The film "Romance of Lovers", whose actors became huge stars just the day after the release, was shot back in the 74th. Then critics mercilessly scolded him, but he was appreciated by the audience absolutely sincerely and with great sympathy. The theme of love raised in this picture is still relevant. To this day, disputes about whether the main character was right when she married another person have not ceased. But about everything gradually.
Story line. From love to loss
The painting “Romance of Lovers”, whose actors played very soulfully, shows a simple, but at the same time dramatic story about the love of two young people separated by chance. As it turned out later, it happened forever.
And at first - they literally did not cherish souls in each other. Every day, their hearts flew to one another. The world around them was filled with bright colors and solar warmth.
But all this ended when Sergei Nikitin (played by Evgeny Kindinov) came the time to join the army. He goes to the Far East to serve as a marine.
Tanya (actress Elena Koreneva) remains to wait for him. She writes to him and receives the letters with which she now lives, recalling their meetings. Sergei, for his part, suffers all the hardships of service only thanks to thoughts about his Tanya, waiting for their meeting.
But once in the exercises, a situation occurs that no one expected. A strong wind, a coastal small town whose inhabitants were in danger, is flooded. According to the order of the command, the marines rush to help the victims. After some time, the situation returned to normal, people were evacuated, but the armored personnel carrier, on which Sergey was, was taken to the open sea. After the storm subsided, they found an armored personnel carrier that was lying under the water column at the bottom.
Waiting and unexpected return
Relatives of Sergei (mother and brothers - they were played by Elizabeth Solodova, Vladimir Konkin and Alexander Samoilov) received a message that their son and brother died during the rescue operation.
Tanya grieves for a long time, hardly surviving this news. But still, life takes its toll, and she marries her childhood friend - hockey player Igor (actor Alexander Zbruev).
But soon after the wedding, it turns out that Sergei is alive. Then only two survived them - he and his comrade ensign Solovyov (actor Roman Gromadsky). They had to endure months of life in the snowy desert, where hunters once accidentally discovered them in the wake.
When Sergey returns home, he realizes that his Tanya is now the wife of another man.
The film "Romance of Lovers", whose actors played a real life tragedy, showed a truly difficult situation that occurred after the main character returned. How will Sergey and Tanya cope with the rushing memories of them? Will Tanya regret her marriage? How will Sergey survive such involuntary betrayal? Each viewer can ask himself all the questions himself and try to find the answer to them.
Kindinov: from Volgin to Sergey Nikitin
In the seventies, rumors that Andrei Konchalovsky was starting work on something extraordinary spread almost instantly. Everyone was convinced that the film "Romance of Lovers" in 1974 - it would be something like "Romeo and Juliet", but in modern conditions and in the Soviet way. Konchalovsky for a long time was looking for leading actors.
In the role of Sergey, he wanted to shoot Peter Aleinikov, Michael York or Albert Finney. It is clear that they were not available. And then Vladimir Konkin caught the eye of the director, who seemed ideal for the color part of the picture, but completely unsuitable as a mature person, wise with grief from the second part.
It just so happened that the young actor was approved for the role of the brother of the hero. And the main male role was played by Evgeny Kindinov. Yes, he was not an ideal romantic handsome man with a profile like in Rublev or Raphael paintings. In addition, he was initially tried on the role of hockey player Volgin. But in the end, he played Sergei.
Cinema "chemistry"
Screenwriter Yevgeny Grigoriev was horrified by this choice. But he could be understood. At that time, Kindinov was 28, and he looked older. It was very difficult to believe that he would be able to play an eighteen-year-old guy who would be drafted into the army in a couple of days. This situation was like a reflection of the situation with Konkin. But the main question that the screenwriter asked himself was whether Kindinov would have “chemistry” on the screen with his film partner Elena Koreneva?
Until now, critics and viewers cannot come to a consensus on this matter. Some are sure that the movie lovers turned out to be quite an interesting contrast. Others are convinced that from the young impulses of Koreneva and the adult, Kindinov’s serious look, the combination was not very successful.
Smoktunovsky: an actor who knew how to play everything
The film “Romance of Lovers” is now impossible to imagine without the magnificent Innocent Smoktunovsky, who played the trumpeter, exalted beyond measure. The actor appeared on the set completely by accident. After all, initially Nikolai Olyalin was approved for this role. The director liked everything about him - his face, cheekbones, every movement. When the actor went into the frame, holding a guitar in his hands, it turned out very beautifully. But only he opened his mouth and spoke in white verse, the picture crumbled into small pieces.
In complete despair, the director turned to Smoktunovsky for help. And he really was the very one of the few actors who could play everything. Thus, in the picture together with an intelligent handsome man, an incomprehensible type appeared, a kind of crazy city man, similar to a dude. As it turned out later, the replacement of the actors was a huge success for the film.
Sing for the main character
It is impossible to imagine now that there was no song in the film "Romance of Lovers". At least one. After all, it was supposed to be based on what is happening on the screen. This was helped by a man who never once appeared on the screen, but who largely determined the intonation of the film. So, "Romance of lovers." Alexander Gradsky, who became the composer of the film, eventually not only wrote music, but also sang all the songs for Kindinov. It just so happened, because the actor did not fall into the notes, and a move was invented with his expressive, literally “talking” back. His character sings, and the audience sees the actor’s back. Gradsky sang, who later recalled how difficult it was for him to fall into the facial expressions of Kindinov, who could not sing at all.
At the very beginning of filming, everything should not have turned into a kind of rock opera. But time has shown that music easily won its place under the sun, that is, within the framework of the picture.
From a slap to a normal relationship
So the film "Romance of Lovers" appeared. Actors played their roles with dignity. But we must stop at another famous actress. Mother Tanya in this story played Iya Savvina. She had a rather complex character, with which not all the people around her could put up.
It just so happened that on the set of Koreneva and Konchalovsky, an affair began. Yes, this could not lead to anything, especially since the age difference between them was significant (16 years), and the director recently had a baby. But then everything just flared up.
Someone even joked then, watching all the ups and downs, that Andrei, based on his own moods, composes a real romance about lovers. The actors whispered on the sidelines, but no one said anything out loud. Except Savvina. It was from her lips that the young actress sounded very rude words. It was she who, pronouncing them, pretended not to notice Koreneva, who had entered the room.
And once she gave vent to her emotions on the set. In the scene where Tanya’s mother whipped her on the cheek, Savvina did it seriously, brandishing with all her might. It may seem strange, but the girl was not offended at all, thinking that since the actress had expressed her irritation openly, now this attitude will be replaced by sympathy. Koreneva was right: time passed and the relationship really returned to normal.
Value in Contrast
So, the film "Romance of Lovers." Actors were able to realize the idea of ​​a screenwriter and director even better than originally intended.
And it turned out because of the contrast of the story. In the army, the main character shows himself as a hero, saving other people. After he had spent several months in the deep snow, he returned home and received the order. And all this time he lived with the confidence that he would return to Tanya, they would create a family.
But it turns out that his Tanya is already the wife of another person. She was somehow used to the sad thought that her fiancé was dead. Over time, she marries a childhood friend. Now she is not the same as two or three years ago.
For Andrei Konchalovsky, the most valuable thing in this picture was the contrast between the first part, full of Sergey’s glee, and the second, in which, after separation from his beloved girl, he experiences an emotional death and suddenly finds himself in the black and white, snowy world of a strange sleeping area. It is there that he finds his wife - a good, but a little rude girl. She, too, like Tanya, will talk about love, but now she will become crooked, as if in pain.
In this relationship there will be no songs, no poems. A joint viewing with the children of the cartoon "Well, wait a minute!" like walking barefoot on the coals - after all, with Tanya they fooled around when they played Wolf and the Hare.
Sergey was madly in love and lost his love overnight. But he continued to live, because precisely such difficult situations are one of the elements of growing up.
From black and white to color ...
Andrei Konchalovsky asked Evgeny Grigoryev, the author of the play, which was used to shoot this picture, “Romance of Lovers,” to finish writing the entire black and white part. Together, they suffered for a long time, trying to understand how this story should end.
One option was the meeting of Sergey with Luda (wife) and their children with Tanya, her husband and their baby in a stroller. This happened by accident, and now together they walked along the street, talking about life. "How are you?" - "Fine".
Now everything has passed, all the passions have cooled. Life with the main characters rolls on as usual, they were able to come to terms with the current situation. And yet, the routine of such an end seems scary and absolutely hopeless. And Konchalovsky struggled to find some kind of purification for the end of the story.
Evgeny Grigoryev also came up with the idea that in the last frames of the film the hero sees his daughter, celebrates her birthday. And it is precisely these shots that, again, as in the beginning, are light and colored.