The revolution of 1917, the First World War and the Civil War is devoted to many works and films. They shot such paintings in the 20th century, and continue now. Many people know the trilogy "Walking through the agony", the actors and roles of which are known to fans of Soviet cinema. Director Vasily Ordynsky in 1977 shot a 13-episode television movie of the same name. The October Revolution then turned 60 years old. Since then, many viewers have been able to enjoy the movie "Torment". Actors and roles in it were given special attention. Indeed, such talented masters as Irina Alferova, Alexander Lazarev, Yuri Solomin, Mikhail Kazakov could play in it.
And so in 2017, they decided to read the novel in a new way and shoot the eponymous series dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution and show it on NTV channel. The director was Konstantin Khudyakov, and the script was written by Elena Paradise. We suggest you compare these two creations of Soviet and Russian production.
A bit about the author of the trilogy
The largest artist of the word, an outstanding Soviet writer was A.N. Tolstoy. His best creations are imbued with realistic veracity, the breadth of the manifestation of life phenomena, the large scale of historical thinking. His trilogy "Walking through the agony" received deserved recognition. The writer worked on it for 20 years. It includes three books. The first is called “Sisters,” the second is “The Eighteenth Year,” the third is “Gloomy Morning.” For the creation of this trilogy, Alexei Tolstoy was awarded the Stalin Prize, which amounted to 100,000 rubles (15 million rubles today). The first film adaptation of the work took place in 1957.
What is the novel and the film about?
The first chapters of the epic and the first series of the film (1977 release) reflect St. Petersburg early 1914. The city lives in anticipation of a terrible and fatal day. In the center of the plot are sisters Katya and Dasha Bulavins, who were born in Samara. Katya is married in St. Petersburg, Dasha comes to her. Both of them are fond of the decadent poet Bessonov. Katya is cheating on him with her husband, the couple are leaving. Sisters and other heroes have to go through many torments in search of happiness and the meaning of life.
Viewers observe in the picture the fate of the Russian intelligentsia in the pre-revolutionary period, during and after 1917. In the future, one of the sisters is destined to fall in love with a white officer, and the other - with a Red Army soldier. Members of the same family have ideological differences. How will this end?
Film problems
Not just a reduction in the presentation of Tolstoy’s work was Ordynsky’s film and the modern series “Walking through the agony”. Actors and roles display stories based on this powerful work. Why is the work called "Walking through the agony"? This is the walk of heroes in search of hope, delight through suffering, fall, despondency, ups. A whole era is felt in the film, the problems of which rhyme with our time. The eternal problem is the choice that faces the heroes. Which way to choose, which satellite, which ideology? Spectators watch the long life searches of two sisters and other heroes at a turning point in history.
Happy ending
Time passed, and the sisters found their chosen ones. For Dasha, he became the engineer of the Baltic Plant Telegin, for Katya - the White Guard officer Roshchin. In the whirlwinds of the World War, the October Revolution, the Civil War, the main characters scatter to different parts of the country. Over time, they meet again and part again. Roshchin eventually becomes a White Guard volunteer, and Telegin - a member of the workers 'and peasants' army. When the Civil War ended, all the heroes met in Moscow. The film ends with a happy ending: all the heroes survived, they like the socialist system. In the end, all four fall into the Bolshoi Theater, where they listen to Krzhizhanovsky’s report on plans for the development of the national economy and the electrification of the whole country.
Comparison of female roles of the 1977 film and the 2017 series
Let’s characterize the main female characters of the two films "Walking in agony". Actors and roles in the 6th series and subsequent masterfully conveyed the state of the characters during the 1917 revolution. It is worth starting with the romantic Daria Bulanova, who fell in love with the engineer of the Baltic Plant Ivan Telegin. In the 1977 film, this role was played by the wonderful actress Irina Alferova. This was her first real role when Irina was still in the last year of GITIS. Alferova had a chance to learn acting skills right on the set, because there was no experience yet. The 13-episode film was shot seven years. This role brought Irina great popularity, many viewers admired her beauty and femininity.
In the series of 2017, Dasha Bulanova was played by the wonderful Anna Chipovskaya. Prior to this, Anya had to act in dozens of films, the most famous of which was the Thaw. Anya beautifully portrayed Daria's charming naivety.
Sister Dasha - Katya Bulavina was played in the old film by Svetlana Penkina, an actress from Belarus. This role so glorified her that Svetlana became the wife of Vladimir Mulyavin, the leader of the Pesnyary ensemble. Unfortunately, the actress died in 2017 only in the 65th year of life.
In the new series, Katya was played by Julia Snigir. Before that, she had already played Catherine the Great.
Another heroine - Lisa Rastorgueva once was played by Inna Gulaya, now Svetlana Khodchenkova perfectly coped with this role.
Male roles
The native element for Lieutenant Arkady Zhadov was war. The role was perfectly handled in 1977 by Alexander Lazarev, and in 2017 - Andrei Merzlikin. In a very mysterious way in the film is the star of the futurist party Alexey Bessonov. The role was perfectly handled by Mikhail Kozakov (1977) and Anton Shagin (2017). Ivan Telegin was played respectively by Yuri Solomin and Leonid Bichevin. Vadim Roshchin was portrayed by Mikhail Nozhkin and Pavel Trubiner.