

" Is An Epic Love Story

I thought that after my death they would put a film on it! I believe in you! I liked the way we worked on the Sign of Trouble Made a good movie! And most importantly - they didn’t let them spoil it! This is the main thing! Here you showed character! I appreciate it! He could hardly contain himself.

- Many wanted to stage in Moscow, and you will bet! In Belarus! Do not let me down! - I'll try .

He Stood In The Kitchen With Tear-filled Eyes

- Shall we have a drink? - Let's! We drank They were silent for a long time.

- Romanov did not want to hear about the script! They read it themselves, passed it on to friends, acquaintances, legends went around Moscow, but they were afraid to put it into production .

I wrote it in two weeks! It was during the years of the thaw, as we now call it.

XX Congress! Khrushchev exposed Stalin The country sighed.

The reforms have begun If we remove this, we will open the forbidden topic of Stalin's camps.

No one has filmed this yet! You will be the first! I was delighted with the script I read it on the Moscow-Minsk train.

I came home, reread it again and lost my peace Something similar happened to me after reading The Sign of Trouble.

"Our armored train" continued the fate of Bykov's heroes It was they who ended up in Stalin's camps and after Stalin's death, after his cult was exposed, they returned home.

I started by looking for people in Minsk who had gone through the camps I needed eyewitnesses to these events, I needed a person who would advise me on all issues of camp life.

I called the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the deputy minister offered me a man who had worked for many years as the head of the Stalinist camp Moreover, he said that Ruslanova, a famous singer throughout the country, was sitting with him.

He gave me the phone, I called and the next day I saw this man I met him at the entrance to Belarusfilm.

He was a charming, kind, as it seemed to me, man I will not name his last name on these pages, I will only say that it was he who revealed to me the whole truth about the camps.

Not for me alone - for the actors who starred with me: Vladimir Gostyukhin, Mikhail Ulyanov, Alexei Petrenko, Alexander Filippenko and Leonid Nevedomsky I recorded all the consultant's stories on tape, I wanted to make a documentary film.

This is a separate story: the bitter and cruel fate of a man who went through the school of Stalin's camps in the role of head of the camp for fifteen years Are you allowed to film it? – was the first question of my consultant.

- Allowed - I will start working with you on one condition .

- What? - You will show me the document that you were allowed to shoot this script! I took out from the folder the conclusion of the Main Script Editorial Board of the USSR Goskino on the script and permission to launch the production of the two-part feature film Our Armored Train He carefully read the document and looked at me just as carefully.

Give Me Two Days To Prepare I Can't Right Away

- Fine Two days later we met in my working room at the Belarusfilm studio.

I prepared the recording equipment, we locked ourselves up, and for three hours Ivan Ivanovich (that was the name of the consultant) talked about his profession, about his work I have kept this recording, just as I have kept the film about the fate of this man.

Many years later, I "deciphered" the tape, rewrote it, and after re-reading it, I was horrified This is the story of not only our film, it is the story of our country, the story of a whole generation of people who went through the horrors of the Stalinist camps.

This is also the story of those who stood on the tower, who, on orders and without orders, killed, who was the executor of the system We can treat these people differently, but these were our Soviet people, after many years they will be called murderers, but what are they guilty of? I asked this question to myself, to the actors, it was the main question, which the hero of Vladimir Gostyukhin suffered.

After many years, he had to answer to his son, already an adult guy And in order to find the answer, my father went to those with whom he worked, and to be honest, he killed.

Many years later, the encrypted notes of this person helped me to realize what I was talking about in the picture A courageous man, he did something that no one else would have dared to do, he told me the truth, which even today not everyone knows.

We were going to talk for three hours, but we sat for several days, and these days became the most important memories of my life Only later, at the premieres in Leningrad, I told people from the stage about this man, and after the release of the picture on the screen, I was inundated with letters from those who stood on the towers and killed.

They wrote about the same things that Ivan Ivanovich was talking about then Fifth memory He suffered for a long time, not knowing how to begin.

- Did you kill? - I? It was my first question, a cruel one, but as a director it seemed to me that it would help Ivan Ivanovich free himself from the burden of memory - Killed, Mikhail Nikolaevich! He confessed, and he felt better.

We were silent for a long time Did you kill on orders? “There was only one order…” He paused again.

– We had to get rid of three or four thousand people every day The number is big! And we were free! - For what? - There weren't enough places.

Every Day, Five Thousand Came Along The Stage

I Did Not Know How To React, How To Behave

I heard this for the first time How did you kill them? - We drove them in columns to the logging site .

Then the guards left, people thought that they could flee .

But where can they escape if there were machine guns around .

And So Every Day, Three Or Four Thousand

- People remained in the snow? - For what? Their right hands were cut off… – Why? - For reporting .

Collected In Bags, Copied Numbers And Reported

- Why? I Didn't Have Any Other Question

- I Said: For Reporting

What if someone ran away, did not get hit by a machine gun .

He still would not have gone anywhere, but there is order for everything! We reported to the Gulag… We reported to Moscow… This is also the order! - And how did you then return to the family, to the children? - My wife worked in the camp .

- And did the children grow up there? And the kids were growing! – It was difficult to understand.

- They Played The Same Games As Adults "played"

- That Is

- What Is "that Is"?

Teenagers like themselves were taken around the camp under escort! It was fun! They go next to the convoy… Those into the woods, and the children into the woods… – Only “they” had their hands cut off… – I’ll tell you this, Mikhail Nikolaevich, they didn’t sit without guilt! Everyone had their own fault! Well, as for the children .

So That's Why They Are Children

- Did it torment you later? - It's work! My duty to the Motherland! I took an oath! - Kill? He didn't like my question - Why is it so, Mikhail Nikolaevich? .

It's not my fault! I told you: I took an oath! There were thousands of camps, and we went there not of our own free will! Filmed from the front and sent to serve in the camps! There weren't enough people! Especially after the war! We couldn't cope with the new parties, so we had to get rid of them! Why do you need to know all this? I understand: you are a director and you want to show the truth! Only I am not sure of one thing: who needs this truth? After so many years to stir up people? Sorry, but I can't take it anymore… We were silent.

– They didn’t keep us for a long time… Once or twice – and they changed us… I changed several camps… Then they transferred us to Belarus… Also a chief… – How many people were there in your camp? – Thirteen thousand… This conversation was difficult for me Have you ever met with those who was sitting with you? - Why didn't you have to? I had to.

Just Recently, In Moscow

I Was Driving Home

At The paveletsky railway station I Met One

- He rushed at you? - For what? Gone are the days when they rushed .

It's in your scenario that they rush, but in life this does not happen .

They Understand What Awaits Them

- Now, what about then? – And now, and then! The psychology of a person who has been there is one! He understands what is behind this, and he does not want to go back! What did you say about the script? - It needs to be improved Lots of inaccuracies.

Did your author sit or did he come up with everything? - Evgeny Alexandrovich Grigoriev - a talented Soviet playwright! The pride of Soviet cinema! His scripts have made some amazing films! – I have seen many wonderful Soviet people in my life It was also written in their questionnaires that they are pride, but .

We must study life, know what are you writing about The truth in life is one thing, and the other is whether this truth should be shown to people! Especially about Stalin.

He looked at me intently What does Stalin have to do with it? - Don't touch him! How old is your author? - More than fifty .

- So, I must remember! And you must respect! I was waiting for a conversation about Stalin “Today everyone attacked Stalin.

Remember: a few more years will pass and the new generation will return to Stalin! Today's liars do not have the authority that Stalin had Joseph Vissarionovich lived for the people, and the people knew about it! Libraries live for themselves! Therefore, do not touch Stalin in the film! It is better to say nothing than to speak badly! - And who set up camps all over the country? Ivan Ivanovich jumped up in surprise at my question.

- You don't know who set it up? - Don't know - Lenin! Lenin set it up! I did not expect such a turn of our conversation.

And he was afraid of what he said - He gave a secret task to Dzerzhinsky to build a camp for one hundred and fifty thousand people! In 1920! In hunger! It was a shock for me.

I did not know these facts – You speak so confidently about it… – I speak because I know… Its first builders were in my camp.

They were all given life sentences And you say - Stalin .

It was not Stalin who imprisoned, but the "Leninists" imprisoned! “This is a consultant,” I thought to myself, “I have never had such a consultant!” - Then, I must tell you: the camps are not the worst thing in our lives! Yes, yes, don't look at me like that People need to be put in order.

Especially the younger generation Blossomed! Completely unraveled! He spoke in the words of one of the heroes of Grigoriev - Pukhov, the chief of staff of the Gulag, he was wonderfully played in the film by Alexei Petrenko.

- Don't touch Stalin! I ask you to! You start the movie with a funeral, that's good! Let the people see how the whole country wept! He took the script from the table and began to read: “On March 9, 1953, Stalin was buried, and our film will begin with a funeral, with chronicle material filmed on that distant March day, when it was sleet, when the whole country was in great mourning Women cried, party veterans cried, heroes of the first five-year plans cried, soldiers who reached Berlin cried, everyone who was on Red Square, who stood in the streets at loudspeakers, listening to the speech of Marshal of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Soviet Union Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria, cried.

“He who is not blind sees what kind of leader our party has lost!” he himself cried, falsely brushing away tears from under his pince-nez - Whoever is not blind sees .

And between the frames of the funeral, we see how, replacing each other, photographs of our hero appear, as if confirming the truth that the death of Stalin absorbed the life of the whole country, the life of an entire generation, born, raised and educated with the ideas of loyalty to the great leader Today we know the tragic ending of the cult, but then, then .

- Whoever Is Not Blind Sees

This refrain in the speech of the great marshal beria will be a refrain throughout the film .

”He put the script aside, was silent for a long time - Wonderfully said! "Who is not blind, he sees! .

" - Ivan Ivanovich Was Impressed By What He Read

- And it is well written: "falsely wipes away tears from under the pince-nez " Although your writer did not sit, he wrote great! - Like? - Very! The people will cry! None of us saw Stalin's funeral, and those who saw it remained in the camps! .

How many people were spoiled, Mikhail Nikolaevich! – Ivan Ivanovich suddenly confessed, – For what? I did not have time to free myself daily, failed to report! Hands counted day and night! The numbers were matched.

They sent to Moscow Then revisions came and counted again.

- Why? I was in a state of shock I didn't want to ask any other questions.

I hated it! I met dozens of people talking about the camps I read their notes and memoirs.

I thought I knew everything, but I was wrong Those stories and memoirs were on behalf of those who found themselves behind barbed wire, like Ivan Denisovich at Solzhenitsyn, and from Ivan Ivanovich I received information about those who stood on the tower, who led the Stalinist camps.

I called Mikhail Alexandrovich Ulyanov in Moscow, who agreed to act in the role of Ivan Savvich, the head of the camp He really liked the role, a warm relationship was established between us, he even offered to stage this script at the Vakhtangov Theater, where he would play a major role.

Volodya Gostyukhin was supposed to play the main role in the film – Can you come to Minsk? - For what? - I've got a surprise for you! Very necessary! - and I told Mikhail Alexandrovich about the consultant.

Do you think it will open? I don't trust these people! - It has already opened, and even more will open to you! The tube was silent for a long time “Good,” Ulyanov said.

- I'm going! Seeing Ulyanov, Ivan Ivanovich jumped up and stood at attention - Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union, I report .

He addressed Ulyanov as Marshal Zhukov, whose role in recent years was played in Soviet cinema by Mikhail Alexandrovich He was in the form of a colonel, his chest was decorated with orders and medals of a veteran of the Great Patriotic War.

- Comrade Marshal Of The Soviet Union!

- Sit Down, Sit Down

Ulyanov, like Marshal Zhukov, patted Ivan Ivanovich on the shoulder, gave him his hand and sat opposite him.

- How do you live? asked after a silence Ivan Ivanovich could not come to his senses.

It still seemed to him that in front of him was not the actor Ulyanov, but Marshal Georgy Zhukov - Tell me .

It was not a request, it was an order “Fifteen years in the camps!” Ivan Ivanovich blurted out.

- How? Ulyanov looked intently at Ivan Ivanovich - Fifteen years, Mikhail Alexandrovich! – his voice trembled.

- I started in the north, in Ukhta, then several camps in Siberia near Krasnoyarsk, the birthplace of the writer Astafiev Finished service in Belarus.

- Also the head of the camp? - Yes sir! Ulyanov looked at me intently - Something I have not heard about the Belarusian camps .

- I was the head of one of the prisons! - Isn't it the same thing? I asked - It all depends on the status .

What Regime The Camp Is

Here you are, Mikhail Alexandrovich, the head of which camp in the movie? - This question is not for me, but for the director! I was just starting to work with this wonderful actor, I didn’t know yet that in addition to Our Armored Train, I would shoot with him Politburo Cooperative, where he would play one of the main roles, but from the first step it became clear to me that Ulyanov, trusting the director, very demanding of him.

With his attitude to work, he spurred the entire film crew He was always modest, delicate in dealing with people.

I never heard from him “I don’t like it”, he always came from the essence of the role, the essence of the scene that needs to be filmed It is a pleasure to work with such a master.

His bar is so high that he forces you to be in such a shape that you can’t help but bring a good result If I had not then called Ulyanov to Minsk to meet with a consultant, the role of the head of the camp would have been poorer.

- From my point of view, - I answered then, - you are the head of such a camp, which is typical for our country of that time There were no such heroes on the Soviet screen! We are opening a new hero with you! Therefore, the USSR State Film Agency gave a state order for this picture.

“That means something is changing…” Ulyanov said It was May 1988.

Perestroika was sweeping across the country “I have had a lot of your brother,” Ivan Ivanovich said to Ulyanov.

Do you know Lydia Ruslanova? - And who does not know her .

This story will be included in the film, although it was not in Grigoriev's script.

- She Was Brought To Me By Stage

I, In Fact, Felt Sorry For Such People

The Communists that beat their chests, that they were Communists, but they themselves were harmful, I did not feel sorry for those, but I felt sorry for your brother .

After All, Ruslanov

Somehow before the October I call to myself, I say: “Lida, sing!” And she told me: “A bird in a cage does not sing! “Who are you talking to, I ask, and she’s talking about the bird again .

Wow, Stubborn Woman!

In front of whom, I say, are you fooling around, who, bitch, you drive by the nose? .

Carried loot from Germany while our people built communism! And not just anywhere, but in the camps!.

We did not sleep at night, we did not see our wives and children for the sake of a brighter future!.

- And who prevented you from sleeping with your wives? Ulyanov smiled.

Ivan Ivanovich lost his head for a moment "And what did you do with her?" I asked.

- I Locked This Bird In A Cage

Then, after the release of the film, I will receive dozens of letters from people who were in the camp with Ruslanova.

They will confirm this fact and will be grateful that they remembered the great Russian singer - A lot of your brother was sitting with me .

Actors, directors, musicians We called them "Philharmonic" .

I even had a theater, performances were given on holidays .

I Felt Sorry For Them

People With Talent

But I did not feel sorry for these throat-huggers with party tickets .

I solved them right away! He was released every day, and not in hundreds - in thousands! .

He suddenly fell silent, looked intently at Ulyanov - Do you judge? I understand… Long silence.

- I told everything honestly, as it was! I'm not ashamed! I didn't come up with anything! This is my life! The life of the whole country! And again a long silence - And my truth is that everyone abandoned me .

Son, Daughter

What is my fault? I swore an oath, I served the Motherland! From the front they drove into the camp, ordered - serve! And I served! I didn’t control myself, but they ordered me! Whatever they wanted, they did! He could hardly contain himself.

- Excuse Me

I Did Not See Ivan Ivanovich Again

Called, invited to the premiere - he refused A year later I called again - the phone was not answered.

In the evening, on the platform by the train, Ulyanov said: - I do not believe that he repented! Such people do not repent! – Do we really need his repentance? We have another task! It was difficult to speak, the platform was filled with people Everyone looks back at Ulyanov, happy to see him.

- Well, what is your task? “He needs to be stirred up from the inside,” I said – We need a smart, strong and dedicated person! “Cadres decide everything,” said Stalin.

So here it is - the best Stalinist frame! Let many people recognize themselves in it! Their truth will turn into drama for them Let there be stress for everyone! Let be! Ulyanov looked at me intently.

“Looks like we can work together,” he said - God forbid! .

It Was My First Day Spent With Ulyanov

He played Ivan Ivanovich fantastic! I am sure that without this meeting this result would not have been possible! Yevgeny Yevtushenko will write in a film review, that Ulyanov after the "Chairman" is the second most powerful role And Mikhail Alexandrovich himself, as it turned out later, would listen on the phone to reproaches from high-ranking people about the uselessness of this role in his biography.

At that time, he was a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU, a member of the Audit Commission of the Central Committee of the CPSU, a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, a laureate of the Lenin Prize and a favorite artist of the entire Soviet people You need to have courage for this! It is one thing when the head of the Stalinist camp is played, and even if he plays well, by an unknown artist Pupkin, and another thing when in this role is a personality, a popularly beloved artist! I learned a lot from him! I was amazed and still amazed by his modesty, fantastic capacity for work, intelligence and respect for his partner.

The actors filming the same scene with him are drifting, their knees are trembling because Ulyanov is standing opposite It's like as a consultant, Ivan Ivanovich stood at attention in front of him.

Or the directors are stuck inside, they do not know what to say to him, what remark can be made about the scene played I always say that artists grow on big roles, and directors grow on great literature and outstanding artists! All my films are inhabited by wonderful actors: Oleg Efremov, Pyotr Velyaminov, Evgeny Lebedev, Leonid Markov, Alexander Abdulov, Nina Ruslanova, Gennady Garbuk, Leonid Nevedomsky, Vladimir Gostyukhin, Viktor Proskurin, Evgeny Gerasimov and, of course, the actors with whom I shot his favorite films: Alexey Petrenko, Mikhail Ulyanov and Alexander Filippenko.

Each of them left something in my soul, each of them has its own memory! Already only one communication with them gives pleasure, because they, as talented people, his own point of view not only on the profession, but also, which is especially important in working on a film, his own, unexpected look at the role and the film as a whole I will not hide that many times I was not ready to communicate with them, but they taught me to prepare for these meetings, to come up with options for solving this or that scene and the film as a whole.

This is a very interesting activity: constantly solving a rebus consisting of options for the scene being filmed You ride the subway, bus, car, do household chores, and options are spinning in your head.

My wife always laughs, saying that the flies are swirling in my head, and it helps me to be in shape, especially during the downtime I am so accustomed to this form of work on myself that I cannot imagine my life without it.

I again filmed around Baranovichi Even in the city park, behind the Horizon Hotel, where I always live, managed to shoot footage of the May Day parade on Red Square.

People walked around with portraits of Stalin Gostyukhin with a boy on his shoulder shouted "Hurrah!" Stalin, who - allegedly - stood on the Mausoleum, and then I edited everything filmed with a chronicle of Stalin, and it turned out very well: Kuznetsov, that was the name of the hero Gostyukhin, carried his son on his shoulder, shouted, like everyone else then shouted: “Long live Stalin!” stretched out his hands to him, as everyone else did in those years, and then the faithful Stalinist would commit suicide, throw himself into the well of the landing from the fifth floor.

Then they started filming in the pavilion According to the script, the hero of Alexei Petrenko, the former chief of personnel of the Gulag, worked at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.

We filmed the passages through the museum in Moscow, but the museum storehouse, where the stage took place, was built by the artist Vladimir Dementiev in the Belarusfilm pavilion Mediocrity is similar to each other in mediocrity, talents - in giftedness.

Everything said above about Mikhail Alexandrovich Ulyanov, I could with a clear conscience attribute to Alexei Vasilyevich Petrenko This is a unique actor and person.

I am grateful to fate that I met this man, made two films with him, starting a new job, I first of all think about how to take this wonderful artist in a new film I am proud of our friendship, I am proud that there is Galusya (Petrenko's wife) in the world, a person who has done so much for me in life.

I can write a book about them, but today I want to remember how our relationship began, how we got into Our Armored Train together .

I Was Shocked By The First Take

I saw different artists, but what Petrenko started to do killed me I didn't know what to say to him, I couldn't articulate my remarks clearly.

Each artist has his own way of working Having discussed the scene with Alexei Vasilievich and agreed that it should be played, I paused between filming, giving Petrenko the opportunity to prepare.

His make-up was corrected, everything seems to be ready in the pavilion, but the artist is not there I saw Alexei at the other end of the pavilion.

He quickly walked between the scenery of another film, waving his arms, and said something to himself I realized that he is an artist who prepares himself for the stage.

I Didn't Interfere Let Be

He approached Galina Petrovna, his wife, and asked: “Is this the manner of Alexei Vasilyevich?” "Don't disturb him, Misha," said Galina Petrovna Later, later, I will call her Galusya.

Let him walk around the pavilion I have known him for a long time, and if everything is ready for you, tell me, I will call.

The guard of the Stalinist camp, played by Vladimir Gostyukhin, comes to his former chief of personnel of the Gulag, Pukhov, with the hope of making sure that everything they did in the camps was just and they were innocent of killing people Pukhov greets him with the words: “Here, look what they did to Pukhov.

They put me in the basement of Pushkin in gratitude for my work - Did they refuse your pension? Gostyukhin asks.

– Pension? Bone! And I'm not a dog! I can work at any job, and you won’t humiliate me! I will always remain fluffy! - Have you worked with children? “Two years as head of the camp Gone.

Children are scoundrels, although they are pioneers, counselors are loafers and prostitutes, they think only about debauchery And now they've thrown it here, into this spider's nest.

The old people are still afraid - after all, we brought them up, and the youth are toadstools! And they are graduating from our Soviet universities! Nothing is sacred, what they think is what they say! I wrote, wrote to the Central Committee, but our apparatus is not the same, the apparatus is clogged Bribe-takers, bureaucrats! Nobody wants to do anything! Full neglect! Petrenko began the scene powerfully: a tall and large Pukhov walked with dignity between the sculptures of the Pushkin storeroom and, seeing his former colleague performed by Vladimir Gostyukhin, suddenly changed, went into a rage and began the scene with an insult to everyone for his humiliated condition.

At the end of the take, he suddenly turned pale, Galya rushed to him in fright, we laid Alexei on the sofa, sent the assistant director for pills He lay - mighty, like Chaliapin in the famous photograph - and none of us, mediocrity, could help the great Russian artist.

They brought pills, Alexei ate them, lay down for a while, then got up and again, with a sense of dignity, went between the sculptures of Pushkin's storeroom In this take, when he saw Kuznetsov, he was delighted to meet a loved one, began to cry with joy, talk about their terrible life in Pushkin's basement.

It was a completely different version of the scene Yura Elkhov took it off, we sat down at the monitor and looked.

Alexei Vasilyevich said: — Do you need another option? What will the director say? This is how our first job started - The director will say that it is wrong to start with tears.

- Why? - We must begin with the joy of meeting Only when Gostyukhin asks about Pukhov's pension, thereby touching the most painful thing in him, does he give him the opportunity to open up, and having opened up, shed a tear.

We all know how Hitler cried, and Pukhov will start crying only when his pride is hurt “He speaks correctly,” Galya will say behind my back.

This is how our relationship began - I understand! Over time, we will understand each other perfectly, and then, in our first picture, we were looking at each other, or rather, they were looking at me.

I knew that there was one friend in their house - Nikita Mikhalkov, and then I appeared Arriving in Moscow, I will take the train to Balashikha to their country house, Galya will feed me amazing Ukrainian borscht, which Alexey eats in the morning, afternoon and evening.

We will talk about cinema, General Lebed, who also became their great friend, then we will make a documentary about the wonderful Russian writer Viktor Astafiev We will call each other, we will have plans for the future, and we will live in these hopes.

He again walked among the sculptures of Pushkin's storeroom, with black sleeves on his jacket, in riding breeches and chrome boots It was as if he was walking through a line of prisoners standing in front of him.

Seeing Kuznetsov-Gostyukhin, he froze in surprise, and tears of joy flowed down his face Then he rushed to him, as to a savior, and began to talk about his humiliating position among this cattle, surrounding him in the Pushkin basement - blood boiled in him, old camp leaven.

Pukhov began to transform and vilify everything in the world He gradually came to life and became the Pukhov that he was before.

It was the third decision, and it entered the picture Then I realized that Petrenko was an actor of the third double.

Our work is the work of a large team The film crew is an average of forty to fifty people, and you enter into a strange relationship with them.

You influence them, but you yourself are influenced by them However, you keep your own task in mind, and in the end it doesn’t turn out quite what you wanted, because the cameraman looks at the world around you, at the scene being filmed through your eyes, the actor performs what you defined, but in his own way.

Then you look at the material and see that it is no longer yours Your idea is fertilized by others.

However, I rarely regret that what was previously written undergoes some changes Because I love this free process of the work itself, the very communication with the actors.

In my many years at the studio, I rarely changed crew Almost all my films had the same director - Alexei Mikhailovich Krukovsky.

A smart, businesslike, devoted to cinema person I can't say that he was devoted specifically to me, but the fact that his life at the film studio was connected with me is a fact.

Every time he started a new film, he would say to me: “Why are you asking for trouble again? - What trouble? - Again, the film will be under control, and these are the nerves of the entire film crew! Again they will arrange views, follow the material! Why do you need it? Everyone lives somehow differently, they work quietly, everyone has good relations with their superiors Why do you need all this? - I can not do anything! You see what a good script.

Do you like it? - So what, what a good one! Because of him, we will not live! Always grumbled, but still worked And it worked great! - Lesh! You and I filmed "I'll Take Your Pain", filmed "The Sign of Trouble", and now we are working with such wonderful actors.

They have never worked at our studio and will never work .