The film Quiet Flows the Don is more than a masterpiece. This is a whole life, during which the worldview of the heroes, their relationship, the desire to create and save, change. If the director undertakes to film the work of the level of the novel-epic Mikhail Sholokhov, it is necessary at least to preserve all the reliability and the main idea. If the watched film is not inferior in its impression to the feeling born after reading the novel, it is safe to say that the movie was a success. Reviews for the movie "Quiet Flows the Don" simply can not be unambiguous. A lot of people and a lot of opinions. But one thing is clear - this is an epoch-making picture.
What will be discussed
The monumental work "Quiet Don" covers many events of the First World War, the October Revolution and the Civil War. These are, perhaps, the most cruel, bloodshot years of the great turning point in the Don. This is a difficult and terrible time when one brother goes to another brother. All human values ​​are forgotten. The only eternal value of all time is love. The long, tender, eternal love of the Don Cossack Grigory Melekhov and Aksinya Astakhova.
The plot of the work describes the history of the Cossack family of the Melekhovs. The drama of the main character, Grigory Melekhov, his tragic love for Aksinya, is shown as a red thread in the novel.
Inside look
What can he do about himself if it is not given to him to overcome the love of his neighbor? Yes, a picture can show any person outside, but only the viewer can immerse himself in the image “with his head”. After all, it is Grigory Melekhov who should equal any self-respecting man. His family never knew hunger, even in war. In the most terrible and dangerous moments, Melekhov supported and encouraged everyone. At home, in the Cossack village, he is respected. The wife loves him, can’t get enough of him. What is missing for a quiet life?
He cannot cross out his neighbor Gregory from the heart. "Quiet Don" - a fairly serious work that reveals the throwing of the protagonist. He thinks of a woman even when bullets whistle overhead. How to approach her and admit her feeling, because everyone can find out about this? Can a strong Cossack forget Aksinya and return to his family?
The most anticipated premiere of the year
One of the greatest works in Russian literature is the novel The Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov. This work brought him worldwide fame and love of readers.
Recalling the picture of Gerasimov's 50s, one should also pay attention to the television series “Quiet Don” (directed by Sergey Ursulyak), which, without fear of excessive pathos, can be called the most anticipated premiere of the past year.
For the fourth time, this novel is filmed. The first was shot in 1930 - a silent film, Gerasimov reproduced his reading in 1957. And in 1992, Sergey Bondarchuk showed his view of the work in his last work. Installation was already done by his son - Fedor.
Once every ten years
Director of the film "Quiet Flows the Don" Ursulyak I am sure that such strong and large-scale works must be made into films once a decade. Then each subsequent generation will be able to rediscover it for themselves. And in a new way to understand all the events occurring on the pages. And “Quiet Flows the Don” of 2015 is quite capable of stirring up interest in the novel again, returning the book to the circle of discussion.
Viewer's opinion
Reviews for the movie "Quiet Flows the Don" are mostly positive. A pretty good game of the actors makes watching this story in one go. But the place for filming was not very well chosen. Of course, I will involuntarily compare this picture with the famous and beloved people film. Nevertheless, the creators managed to remove their own, unlike the others, option. The film "Quiet Flows the Don" in 2015 can and should be watched, if only because the actors' game is good to disgrace. Perhaps Makovetsky stands out a bit from the general team, because even in makeup he is a pronounced Makovetsky.
Reviews for the movie "Quiet Flows the Don" supportive of young actors. The only thing that spoils the impression is that it is difficult to name the fatal handsome actor playing Grigory Melekhov. But the work of actor Evgeny Tkachuk looks quite worthy.
Gerasimov reading
The Quiet Don, produced in 1958, is distinguished by a great tragedy in life situations. Perhaps because the director did not deviate much from the novel itself. But Sholokhov, using his incredible talent, managed to make a real tragedy out of the novel. Each of the heroes has its own fate, its own pain, its own dreams.
The match turned out to be exact. And the shooting of the picture was carried out precisely in those places where real events of the Civil War took place. Reviews of the film "Quiet Flows the Don" by Gerasimov narrate that the author himself participated in the selection process. Almost from the first minutes of watching the actors it is impossible to see - the real, real heroes of those years appear before the audience. Sergei Gerasimov undoubtedly succeeded in everything that was conceived. The 1958 film “Quiet Flows the Don” is such a strong picture that one can easily penetrate the atmosphere of the Don Cossack life.
Sergey Ursulyak. The birth of a new masterpiece or an attempt to copy the old?
To make the fourth adaptation of The Quiet Flows the Don the most reliable and true, the actors made any sacrifices: men rode horses in the saddle to pain in their legs, and women learned to milk cows, which was also not easy. Sergei Makovetsky, who embodied the image of the elder Melekhov on the screen, even pierced his ear for real, because the fake earring did not want to hold on. He was given complex makeup every day for four hours. For the sake of art I had to endure. Yes, and he also fought for real, for the credibility of what is happening.
The shooting took place in the Rostov region. The actors left, filled with extremely positive impressions. They recalled how hospitable the locals were, who constantly tried to treat the film crew with something tasty. They remembered how beautiful horseback riding was in the vicinity. Incidentally, the actor Yevgeny Tkachuk, who played the role of Grigory Melekhov, already has three horses. He dreams of founding an equestrian theater.
And so they shot The Quiet Don. Ursulyak, the director of the film, is convinced that the audience will love his film in the same way as once, back in 1958 they gave their hearts to the picture of Sergei Gerasimov.
How to get closer to reality?
They tried to shoot the new “Quiet Don”, which came out of the director’s pen in the past, 2015, so that it was interesting to viewers of any age. So that everything on the set corresponded to reality, they tried to recreate exactly the atmosphere that was present here at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Filmed near the village of Veshenskaya in the Rostov region. This place was chosen because the events described in Sholokhov’s novel took place on these lands.
Preparation took a fairly long amount of time. Only the scenery for the filming was built for about a year. Everything without which it is impossible to imagine everyday life — glasses, cast-iron pans, chests, thimbles, curtains — was collected bit by bit in museums, from collectors, and begged from local residents.
The New Quiet Don perhaps claims to "overcome" the glory of the picture taken more than half a century ago. After all, the actors even learned to speak, walk, laugh, and be baptized correctly. In order for the viewer not to regret the time spent watching the picture at the TV screen, in order to recreate the atmosphere, the actors had to practically transform into their characters. All members of the group had to take riding lessons, because Cossacks without a horse, like ordinary people, for example, without a hand.
A very dangerous shoot can be attributed to a fire when Mikhail Koshevoi (actor Alexander Yatsenko) sets fire to the village. Filmed a real fire. The buildings were wooden, they were engaged in fire instantly, so it was not possible to shoot several takes.
This is how the film Quiet Flows the Don turned out. The actors and the roles they performed were very convincing, truthful and sincere. The film by Sergei Ursulyak is nevertheless more connected with a state in which all people are very tired of military operations and strife, from a constant change of ideologies. It is unlikely that this film will be loved as much as the tape of Sergei Gerasimov, but the fact that he easily managed to surpass all other versions of the adaptation of The Quiet Don is beyond any doubt.