The film "Caucasian Captive" (1966), the actors and roles of which are the subject of this review, became a cult film and rightfully entered the gold fund of Soviet cinema. The film is rightly considered to be popular: its phrases, images and jokes are widely used among the Soviet population and are popular in our time.
Story story
After the resounding success of L. Gaidai’s comedy about the student Shurik, literally the next year, a new script came to the Moscow film studio, continuing the amazing adventures of this already beloved character.
The "Caucasian Captive", a story whose actors deserve a separate review, has received such fame that a remake has now been made. However, the original version of the plot was significantly different from what the audience later saw. The scriptwriters proposed a development option where the main characters Nina and Sasha expose the cult three in the snowy mountains, where these charming fraudsters pretend the existence of a snowman. This plot was subsequently completely changed, so that as a result of the original story only heroes and mountains remained, not only snowy, but Caucasian.
Actors Choice
Interesting is the story of how the actors and roles were distributed. The creators of the film "Prisoner of the Caucasus" primarily relied on their favorite three: Coward, Dunce and Experienced (performed by Yu. Nikulin, G. Vitsin, E. Morgunova). In addition, the student Shurik (A. Demyanenko) was to become the main character, because the picture was originally intended as a continuation of his adventures, only now in the Caucasus.
The performer of the main female role was chosen for a long time. The director of the film L. Gaidai was looking for a new face for the screen, so his team looked at a huge number of photos sent from different parts of the country. N. Varley literally opened the future creator of a no less remarkable picture about the three musketeers G. Jungwald-Khilkevich. Once on a circus tour, he noticed a beautiful and nimble tightrope walker and advised Gaidai to look at her samples. The director took the young actress to the role, and it was decided that she would perform all the tricks in the film.
However, since N. Varley was not a professional film actress at that time, the voice acting of her heroine was entrusted to the famous Soviet comedic film actress N. Rumyantseva. The actors and the roles of the film “Prisoner of the Caucasus” fit perfectly into the idea of the director, who, in addition, strongly encouraged the creative activity of his performers, resulting in many wonderful episodes in the film that the audience loved so much, and almost all the phrases became winged.
Supporting characters
Another find of the film was V. Etush, who played the role of Nina's groom. It was thanks to this work that he became famous, and also gained all-Union popularity and love. Another famous actor F. Mkrtchyan played the uncle of the main character. We can say that the director got to the point with the choice of these artists. Occasional, but very memorable roles went to M. Gluzsky and G. Millar. Of course, these outstanding comedians have become a worthy decoration of the film.
The plot of the movie
The painting "The Caucasian Captive" (1966), the actors and whose roles have become cult and have not lost their significance to this day, is distinguished by a rather straightforward, albeit very funny plot. The main character Shurik arrives in the Caucasus with a harmless purpose: to collect works of local folklore. However, because of his innocence and amazing credulity, he immediately finds himself in a real mess, which eventually turned into a fascinating adventure.
Shurik becomes a participant in the abduction of Nina, which takes place under the guise of a traditional wedding rally, and only then finds out that the girl was thus decided to forcibly marry. Indignant at the insolence of the groom and his accomplices, he embarks on her search. In this difficult matter, his new friend Edik helps him. Resourceful young people manage to deceive the vigilant guards, the famous troika, and save the captive, who, by the way, shows considerable ingenuity, ingenuity and courage, which, it would seem, was difficult to expect from this fragile girl.
Minor Script Lines
The film "Prisoner of the Caucasus" (1966), whose actors and roles became the main highlight of the film, was remembered not so much by an adventurous and adventure plot as by a mass of funny and funny episodes, which provided the film with such huge popularity. A lot of mise-en-scenes, dialogues, and replicas of the famous three became cult: fragments with their participation have long been the subject of parodies, performances on shows, and so on. The famous scene of the trip of the three to the city in a magnificent red car, the game of Dunce in dominoes, dancing lessons of the Experienced have independent significance, although they do not directly relate to the main line of the composition.
The "Caucasian Captive", the actors and roles (1966) of which immediately brought this picture to the first viewing position, is known for its many remarkable numbers and stage settings. The song and dance of Nikulin to the eastern composition, the chase of the three for the fugitives in cars are still very popular. Separate mention deserves the scene with Shurik in a psychiatric hospital, as well as his escape. The same can be said about the magnificent duet of Etush – Mkrtchyan: their dialogues, conversations were probably quoted by the entire Soviet population.
Musical arrangement
The film "Prisoner of the Caucasus" (1966), whose actors and roles have long gained national significance, was also remembered for the wonderful music written by A. Zatsepin. The song about polar bears and the Sultan, as well as the themes of the chase, three, the main character are very light and beautiful in sound. They have long firmly and thoroughly entered the repertoire of pop performances: these compositions are still performed by leading Russian artists. "Caucasian captive", the actors and roles (1966) of which brought this tape all-Union fame, fell in love with many precisely because of the excellent performance of these melodies.
And now it’s hard to believe that during the filming the leadership of the Soviet cinema objected to these songs being included in the picture. Poems about polar bears then seemed to the censors inappropriate, and the song about the Sultan was a hooligan, even somewhat indecent. Nevertheless, the compositions got into the tape and in many respects ensured the popularity of this comedy.