In 2004, the multi-part film “The Moscow Saga” was shown on the First Central Channel of Russia (ORT). The creators called it not a series, but a movie novel, shot based on the work of the same name by Vasily Aksenov.
The cinema group, led by chief director Dmitry Barshchevsky and producer Anton Barshchevsky, showed perhaps the most tragic period in the Land of Soviets, from the New Economic Policy (1925) to 1953 - the death of Stalin.
The article will focus on the plot and actors of the Moscow Saga - one of the best film works to date. The novel is divided into three cycles: “Generation of Winter”, “World War II and Prison” and “Prison and Peace”. The chronology of events is preserved in the movie novel.
The main characters of the novel
It is felt that initially the project was carefully and scrupulously thought out. Each frame, interior and even small details were selected with taste and knowledge of the matter. Actors of the Moscow Saga are mostly famous and beloved artists. What is it worth only Inna Churikova and Yuri Solomin, performing a couple of Gradovs! But many aspiring actors have shown their abilities. Surprised aspiring actress Ekaterina Nikitina in the role of Veronica Gradova. It is interesting that for this role she was awarded the Professional of Russia award, and the charming Olga Budina in the role of Nina Gradova captivated her spontaneity and talent.
Other actors of the Moscow Saga, the film novel of the beginning of the twenty-first century, also successfully joined their roles. The well-known young actor Alexander Baluev was invited to the role of the eldest son of the Gradovs, Nikita , and the actor of the Moscow drama theater “ApArte” Alexei Zuev, the youngest son of the Gradovs, Cyril, was invited.
Marina Yakovleva brilliantly played Agasha, and Marianna Schulz conquered everyone with her cheerfulness as the principled Marxist Cecilia Rosenblum. It should be noted that Cecilia is much more attractive in the movie novel than in the book. The Taganka Theater actor Alexander Rezalin showed all the drama of the passionate Nugzar Lomadze. Andrei Ilyin, who played Savva Kitaigorodsky, the future husband of Nina and the chief assistant to the surgeon Boris Gradov, is currently one of the most sought-after actors.
Other actors in the movie The Moscow Saga
Unexpectedly for everyone, they invited Alexei Kortnev, the musician known to all of us as the lead singer of The Accident, to the role of Vadim Vujnovich. In addition to Kortnev, the film starred another singer, the notorious Kristina Orbakaite. Kristina Orbakaite’s acting talent showed up even when she played the main role in the film "Scarecrow", so she played the role of singer Vera Gorda very accurately. Andrey Smirnov, as always, worthily embodied the role of a friend of the Gradov family Leonid Pulkov.
Consider the remaining actors of the Moscow Saga. Sergey Bezrukov (the role of Vasily Stalin), Victoria Tolstoganova, Ilya Noskov (Boris Gradov IV), Alexey Makarov, Anna Snatkina, Lyudmila Pogorelova, Vladimir Dolinsky, Regimantas Adamaitis, Tatyana Samoilova, Mark Rudinshtein and many other wonderful actors were involved in small roles, agreed to star in the film based on the cult novel Aksenov.
Historical figures
In the film, the shooting took place not only at the film studio, but also in the places built for this. An old house in Sosnovy Bor was recreated specifically to show the Gradov cottages. There are many historical characters in the picture and in the book - these are Stalin, Beria, Frunze, Blucher, Tukhachevsky, and Nikita Gradova (actor Alexander Baluev) is identified with the Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky.
The fate of the hero of Aksenov really resembles the life of the famous marshal, who had to go through the camps, exile and be rehabilitated by Joseph Stalin.
Plot of the film
In the center of the film is the Gradov family, consisting of the head of the family - Boris Nikitich Gradov - his wife Mary Vakhtangovna Gradova, nee Gudiashvili, their children: Nikita, Kirill and Nina, as well as their wives, husbands, grandchildren and other relatives as family members and friends.
The Gradov family lives in a family house built in Sosnovy Bor. For all of them, the house represents a living being, absorbing the laughter and tears of its inhabitants into its walls. This is stated by Mary Vakhtangovna during the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the house, and the audience throughout all episodes will have to rejoice and be sad together with the heroes of the Moscow Saga series. Actors recalled that throughout the series, and the film was shot for more than two years, they grew up, almost like their heroes. According to the plot, they had to endure, together with the heroes, the horrors of war, prisons, camps. Almost everyone had to sit in the camps, but not to lose themselves, not to become hardened, and not to become traitors.
Conclusion
Vasily Aksyonov once said in an interview that his saga resembles the Forsyte Saga, but only the heroes of Galsworthy met each other at a tea party (five-o-clock), and ours at a confrontation.
The picture was taken measuredly, without fuss, it seems that more than thirty years have indeed passed. War and Stalinist repression killed many people, and not just physically. Just like Nikita and Veronika, Aksyonov's parents stopped living with each other after the war. Watching a movie means not only enjoying the plot, acting and acting. The Moscow Saga opens many eyes to those distant years, so the film was an event in Russian cinema.