For 74 years, Ivan Pyryev’s legendary film “Pig and Shepherd” has been performed. The actors and the roles they performed were not just loved by the people, they became part of the country's life in this difficult period.
Early days of the war
The film was completely shot before the war, and the final stage of work at the Mosfilm film studio remained. Some articles indicate the fact that the news of the attack by fascist Germany on our country caught the film crew on the train, in which it returned from Kabardino-Balkaria, where the film ended. Vladimir Zeldin was taken to a tank school, the director Ivan Pyryev appeared at the recruiting station, without waiting for the agenda, Nikolai Kryuchkov rushed to the front from the very first days of the war.
But Joseph Stalin always closely watched the Soviet cinema, and with the outbreak of war, this attention only intensified. He perfectly understood that all the male actors involved in this film would bring less benefits at the front than the picture itself, which could raise the spirit of the fighters - it is this happy pre-war life that they are defending now in the trenches.
Filmed for the people
Therefore, Ivan Pyryev, who was in the ranks of volunteers, was literally knocked out of action by people who rushed to the recruiting station with "armor" for him and the entire crew of the film "Pig and Shepherd." The actors and the roles that they performed entered without exaggeration into every home. Now it’s hard to imagine their (and actors, and roles) popularity, but it went through the roof. Letters of gratitude and enthusiasm were written to them from all over the country and, most importantly, from the front. And the song from this film “I Will Never Forget a Friend ...” lives and will live on, and it will be sung by more than one generation. But how much disgust was poured on this film! And who now remembers at least one surname of angry authors? And the film as a stage in the development of Soviet art, as just a wonderful picture that was watched by millions of the country's inhabitants, entered the “golden fund” of the USSR film industry.
Related stories
The film “Pig and Shepherd” itself, the actors and the roles they performed, were fanned with legends and stories. So, Nikolay Kryuchkov, who had appeared in more than 20 films by that time, such as Tractor Drivers, Vyborg Side, and so on, was incredibly loved for his image of a wonderful Soviet guy with a wonderful smile, charming and positive.
And suddenly - a dope and a bastard, a kind of "best guy in the village." The artist himself said that Vasily Stalin came to him with a demand to abandon the role, otherwise he threatened to send the actor to Siberia. But they were friendly, the actor laughed off, and the next morning, Vasily apologized. And the great Kryuchkov was in an embroidered shirt and a broken cap, as good as his previous roles.
United by war
Finished work on the film between the bombings. This process has incredibly rallied the team. People were not just like-minded people, they were one. This atmosphere pervades the whole picture "Pig and Shepherd." The actors and the roles that they clearly succeeded were highly appreciated by both the people and the government. And during the filming, no one thought that a film with a straightforward plot would cause such a resonance, would be nominated for the Stalin Prize, and in the end would become a landmark.
Plain story
The picture tells a simple story about two lovers who came to VDNH from distant corners of the vast Motherland: he is a shepherd Musaib from the Dagestan village, she is Glafir's pig from a collective farm in the Vologda Region. Having gone home, they are waiting for a new meeting. Glasha, a beauty and a well-known personality after a trip to Moscow, is idled by a loafer Kuzma in her native village. He replaces Musaib’s letter and informs the girl that her chosen one was married in his native village.
The wedding of Kuzma and Glasha is scheduled for Peter's Day. But good people tell the handsome Musaib about the danger, and he has time just at the right time - evil is punished, everyone is happy. The peculiar uniqueness of the film is that the characters in it speak poetry, but so organically that it does not cut the ear. The script was written by Viktor Gusev, music by Tikhon Khrennikov.
Three main roles
A win-win was the selection of artists in the film "Pig and Shepherd." The film actors and roles, especially the two main ones, merged with the audience - thousands of letters went to Mosfilm to Glasha’s pig and Shepherd Musaib. Vladimir Zeldin was unusually good in his first role. If the whole country already knew Larisa Ladynina and Nikolai Kryuchkov, and the film "Tractors" brought them extraordinary fame and love of the whole people, then the beauties Zeldin appeared on the big screen for the first time. But he coped very well with the task - sincere, passionate, in love, honest, and even a production leader. And all this was played simply and naturally. The first role became stellar.
The right and timely movie
Even episodic roles were remembered by the audience. A wonderful image of the barman Levon Mikhailovich was created by Osip Abdulov (father of Vsevolod Abdulov). She is good in the role of grandmother Evdokia Schastlivtseva (Gorina).
The participants and the crew of the film “Pig and Shepherd” created the film not for aesthetes, but for millions of viewers. And the fact that they liked the film in no way opposes and certainly does not humiliate the audience compared to aesthetes. Cultural, incredibly talented, no matter what “researchers of creativity” wrote, and an educated person Alexei Tolstoy called the film in his article in the newspaper Pravda amazing, demonstrating the life for which the Soviet people are fighting.
Mythic movie
A lot has changed since the death of Stalin. Those who extolled something approved by the leader of the peoples during his lifetime, with the same zeal, began to trample it in the mud. The director’s name (the motivation is “the Stalinist order bearer”) was cut out of the credits of the film, shots from VDNH with the figure of Stalin were also removed, and, interestingly, the film is still broadcast with these bills 50 years ago. Revealers of the “personality cult” are very vindictive, they do not forgive dizzying successes. But the film “Pig and Shepherd”, the actors and roles they performed, the name of the director, composer and screenwriter will forever remain in the history of Soviet cinema, because the authors shot this picture as they breathed - sincerely and not because of the awards.