Soviet films about the war belong to imperishable classics, which people watch with pleasure decades after their release. Among them, the well-known film "Father of the Soldier" occupies a worthy place. Actors who talentedly performed their roles, the touching plot, coupled with the atmosphere of wartime, still cause tears in the eyes of the audience when watching a picture created in the 60s by Georgian director Rezo Chkheidze.
Story line
The story she tells of begins in the summer of 1942 when an old Georgian peasant finds out that his son was sent to a hospital with a wound. Georgy Makharashvili immediately decides to go to Goderdzi, and the whole village escorts the old man on a long journey, bombarding him with requests to bring news of relatives leading the battle on the front lines. But as if he did not hear them, he silently looked around, because all his thoughts were only about the long-awaited meeting with his son.
But it was not given to happen. When George arrives at the hospital, he is informed that Goderdzi has recovered and has again gone to fight. The old man, struck by the news, does not believe the doctor. He bursts into the chamber where the wounded are lying, but Goderdzi is not there, but the soldiers vied with each other to tell the old man about his tank son, who, according to them, had left for Demidov.
Arkady Ershov, a good-natured young man he met on the way, helps George get there. The search for the old man is not crowned with success in Demidov. And the meeting with Arkady becomes key in the film "Father of the Soldier" (1964). Indeed, with her begins the long journey of the protagonist to his son, who brought the good old man to Berlin, where the long-standing war with Germany ends with the victory of the USSR.
The image of George Makharashvili
The charismatic Georgian actor Sergo Zakariadze showed the viewer an incomparable image of George, who is warmly remembered by people who watched the film "Father of a Soldier".
A simple man, a little eccentric, but with a big kind heart, an old man with an unbending will - this is how the viewer sees him. He, having heard the noise from tanks passing by the house, runs out into the street at night and angrily calls Goderdzi. The old man is not afraid of explosions or bullets and drags the wounded Arkady. And when a German shoots a young man from a machine gun, an old man courageously goes to a killer to a meeting, unarmed to an armed man.
And this is one of the strongest scenes of the film "Father of the Soldier." Actors and roles performed by them evoke strong emotions. The unjust brutal murder of Arkady, to which, thanks to the brilliant game of Alexander Nazarov, the audience is immediately imbued with sympathy, causes a burning hatred of the enemy, and from this - a sense of belonging with the main character, who avenges the death of a comrade.
On the warpath
From this moment, George has a desire to go to war. However, the general and senior lieutenant of the platoon are negative about this idea. Is it possible to take the old man to war? And what will happen if George is captured? This is a shame for the Soviet Union, which sends hopeless old people to the front because of hopelessness. The actors of the film "Father of the Soldier" Peter Lyubeshkin and Nikolai Barmin skillfully play skepticism, causing some pity for the brave George. And the fighters, meanwhile, already had respect for him. Senior sergeant Nikiforov, played by Vladimir Privalsev, is determined to take the old man into his platoon, even under personal responsibility.
George is ready to enter into a duel with any soldier to prove that he is capable of fighting, moreover, along with the young, and he, unlike them, is not going to get captured. An assertive, brave old man achieves his goal: they take him into a platoon.
A film that can teach a lot
George breaks into battle, comes to the aid of his comrades when he is ordered to fulfill duties that have practically nothing to do with the military. Despite the outrage of Nikiforov, he remains in the trenches, explaining to him what the soldier’s duty really is. However, for the entire journey from Demidov to Berlin, Georgy will tell his colleagues many truths.
In the film "The Soldier's Father", the actors play one of the most instructive scenes in the film. Looking for a son in Germany, George turns to the tankers for help. They do not know anything about Goderdzi, but this is not what angers the old man's men. Tankers want to move through the vineyard, motivating their actions by the fact that the Germans destroyed everything in their homeland. George objects. Why become like enemies? Maybe a Russian soldier, like the Nazis, will begin to kill children in a foreign land? Tankers are forced to surrender and admit that the old man is right.
However, one way or another, everyone is imbued with respect, it is not for nothing that Senior Sergeant Nikiforov on New Year asks the musicians to perform a Georgian melody in honor of a man who practically replaced his father with the soldiers.
The film "Father of the Soldier": actors
The cast completely conveyed the atmosphere of goodness, mutual assistance, typical of the Soviet Union, in particular wartime. It permeates the picture of Rezo Chkheidze from beginning to end. No wonder the film "Father of the Soldier" is called a "film about a war without war." To create such a mood helped not only the main characters, but also the characters that appeared in the episodes.
This is a disabled sailor (Victor Uralsky), who agreed to bring the silent old man to the hospital, and a fighter girl (Tatyana Reshetnikova), who brought gifts for the New Year to the soldiers' trenches, musicians (Ivan Kosykh, Valentin Kulik and Roman Vildan) who played the violin sleeping fighters, and, of course, colleagues of George Nikolai and Grisha (Alexander Lebedev and Vladimir Kolokoltsev), with whom he leaves Berlin.
The film "Father of a Soldier", the actors and roles played by them in the film, cling to the living, touch the soul. Perhaps that’s why people are still reviewing it.
Scripting History
It is interesting that the film “Father of the Soldier” is based on real events that occurred during the Great Patriotic War with Suliko Zhgenti, who wrote the script for the film.
He went to the front as a volunteer when he was sixteen. During the hostilities, the future screenwriter was seriously injured. Like the main character of the film, his father wanted to visit his son, but upon arrival at the hospital he did not find him. This story was told by Ghenty in his script for the film "Father of the Soldier." Actors also realized his idea, and Sergo Zakariadze played the role of a man, the prototype of which was a soldier, with whom the scriptwriter waged war alongside.
Prototype protagonist
During the war years, his colleague Zhgenti was already more than fifty, but, despite his age, he courageously fought for his homeland along with young soldiers. The old man possessed impressive strength and helped his front-line comrades carry heavy weapons during long crossings. A simple man from the collective farm overshadowed young soldiers from bullets, was distinguished by courage and courage. He became a universal favorite, replaced his father to many youths at the front. The old man took care of Zhgenti himself.
When creating the script, Suliko gave the protagonist the real name of the old man - Georgy Makharashvili.
Universal recognition and the fate of the film
The film "Father of the Soldier" has received wide recognition among the public and several cinematic awards, including the "Capitoline Jupiter" award. And in Catechia, a military comrade Zhgenti Georgy Makharashvili was erected a monument. Here are just his features belong to Sergo Zakariadze.
However, for the director, recognition was different. Rezo Chkheidze amazed and delighted the case when a young man from Sevastopol went to the police and confessed to the theft, because he decided to live honestly after watching the film "Father of a Soldier".
The actors who approached the work on it with a soul, a simple but amazing plot made it one of the best films about the war. People are still reviewing the tragic picture of George and his son Goderdzi (Gia Kobakhidze), and in 2013 her color version appeared. For five months, artists worked on it and, importantly, the director himself. The result of their painstaking work is in no way inferior to the black and white version of the film. Now the colorized film "Father of the Soldier" will tell the new generation about war, kindness, honesty and duty.