Russian scriptwriters and directors are excellent at films about the war. One of the most memorable films of 2015 was the film about the First World War - “Battalion”, the actors and the roles of this film have attracted the attention of viewers so far. This is due not only to the unusual role of actresses, but also to their appearance. Many of us are used to seeing these women in a completely different way. The make-up in the film made them almost unrecognizable.
How the actors were chosen
The author of this film was the famous comedian
Igor Ugolnikov. Now he does not act in comedy shows or films like Shirley-Myrli, but is engaged in serious projects. One of them was The Battalion, whose actors and roles were selected personally by the screenwriter. This is a historical picture, so the actresses Igor looked very similar to the prototypes. He combined several roles of screenwriter, director and producer, so his word was often decisive.
Selecting actresses was quite difficult, since many young girls went to the casting. They were not even embarrassed by the fact that for the role they would have to cut their hair. However, windy actresses who did not want to change for the role, Ugolnikov instantly sent home. He hatched this project from the moment of filming "Brest Fortress", so he tried to do everything realistically.
Maria Aronova
One of the actresses, who was approved for the role without casting, was Maria Aronova. When Igor Ugolnikov saw a photo of ensign Maria Bochkareva, he, without thinking, offered this role to Aronov. And never regretted. He was not embarrassed that for the sake of the actress had to stop shooting - because at the time of the creation of the picture she was expecting a child.
Thanks to the role in the film “Battalion”, all the actors were able to reach a new level, for many it became a turning point in their careers. That is why Aronova meekly agreed to a short haircut and withstood difficult conditions. The filming day began at 5 in the morning, and in the frame of the actress laid out completely. Mary had to leave the child for a while to complete the work, but this did not bother her. She firmly entered herself in the history of cinema with this role, and after the rental she collected many prestigious awards. By the way, critics of the game Aronova were delighted.
Other female roles
State Duma deputy and actress Maria Kozhevnikova cut her hair straight in the frame. According to her, for the role in the film "Battalion" the actors were ready for a lot. The actress agreed to a haircut right there. In the frame, it is completely different than in the sitcom "Univer", which has long outgrown. According to Kozhevnikova, this film helped her to prove first of all to herself that she is capable of complex and responsible roles.
No less striking was the participation of other women in the film "Battalion". Actors and roles were selected based on prototypes based on records and photos that have been preserved since then. Irina Rakhmanova, who played Froska, even received the award of the Constellation Film Festival for her role, she was considered one of the most striking actresses. Noticed after this film and the beginner. Actress
Valery Shkirando, who until then only got episodic roles of beautiful
women in different series. In the "Battalion" she played Princess Vera Neklyudova. For Yanina Malinchik, this film was a real discovery, they began to recognize her on the streets, her image of Dusi was remembered and loved by all viewers.
In total, more than 220 actresses participated in the film. There were no serious incidents on the set, although the production went on in the field with an abundance of soot due to the use of blank cartridges. The only trouble is that during the filming of one of the battle scenes, one of the young actresses was left without a tooth.
Did men participate in the film
Despite the fact that the female death squad has become central, there are a lot of men in the film. It was easy to pick them up for the Battalion project, the actors and roles were also distributed by Ugolnikov. The key role, the founder of the female suicide squad - Kerensky - was played by Marat Basharov. He had long since departed from the role of windy youths and became an ambiguous actor.
Other male roles were received by no less eminent actors: Evgeny Dyatlov, Arthur Vakha, Vladimir Zaitsev, Dmitry Shevchenko. Men admitted that it was difficult to work, because they were in the minority on the site. Despite this, they perfectly got used to their roles, created vivid images.