âDear Elena Sergeevnaâ is a film by Eldar Ryazanov, which stands out from the rest of his work. First of all, the fact that the picture is a heart-rending drama, and not solved in the genre of lyrical comedy familiar to the master, is . What is this tape about and why did Ryazanov turn to a similar tragic story?
Lyudmila Razumovskaya: âDear Elena Sergeevnaâ
Razumovskaya is a famous Leningrad playwright. It was she who wrote the work, based on which later Ryazanovâs painting âDear Elena Sergeevnaâ was later shot. The play of Razumovskaya was successful not only in the USSR, but was also staged in hundreds of theaters in Germany.
It all began in 1978, when Lyudmila was educated at the higher script courses of GITIS. Then the beginning playwright received a large order from the Ministry of Culture: it was required to create a play about the problems of raising difficult children. However, officials did not like the work written by Razumovskaya and its summary. âDear Elena Sergeevnaâ was rejected by the government, but the directors of the best theaters in the world warmly welcomed the play. He became interested in the history of the poor teacher and cinema.
Film crew
Eldar Ryazanov drew attention to the play of Razumovskaya immediately after its creation, but due to a change in government, the director was refused a film adaptation. In the late 80s, publicity and the relaxation of censorship were announced. Therefore, already in 1987, the director began filming a long-planned film.
At first, it was planned to find performers for the roles of schoolchildren among real students of educational institutions. But this task was not easy, so I had to take the main roles of elementary school students at the Shchukin school. To cope with the production process, Ryazanov was helped by Valery Akhadov, an actor, director and screenwriter in combination.
The shooting took place in Moscow. In October, the actors had to swim in the lake and pretend that they were unbearably hot. Conflicts arose more than once between the young performers and the master: Ryazanov believed that the young "Schukiners" were irresponsible in their profession.
Summary: âDear Elena Sergeevnaâ
The picture was released in 1988. And she simply shocked the audience with the truth of life: cruelty and rampant adolescents. What is its summary?
"Dear Elena Sergeevna" - a film about the lost youth of the 80s. Four teenagers are declared in the apartment to their school teacher on the pretext that they want to congratulate her on her birthday. But in fact, young people passed the exams badly and this is fraught with failure for them when passing entrance examinations to the university. Therefore, they are solved by blackmail, threats and all available means to entice the key from the safe from Elena Sergeevna where the examination papers are to correct errors in them.
Elena Sergeyevna, for an hour and a half of screen time, tries to bring stunned teenagers to their senses, but they only become more cruel, lower down in their attempts to get what they need. In the final of the picture, both sides are left with nothing: the teacher is not able to change the worldview of her students, and adolescents - to correct their grades.
main character
Marina Neyolova agreed to immediately star in the film, having learned its summary. "Dear Elena Sergeevna" - this is the only project in which the actress had a chance to collaborate with Eldar Ryazanov.
As a child, Neyolova studied ballet, then entered the Leningrad State Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography. The actress began to be shot in films even during her training: Marina Mstislavovna had not only talent, but also a pretty attractive appearance.
The young artist made her debut immediately in the title role: Nadezhda Kosheverova entrusted her with the central heroine in her project âOld, Old Taleâ. Oleg Nyolovaâs partners on the set were Oleg Dal, Vladimir Etush, and George Vitsin. Then there were the main roles in the films âColor of White Snowâ, âWe are waiting for you, guyâ and âMonologueâ.
But it was the film "Dear Elena Sergeevna" that brought the artist all-Union popularity. For a realistic transformation into a modest lonely teacher, Neyolova had to get rid of a luxurious shock of blond hair, tie an inconspicuous bundle on her head and change her stylish dress to old-fashioned polka-dot clothes. Unfortunately, the efforts of the artist were not awarded with any award.
Natalya Schukina as Lyalya
"Dear Elena Sergeevna" - a film from which the career of this artist practically began.
Natalia Schukina was born in Barnaul and since childhood attended a theater school. At the age of 15, the girl was invited to play the role of Olga in Ruben Muradyanâs film âPhotography for memoryâ. The picture was released by the Sverdlovsk film studio. The girl became famous, and after three years she was offered a role in the picture of Stanislav Govorukhin "Splash of champagne."
At the time of filming the film "Dear Elena Sergeevna" Natalia was 17 years old, as well as her heroine Lala. In the story, along with her classmates, the girl comes to her teacherâs house to threaten her to give the key to the safe. However, in Lala, conscience wakes up earlier than in her friends. She promises the teacher to take the children out of her apartment, but it turns out that the leader of their gang has other plans: to play the scene of Lyalya's rape in front of Elena Sergeyevna in order to force her to lay out the key on the table. The teacher, being unable to endure all the ugliness already, gives them what she wants. However, classmates quarrel among themselves and leave with nothing. The key remains on the bedside table in the apartment.
Andrey Tikhomirnov as Volodya
The guy had to play a school graduate at 21. But thanks to his feeble constitution, the artist did a good job of this task.
Tikhomirov first appeared on the screens in 1987. Director Valery Kurykin shot the picture "Blackmailer" in which Tikhomirnov got the role of a complex teenager. Celebrities such as Mikhail Efremov, Leonid Kuravlev and Sergey Garmash played in this film. Andrei looked good in the frame, so Ryazanov took him to his project "Dear Elena Sergeevna."
The analysis of the storyline allows us to say with confidence that the hero of Tikhomirnov is almost the only member of the four who absolutely did not repent of anything. Volodya is not only the instigator of all the unrest in the teacherâs house: unlike his classmates, he does it consciously, guided by a cold calculation. Volodya alone can truly conduct a dialogue with a teacher who is trying to reason with the children - Pashka, Lyalya and Vityok most often do not find what to object to Elena Sergeevna's arguments. But Volodya always knows what to say, he firmly voices his life philosophy and does not shun the most dirty methods of achieving his goals.
Dmitry Maryanov as Pasha
Nowadays, the actor is quite recognizable. Dmitry was only 19 years old when the painting âDear Elena Sergeevnaâ appeared in his filmography.
The characterization of the characters of the film, at first glance, looks unambiguous: spoiled and spoiled children. But in reality, each hero has his own barrier, below which he cannot fall. For example, for the hero Andrei Tikhomirnov there are no forbidden tricks and dishonest means at all. Lala surrenders on the second day of the siege of Elena Sergeyevnaâs apartment, realizing that she and her friends have gone too far. And Pashka performed by Maryanov normally refers to the organized pogrom in the teacherâs house. But when it comes to raping a girlfriend as a joke, he states that there is not a single reason that will force him to go to such baseness. And yet, Pavel is not able to prevent this unpleasant scene: Volodya locks him on the roof and returns to the teacherâs apartment alone to continue to blackmail her.
Reviews about the picture
A classic of Soviet cinema is Eldar Ryazanovâs film, âDear Elena Sergeevna.â Reviews for the picture for many years now continue to come mostly positive. People revisit Ryazanovâs tape over and over again, sympathize with the main characters, because the problem of difficult youth has not been solved in our days. Such films are a way to show presumptuous teens what their rash behavior leads to and how it looks from the outside.