The problem raised in the film is not new. It would seem a classic love triangle, but thanks to the talent of screenwriter Alexander Volodin and director Georgy Nikolayevich Danelia, the banal theme acquired many shades and turned into a sad and instructive, but still comedy. This is the story of ordinary people with whom the viewer meets in everyday life, and its talented presentation by the filmmakers made it possible for many to look at themselves and their problems from the side with humor. Therefore, the picture received such success and is still popular.
Dodger or confused person
The main character of the story is Buzykin, who was talentedly played by Oleg Valerianovich Basilashvili. The character is a middle-aged man. A talented translator and university teacher, he could already have a good career if he could stand up for his interests. In the personal life of the protagonist, everything is not going smoothly either. Torn between his wife and mistress, Buzykin cannot make a choice. After all, he loves each in his own way, and is not able to take a serious step, because he is pathologically incapable of making responsible decisions.
And so Buzykin is spinning, humiliating the lies of both women. Everything becomes complicated when the wife (Natalya Gundareva), having learned about the betrayal, began to think about a divorce, and the lover Alla (Marina Neyolova), tired of his endless promises and excuses, finally demands to make up her mind. But how can this be done by a person who does not know how to say no. Soft and weak-willed in nature, he tries to please everyone and constantly gets into funny situations.
Running in a circle
Buzykina frankly uses a mediocre colleague. Danish professor Hansen, neglecting guest etiquette, imposes his morning jogging exercise on the hero, and the drinking neighbor Kharitonov (Evgeny Leonov) draws him into a series of ridiculous and ridiculous troubles that lead to complications at work. The confused situation becomes simply unbearable when Buzykin’s daughter, without asking the advice of her parents, goes with her husband on a long trip to one of the Novosibirsk islands. This circumstance was the last straw in the stream of failures of the protagonist.
Alla, without waiting for decisive action on his part, broke with Buzykin, the wife no longer trusts him and even perceives the truth as another lie. At work, he has a complete blockage. In a word, because of his weak character, the hero loses on all fronts. At the age of 46, life makes Buzykin finally grow up and learn to make responsible decisions. When the hero finally despairs, the wife of Nina returns. Despite the betrayal, she still loves Buzykin and is ready to try to start all over again. But in the process of reconciliation, a phone rings - Alla, upon reflection, decides to give her beloved another chance. Buzykina life, it seems, did not teach anything, and he again lies. Talking on the phone with his mistress with familiar passphrases, Buzykin hides his guilty gaze from his wife. And both women understand that nothing will change.
The story of the comedy
It is interesting that initially the film "Autumn Marathon" (1979) George Danelia was not going to shoot himself. As the artistic director of the association of comedy and music films, he gave the script to Volodin to young directors - Kushneryov and Kharchenko. Actor Alexander Kalyagin, who, according to the scriptwriter, was ideally suited for the role of Buzykin, did not want to work with beginner creators. Then Danelia offered a job to the more experienced Arsenov, but for some reason she was not interested in the director. When Volodin practically abandoned the idea of creating a film according to his script, Danelia agreed to personally take up work on comedy.
He slightly changed the script and the original name of the film “Woeful Life of a Dodger”, since he believed that the character’s character and his story are much more complicated than ordinary cheating. Due to the age of the hero, comparable to the autumn time and his endless running around the circle of life circumstances, the name “Autumn Marathon” appeared. Actors who performed the main roles were also selected by the director based on his vision of history. Therefore, the candidacy of Alexander Kalyagin, originally proposed by the scriptwriter, Danelia rejected. The director began a difficult search for an actor who would maximally correspond to the created image and could convey the character of the hero.
Autumn Marathon: actors
As Danelia later recalled, he couldn’t pick up the lead actor. Many famous actors of the USSR tried to portray Buzykin. But the director was missing something every time. Seeing the despair of a colleague, his assistant Yelena Sudakova offered to make tests with Basilashvili. Indeed, for many other characters of the film "Autumn Marathon" the actors have already been selected. And the main thing could not be found. Danelia did not agree, he agreed on the role of the actor in Ryazanov’s films and believed that such a proud and self-confident character does not fit the role of Buzykin. Then the assistant resorted to tricks and called Basilashvili herself. Seeing the actor at Mosfilm, Danelia was extremely surprised, but agreed to conduct tests later. Basilashvili Oleg Valerianovich had some other business in Moscow, and Grigory Nikolayevich kindly agreed to give him a lift in his car. Having landed the actor on Pokrovsky Gates Square, Danelia looked in the rear-view mirror and saw how uncertainly he was crossing the street. A step forward - two backward, as if it could not decide whether to move or not.
So, the director found an image that he had been looking for for a long time. He approved Basilashvili for the role without trial. Later it turned out: Sudakova, knowing that Danelia would certainly look in the rearview mirror, persuaded the artist to portray an uncertain character from the movie “Autumn Marathon”. Actors playing other important roles were not so painfully selected. For example, the director immediately saw Natalya Gundareva as the wife of the protagonist. Marina Neyolova, a young actress, was noticed by Georgy Nikolaevich, who immediately discerned the talent of a characteristic actress in her and was going to shoot in one of his films. Therefore, when the opportunity presented itself, the suitable role of Alla was immediately proposed by Neelova. Yevgeny Leonov’s candidacy was also immediately approved. True, it was initially assumed that he would fulfill the role of Alla’s neighbor. But later the actor decided to give a more significant role, which is why the film, of course, only won.
Heritage
More than a dozen years have passed since the release of the comedy. Of course, a lot has changed. The country in which the heroes of the film disappeared has disappeared, many wonderful actors are no longer alive. But the universal human problems raised in the picture are still relevant. And the work of the masters delights, so the film continues to enjoy great audience love.