Best films with Menshov in the title role

The hero of this article, Vladimir Valentinovich Menshov, is the owner of many top awards of Soviet cinema. Moreover, it was his legendary film "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears" that received the gold Oscar, becoming the best foreign language film of 1981. On the account of Menshov-director there are only five works, but which ones. In addition to the already mentioned masterpiece of Soviet cinema, we all remember and love his Love and Pigeons, Practical Joke, Shirley-Myrli and Envy of the Gods. Is it worth talking about the invaluable contribution that this remarkable artist of Soviet nature and soul made to the development of Russian cinema?

However, our conversation today is devoted to another aspect of the work of Vladimir Valentinovich. Today we are interested in precisely his acting component. And in this article we will try to make a list of the best films with Menshov in the title role.

Brief creative biography

The future director and actor was born in September 1939. His birthplace was the capital city of Baku, Azerbaijan SSR. His father was a sailor, and his mother was a housewife. The Menshov family did not live well, so from a young age Vladimir showed himself to be a purposeful person. His main goal at that time was a different life, different from the miserable existence that his family had to do, and which he saw on the big screen.

After some time, the Menshovs moved to Astrakhan, where Vladimir finally became ill with the art of cinema. He repeatedly reviewed all the films shown and plunged into reading books about famous actors and directors. After graduation, the future actor Menshov, films with which became the subject of our study, went to Moscow and failed the entrance exam at VGIK. Returning to Astrakhan, he got a turner at the factory, and in the evenings he gained acting experience in the second part of the Drama Theater.

Vladimir never abandoned his dream of the magical world of cinema. After wandering around the country for several years and changing many professions, in 1961 he again went to try his luck in Moscow and this time managed to enter the acting department of the Moscow Art Theater School, after which he underwent additional training in directing graduate school.

Vladimir Valentinovich achieved his goal of connecting his life with cinema in 1970, making his film debut in the title role of his classmate V. Pavlovsky's “Happy Kukushkin”. Today, the list of films with Menshov has already exceeded one hundred, of which such pictures and series as “Here is my village”, “Forgive”, “Courier”, “Year of the Calf”, “City of Zero”, “Suicide” most of all were remembered by the audience. , "In that region of heaven ...", "Shirley-myrli", "Composition for Victory Day", "Chinese Service", "Detective Dubrovsky's Dossier", "Mamuka", "Spartak and Kalashnikov", "Plot", "Time to Collect stones, “Night Watch”, “Day Watch”, “Enchanted Land”, “Apocalypse Code”, “Liquidation”, “Gromovs”, “High Security Vacations”, “Love-Carrot 3”, “Freaks”, “Gener ation "," Fir-trees 2 "," Vysotsky. Thank you for being alive, "" What else are men talking about, "" Legend No. 17 "," Dialogues "," Experiences "," Ivanovs "and" Recent Fir-trees ".

Agree, more than an impressive list. Recalling the best films with the participation of Menshov, let us dwell in more detail on the paintings in which Vladimir Valentinovich played the main role.

"Happy Kukushkin"

As already mentioned, Vladimir Menshov immediately began his career in cinema with the main role, which he received in 1970, and starred in a short film of his fellow student V. Pavlovsky.

His hero is a young Soviet worker Pashka Kukushkin, who fell in love with Lyudmila, the innkeeper’s daughter, for his misfortune. Having asked her hands and received a refusal, he rushes towards various trials and adventures, in order to finally achieve the hand and heart of his beloved.

Perhaps such a lively, eccentric, nonchalant and rambling Menshov, you will no longer see in any picture with his participation.

Also, "Happy Kukushkin" is also notable for the fact that the role of Lyudmila went to the young fifteen-year-old Larisa Udovichenko, the future celebrity of Soviet cinema.

"Man in his place"

The list of films starring Menshov continues with his first full-length work - the wonderful film "The Man in His Place", released in 1972.

In this film, the actor played the role of Semyon Bobrov, a young initiative specialist who received higher education and returned to his native village to become the chairman of the collective farm and achieve his dream - to build a large modern village on the site of the dying Russian village.

The hero of Menshov is simply delightful in his determination and some incredible truthfulness of his image, which is perhaps one of the most important and distinctive features of all his acting and directorial works.

"Man in His Place" became one of the best films with Vladimir Menshov in the title role, and the actor himself was awarded the first prize at the VI All-Union Film Festival for his work.

Salty Dog

In 1973, Menshov played the main role in the moving movie "Salty Dog". His hero, the sailor Martyamov, working on the ship "Alexey Tolstoy", in one of the ports of the far southern countries picked up a stray puppy and took with him.

This tape turned out to be light, infinitely light, simple and kind. Without falling back to sugaryness, she teaches the viewer such concepts as friendship, love and loyalty in understandable words and images. Viewing this correct and sincere picture returns faith in people.

“Salty Dog” is one of the best films with Vladimir Menshov, and sailor Martyamov is one of the actor’s best roles.

"Own opinion"

In the 1977 film “Own Opinion,” Menshov played his next significant leading role. This time he got the image of a psychologist. His hero, Mikhail Petrov, along with his partner sociologist Burtseva, came to one of the Soviet factories to fulfill a difficult mission - to determine what or who was the reason for the best specialists to leave the enterprise.

At first glance it begins to seem that between Petrov and Burtseva an official romance must certainly arise, but the psychologist is still a tough nut to crack.

This picture is one of the prominent representatives of films with Menshov in the lead role. It is quite simple, ingenuous and, obviously, was removed, as they say, "in the wickedness of the day." However, at the same time, the brilliant acting duo of Vladimir Menshov and Lyudmila Chursina filled the tape with such kind, subtle and ironic humor that it is almost impossible to break away from the screen.

"Time for reflection"

In the 1982 television drama Time for Thinking, Menshov's partner was his wife Vera Alentova. Their family acting duet plays a couple about to enter into a second marriage for each of them. Igor and Alla are at a crossroads. Each of them already has a child from the first family. And each of these children, like a cord, keeps them from the final step.

This film will be understood by every person who in his life had to get a divorce. And such, unfortunately, a great many.

The story told by Vladimir Menshov and Vera Alentova, despite its drama, is very interesting and vital. Watching the game of these two brilliant actors will be a real gift for any viewer.

"Year of the calf"

In 1986, the comedy "The Year of the Calf", one of the best comedy films with Menshov in the title role, was released on the screens of the country.

In this picture, the actor played the role of the collective farm carpenter Theodosius Nikitin, whose wife Lyudmila, brilliantly performed by the famous actress Irina Muravyeva, being a milkmaid, suddenly decided to join the cultures, sold all her livestock and hired a music teacher for her sons - a primordially urban dweller Valerian Sergeyevich played by legendary actor Valentin Gaft.

Hero Menshov did not want to put up with the new rules, and soon he lured the intellectual Valerian Sergeyevich, who managed to feel the taste of free rural life, to his side.

One of the beautiful days, they, taking with them the children of Theodosius, run away from home ...

"Where is the nofelet?"

This funny lyrical comedy film, which premiered in May 1988, is the undisputed leader among films with Menshov in the title role.

The actor played the role of Pavel Golikov. He is already over forty, he is a modest engineer at one of the research institutes, he has golden hands, and he does not know at all how to behave with women, preferring to wave his hand at himself and remain a bachelor. True, there is still one mysterious woman for whom he sneaks peeps while he goes to work, dreaming that one day he will dare and get to know her ...

One fine day, his cousin Gennady came to the rescue of Paul, whose role went to the wonderful actor Alexander Pankratov-Cherny. And then, as they say, it began ...

"To survive"

The final film in our brief review was the 1992 action movie To Survive. Vladimir Menshov played the role of Oleg, a former officer burned by the war in Afghanistan. An opponent of the protagonist becomes a certain Jafar, the role of which was taken over by the famous musician and actor Alexander Rosenbaum.

Jafar’s gang needs to smuggle drugs across the border, and the only person who knows the secret Afghan paths is Oleg Menshova’s hero. However, the bandits need guarantees, and for these purposes they take hostage Oleg's son. Thus began the unequal mortal war of the enraged father for the life of his child ...

Of course, “To Survive” did not repeat the frenzied success of the cult “Pirates of the 20th Century,” but nonetheless confidently entered the list of the best domestic fighters of the 90s.