More than a quarter of a century ago, Central Television broadcast for the first time the four-part motion picture series “The Secret Fairway” (actors: A. Kotenev, L. Guzeeva, S. Bystritsky, L. Trutnev, V. Naumtsev), filmed by the director and cameraman of the Odessa film studio V. Kostromenko based on the work of the same name by Leonid Platov. To this day, this modest movie is shown on various television channels, and more than one new generation of television viewers is following with genuine pleasure the story of the adventures of the commander of the torpedo Soviet boat Shubin, who managed to neutralize the previously invincible and elusive fascist submarine. When viewing, other actors are remembered. Secret Channel is a film in which, for the first time in the history of world cinema, the passage of a real submarine was shot under water.
Producer
Kostromenko Vadim Vasilievich is now Honored Artist of Ukraine. The director studied in the course of the operators of the workshop of B.I. Volchek, and since 1957 he worked at the Odessa film studio. Kostromenko began his career as an operator, on his account 13 films. After he became a director and shot 12 films. In 1996, Vadim Vasilievich took the post of director of the Museum of Cinema of the Odessa branch of the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine.
Plot
The action takes place in 1944 in the formidable Baltic Sea. According to the plot, the commander of a military torpedo boat of the USSR Boris Shubin accidentally finds a secret channel of a fascist submarine without any identification marks. A tragic accident throws the hero onto this “Flying Dutchman”, and he is given an unforeseen opportunity to open the curtain of the secrets of the Third Reich surrounding the submarine. Such a plot has the film "Secret Fairway", the actors and roles of which are familiar to every compatriot since childhood.
The illusion of sea distance
It is clear that in the film, where the submarine is active, it is extremely difficult to do without episodes under water. At first, it was assumed that the ascent and submersion of a submarine would be shot in a special pool of the Odessa film studio, in the background of which a wonderful panorama of the Black Sea opens up, creating the illusion of a sea distance. But the actors of the film "Secret Fairway" supported the director, who, having seen the immersion of a real warship, literally ignited a desire to shoot this episode in kind. All underwater scenes were filmed in the Crimea, in Balaklava Bay, the sea water in that section of the water area is especially clear. Since the film narrated about the heroism of Soviet sailors, the fleet command respected the filmmakers and gave everything they needed absolutely free. The local population of Balaklava still eagerly tells tourists how the Secret Fairway was filmed.
Actors
The photograph of that period by leading actor Anatoly Kotenev still surprises fans, it seems that the actor really served in the Navy, so the corresponding bearing is visible in the picture. However, the actor had nothing to do with the fleet. He served as an artilleryman, but, having a theatrical education, spent most of his service on stage. During the filming, Anatolia also came in handy for sports, since he had to make a parachute jump, stay afloat for a long time in the open sea, swim under water.
The Secret Fairway (the actors and the roles of which were chosen successfully and harmoniously) brought popularity not only to the main actors. Anatoly Kotenev is now one of the leading Belarusian actors, his filmography exceeds 60 films and TV shows, he is vice president of the Guild of Film Actors of Belarus.
Different fates
Larisa Guzeeva, who starred in this project after the unprecedented success of “Cruel Romance”, confirmed her professionalism. The death of her heroine caused a great indignation of the viewer, the director received more than a dozen angry letters asking why they killed such a beautiful woman.
The actors of the film "Secret Fairway", who performed secondary roles, did not all continue their acting career. For example, Bogatyryov Vyacheslav, who played the young Jurka Shurka Lastikova, left the cinema, his whole life was connected with the sea. A diver saboteur - Peter Sherekin, became an international instructor in training bodyguards and continued to act in films: “The Long Road to War”, “Secrets of Madame Wong”, “Experiment 200”, “Prince Danilo Galitsky” and others.
pros
The film has a lot of advantages, among which there is a romantic line, without frank passionate scenes, without episodes of violence. This picture is extremely chaste. She spares her viewer and, most importantly, does not distract from the main topic - the solution to the mystery. Another advantage of the film is that the opponents (fascists) are shown far from idiots idiots, complete scum and fierce monsters. They have their own weaknesses and ideas, concepts of the honor of a soldier. The fact that the authors of the film did not distort the writer's idea is a separate advantage of the cinema, making it more adapted to the present. More and more viewers understand that, in spite of the horrors of the Second World War, there were some terrible cases, on both sides ordinary people took part in it, as the actors embodied them on the screen. Secret Channel is a complex film, it makes you think about events that cannot be forgotten. He who forgets history is doomed to repeat its mistakes.
Prophecy?
Now the director and actors of the Secret Fairway are called a prophetic picture, and this is no coincidence. In the climax episode on the submarine, the fascist captain utters terrible words in which he regrets losing the war, but promises to preserve National Socialism and introduce it into the post-war world, grow it on new fertile soil. It bitterly becomes from the realization that even in Russia in some places fascism still raises its head. I would like to believe that the film "Secret Fairway" (the actors and the roles of which the audience liked immediately after the broadcast of the mini-series), will make someone think about their warning in the final scene.
The secret of longevity in sincerity
The mini-series cannot be called a masterpiece of the world film industry. This is an honest, soundly shot film, which after more than a quarter of a century looks with unremitting interest. The secret of such longevity is sincerity, a sense of personal involvement of the director V.V. Kostromenko and professionalism, which was absolutely demonstrated by all the actors. The Secret Fairway will be a symbol of a certain superiority of Russian cinema, because American filmmakers, for all their modern technical sophistication, only after 5 years filmed a real submersion of the submarine. Laurels of discoverers in this area remained with the creative team of the film.