It is probably difficult to find in our country a person older than 30 years who would not watch or even hear about the film "Sannikov Land". The actors and roles here are simply magnificent, the script was written by masters, and the directing did not disappoint. If you add here also the musical accompaniment, which struck all connoisseurs, it will become clear why it turned out to be so popular. More than 40 million people watched it in the cinemas for several weeks, and over the past half century, their number has increased significantly.
When was the movie made?
The film "Sannikov Land" was first shown in 1973. Filming took quite a lot of time - from 1972 to 1973. Not surprisingly, it was shot in different parts of a huge country, quite a few actors were involved, and the editing took a lot of time, not to mention the many problems with the selection of actors, which we will tell you a little later.
Briefly about the plot
Of course, in the film "Sannikov Land" the actors and roles are able to interest the audience. But hardly the film would have achieved such popularity without an exciting, well-designed storyline.
The action takes the viewer to the dead Siberia of the very beginning of the twentieth century. The main character - Ilyin, an exiled settler - based on rumors and legends, persuades the owner of a rich gold mine to send an expedition to the legendary Sannikov Land - a small island beyond the Arctic Circle, where for some reason eternal summer reigned.
Perfiliev (the owner of the mine) agrees and sets about searching for adventurers who are ready to risk their lives, hoping to find this legendary and, quite possibly, fictional island. As a result, the group gathers extremely motley - it includes a fugitive convict, an adventurer officer, Ilyin himself and Ignatius Perfiliev's servant. Moreover, the latter is tasked with destroying his comrades if an island rich in gold deposits is discovered. It is in this composition that they have to go on a journey that can bring a handful of brave people worldwide fame or cause them to die.
What became the basis for the script
Lovers of good literature know that “Sannikov Land” (1973 film) was created from a popular book written by Vladimir Obruchev back in 1924 and published two years later.
Of course, when writing the script, I had to throw away some scenes and change others to meet one and a half hours - the traditional format of one-part feature films.
On the whole, the work, despite its fantastic nature, is highly credible. Obruchev, as an experienced geologist, carefully worked out the details and created, although extremely unlikely, but quite realistic for his time, a working hypothesis about how an island with an almost tropical climate could appear in the harsh Arctic Ocean.
It is not surprising that the book was read and reprinted with pleasure over many decades.
Who starred
The film promised to be very successful - many potential viewers read the book, or at least heard about it. Therefore, the directors did not trifle at all - and the bright roles in the "Sannikov Land" actors had to perform really talented. What actors played the main characters?
For example, Georgy Vitsin in “Sannikov Land” played the role of Ignatius - the servant of the gold miner, who received a very vile order. The role he succeeded was simply magnificent - the enormous experience of filming in a variety of roles, from tragic to comedic, affected.
Vladislav Dvorzhetsky in the “Sannikov Land” played the main role of Alexander Ilyin, an exiled scientist who proposed sending an expedition in search of a mysterious island. He did not have such a wealth of experience as Vitsin, having starred in less than ten films before. But the roles he had were vivid, memorable, so the main role he got rightfully.
A very deep role was played by Yuri Nazarov in Sannikov Land. After all, he got the role of Gubin - a former doctor, terrorist, runaway convict. The character turned out to be very ambiguous, but generally quite pleasant, which struck many viewers.
The fourth member of the expedition was played by Oleg Dal - Evgeny Krestovsky in his performance made many spectators wipe away the tears of despair at the end of the film. For generations, he embodied the image of a true officer, adventurer and adventurer for many people.
Perhaps the least experienced actor was Mahmud Esambaev. The black shaman became for him only the fifth role, and the previous ones could not boast of significance and scale. But he did an excellent job.
Actors who did not get on the set
Many actors could decorate the film, but for various reasons, the audience did not see them.
For example, the role of Krestovsky was initially proposed to Vladimir Vysotsky, and his wife, Maria Vladi, was supposed to play the bride of Ilyin. Vysotsky was very inspired by the film, even wrote three songs specially for him. However, shortly before the filming began, the German radio station broadcast that he was a rebel, dissident and practically a hater of the Soviet Union. As a result, the spouses did not get on the set. But one of the composed songs (White Silence) was subsequently performed in the film Seventy-Two Degrees Below Zero.
Another famous singer, Muslim Magomayev, received an offer to play Ilyin. But he decided that he would not be able to play such a deep and complex role - acting talent would not be enough. Therefore, without hesitation, he refused a flattering offer.
The audience did not see Sergey Shakurov in the film either - initially the role of Gubin was offered to him. But it was because of him on the site that there was a real scandal that almost frustrated the shooting of the film. Therefore, he was replaced by Yuri Nazarov. Shakurov can only be briefly seen in an already shot episode, which it was decided not to re-shoot.
Great music
For many viewers, the film was remembered for its music. It is not surprising that Oleg Anofriev performed “There is only a moment” simply masterly - for many decades this strong, heavy song became a real hit. And today, she has not forgotten by true connoisseurs of good songs.
Alexander Zatsepin himself, who had extraordinary talent and vast experience, became the composer in the film - by this moment he had already written music for dozens of Soviet films and several famous cartoons. Well, he coped with his task 100% - even the most picky critics could not help but appreciate the music that sounded in the film.
Re-song
The film crew had to deal with many difficult moments. One of them was the re-scoring of the song.
Initially, the song "There is only a moment" was performed by Oleg Dal himself, who perfectly played Krestovsky. But when the Mosfilm art council looked at the recording, they criticized the performance. It was decided to entrust the performance of the song to a more experienced singer. As a result, Anofriev was elected. Being in a good relationship with Dahl, he did not immediately agree, asking for some time to think. Phoned with a friend, Anofriev asked if he would mind if he performed a song. Only after Dahl agreed, did he take up the proposed work. Therefore, the song, in which the whole country fell in love, "There is only a moment" Oleg Anofriev and performed for the film.
By the way, he also perfectly performed the song "Everything was" for the same film.
About the crew
Surprisingly, for such a grandiose plan as the film "Sannikov Land", the film crew was not selected the strongest. For example, for the director of photography Mikhail Koroptsev, this was only the second work - three years earlier he had participated in the filming of the film “Guardian”. Previously, he worked primarily as an assistant operator.
Screenwriter Vladislav Fedoseyev also wrote just one script before that - "And a man plays the trumpet." In the second piggy bank (Mark Zakharov) at that time there were only a few scenarios, but among them were films such as “Train Stop - Two Minutes” and, without exaggeration, the legendary “White Desert Sun”. Therefore, there were not the slightest complaints against him.
The directors could not boast of rich experience. For Leonid Popov, this was generally the first film. Albert Mkrtchyan by that time had shot several short films, as well as the films "Guardian" and "In difficult times."
As practice has shown, a lack of experience did not prevent the film crew from perfectly coping with the task. But still, he became the cause of serious problems.
The conflict between actors and directors
As already mentioned, in the film "Sannikov Land" the actors and roles were not ordinary. Without exception, all the main characters (both the original and the involved squad) had a great experience. This gave rise to a series of serious conflicts.
Experienced actors were not at all pleased with the fact that they were commanded; they were given advice by inexperienced directors.
Most of all, Sergey Shakurov was indignant . He several times expressed dissatisfaction with the position of the film crew, gave advice to specialists, openly went to the conflict, and in the end simply refused to comply with the requirements of the directors.
Shakurov persuaded the rest of the main actors to boycott the work. The longest rested Vitsin, but over time, he surrendered. A corresponding telegram was sent to Moscow - experienced actors demanded a change of directors who did not deserve their trust.
But the leadership of Mosfilm basically did not make concessions. Negotiations dragged on for a month - all the shooting schedules were on fire. As a result, all actors except Shakurov agreed to work with Popov and Mkrtchyan. He was reprimanded, and on the set he was replaced by Nazarov.
Where was the movie made?
It is not easy to answer the question where the film "Sannikov Land" was shot. After all, the shooting was carried out in various places - this was required by its specifics. Indeed, the film was supposed to show the landscapes of harsh Siberia, powerful geysers, an old bell tower, rocks and waterfalls. To match the scenario, the crew visited different places.
For example, scenes were shot in Vyborg with the rise of Krestovsky to the bell tower and the separation of Ilyin with his bride.
To reliably remove the Sannikov Land itself, replete with geysers, visited Kamchatka.
For the sake of landscapes allowing us to capture the ice passage, we visited the Gulf of Finland.
The scene where deer were sacrificed on the raft, as well as the rite of cleansing by the shaman, the tribesmen filmed in Kabardino-Balkaria.
As you can see, the actors, directors, cameramen and other film industry workers had to travel a lot. Not surprisingly, the filming lasted more than a year.
Interesting Facts
Shooting any interesting film is not without interesting cases. Here are a couple of them.
For example, when it was required to shoot a scene as Krestovsky rises to the bell tower, the film crew visited Vyborg - the landscapes were quite consistent. The only drawback is the television antennas on the roofs of nearby houses. Workers did not find a better solution to simply climb the roofs and knock down the antennas. At this moment, the entire local population watched with enthusiasm an important football game. As a result, unsuccessful figures were nearly beaten - in order to extinguish the conflict, the director ordered 100 rubles to be given to local residents.
History has preserved the text of the scandalous telegram sent by the leading performers to the Mosfilm studio. Indeed, she could not boast of sophistication. The furious actors telegraphed the following text: "We are sitting in town ... on wolf skins. Dvorzhetsky. Vitsin. Dal. Shakurov." Such insolence almost cost some of them a career.
Conclusion
The article has a lot of new, interesting facts about the magnificent film. In addition, it is described in detail both about the actors and the process of creating the film, funny and unpleasant moments that took place during the filming.