27 years ago, in 1988, viewers first saw the television movie "Dog Heart", based on the story of the same name by the remarkable writer Mikhail Bulgakov. The picture gained immense popularity, and phrases from it immediately became winged expressions: "Devastation is not in closets, but in the heads", "In the queue, you sons of bitches, in the queue."
The film "Dog Heart", whose actors and roles in the first days after the premiere became known to the whole huge country, today is one of the best Soviet films.
History of creation
The television movie "Dog Heart", whose actors were carefully selected over a long period of time, was shot on the basis of Bulgakov's famous novel. Not everyone knows that the script of the picture is not similar to the original in everything. Director Vladimir Bortko wrote it himself and included scenes, situations and characters from several stories and feuilleton writers. They organically entered the film and only gave it brightness and color. The director included in the film adaptation of the novel other works of the writer in order to expand the scope, go beyond the professor’s apartment and show the streets of the city of that time.
Written in 1925, the story was first published in Bulgakov’s homeland after 62 years. Immediately after reading it, Bortko decided to film the “Dog Heart”. The actors and roles of this film fell in love with the audience and were remembered for many years.
Perestroika was already underway in the country, and the director did not meet any obstacles from the authorities.
The plot of the picture
The luminary of Russian science, the brilliant surgeon Professor Preobrazhensky deals with the problems of rejuvenating the human body. All aging representatives of power and culture dream of getting into his operations. He has his own theory of complete recovery of the body. To implement it, he picks up a stray mongrel on the street and decides to transplant her a human pituitary gland and seminal glands.
This, according to the scientist, should rejuvenate an old animal. The professor’s theory did not materialize - the ball did not become younger after the operation. He began to turn into a person whose organs were transplanted to him. And this was an extremely unpleasant personality, an alcoholic, a bully and a boor Klim Chugunkin.
Preobrazhensky has to make sure that his ward receives documents and begins to adapt in society. Unfortunately, the good Sharik adopted all the harmful habits and worst character traits of his donor - Klim Chugunkin. Between him, a professor and a student of Preobrazhensky, Dr. Bormental, the relationship is heating up more and more. When it comes to denunciation and the threat of weapons from Chugunkin, the surgeon takes extreme measures and again takes up the scalpel.
Actors of the movie "Dog Heart" - people and animals
Applicants for the roles were selected carefully and painstakingly. Bortko already managed to become famous as a talented director, having shot the film "Blonde around the corner." Therefore, among those wishing to play in his new film there were many venerable actors. Evgeny Evstigneev was chosen for the role of Preobrazhensky. He became his favorite character, and shooting in the movie "Dog Heart", whose actors are still beloved by the audience, literally saved the artist, who was in a very bad state of mind at that moment. Evstigneev could not recover from the conflict with Efremov, and the new role was very welcome.
If the actors for other roles were selected for a long time, then Boris Plotnikov, who played Ivan Bormental, was approved by Bortko as soon as he saw him in the Moscow Theater of Satire. At first, the young actor was afraid to play with such a famous partner as Evstigneev. But the latter encouraged his colleague, saying that on the set they are equal.
Another interesting actor starred in the film. Sharikov, whose canine heart appears in the picture as a metaphor, is Vladimir Tolokonnikov, a talented and extraordinary person. Bortko looked through a lot of samples, but did not find someone who can embody the image of both a dog and a person. Tolokonnikov was found in the photobase of the actors. His first test was so successful that he was immediately approved for the role of Polygraph Poligrafovich.
The most unusual member of the crew was the dog Kariy, a mongrel, who played the role of the long-suffering Sharik. Bortko said that he had not yet seen a dog smarter and more professional. Kariy performed all the teams from the first take and was just an ideal actor. For the four-legged artist, this was the first, but not the last work in the cinema - later Kariy starred in four more films.
In addition to the service dog, in the scenes where Sharikov relieves the flood in the apartment, several cats were shot.
The Dog Heart movie - actors in the episodes
Angelica Nevolina (typist in Sharikov’s office), Sergey Filippov (Preobrazhensky patient), Natalya Fomenko (member of the house committee, Schvonder's assistant), Roman Tkachuk (Professor Persikov) and many other actors were remembered by the audience for their episodic, but vivid roles. They managed to recreate the real atmosphere of Bulgakov's satirical works.
Curious facts about the film
On the first test, Vladimir Tolokonnikov so convincingly portrayed a glass of vodka that he defeated the director on the spot. After that, he was immediately approved for the role of Sharikov.
The film "Dog Heart", whose actors are so loved by the audience, in many domestic and foreign ratings ranks first in the list of the best Soviet paintings.
The dog Kariy, who played the Sharik, had an honorary list of 38 detained criminals. The fact is that he was in the police service.
The songs and ditties that sounded in the film were written by bard Yuri Kim.
Director Vladimir Bortko played the cameo role of a street onlooker in the movie.
Monuments to Polygraph Poligrafovich and Professor Preobrazhensky were erected in Kharkov.
Evgeny Evstigneev and Vladimir Bortko received the State Prize of the RSFSR for their work on the film.
Reviews from viewers and critics
In the early days of the premiere, a huge number of viewers saw the television movie “Dog Heart”. The actors who played in it instantly gained all-Union fame - Vladimir Tolokonnikov, Boris Plotnikov, Olga Melikhova, Roman Kartsev, Alexey Mironov, Nina Ruslanova.
If ordinary viewers were delighted with the picture, then the reviews of some critics were unpleasant. Despite this, the film "Heart of a Dog", created by Vladimir Bortko and his crew, is today one of the best adaptations of Bulgakov’s works.