The first joint Soviet-Italian adventure film drama "The Red Tent" was shot back in 1969 by the wonderful domestic director Mikhail Kalatozov.
Pioneers
Both Soviet and famous foreign actors were involved in the cinema. “Red Tent” occupies a special place in the history of the USSR film industry, as the film was financed by European producer Franco Cristaldi, known for “Divorce in Italian”. In addition, the musical accompaniment to the film was written by the creative union of prominent composers Ennio Morricone and Alexander Zatsepin. For many young aspiring actors, the film “Red Tent” became a successful springboard in his creative career. Actors N. Mikhalkov, G. Gai, D. Banionis, Yu. Solomin, O. Koberidze, B. Khmelnitsky, L. Kanevsky, E. Martsevich and Yu. Vizbor starred together with held foreign stars - Hardy Krueger, Claudia Cardinal, Peter Finch and Sean Connery.
Win-win story
The film "Red Tent", the actors and roles of which during the casting were personally selected by Franco Cristaldi, has a generally win-win storyline. The basis of the picture was a dramatic story that happened with the polar expedition of General Umberto Nobile (actor Peter Finch), who in 1928 went to conquer the North Pole on the airship "Italy". The Nobile reached its goal, but on the way back the airship crashed near the Spitsbergen archipelago.
The rescue operation of an international team of researchers was attended by many ships, aircraft and people. But only the Soviet icebreaker Krasin managed to get to the scene of the accident, and then 48 days after the disaster. The tragedy ended the career of Umberto Nobile, the public and the leadership blamed him for the fact that the commander succumbed to the arguments of Einar Lundborg (actor Hardy Krueger), a Swedish pilot, and left the crew entrusted to him. No one took into account the fact that he left the team to coordinate rescue operations. Such a dramatic idea of the creators was embodied on the screen by the actors. “Red Tent” has a non-standard structure for the cinema of that time era.
Extraordinary storytelling structure
At first, the script was worked by director Mikhail Kalatozov and a film playwright, screenwriter Yuri Nagibin. According to their vision, the whole action was supposed to develop around the “court of conscience”, which the aged Nobile would arrange for himself in order to find the answer to the question whether he was guilty or not. Actors called this idea of the drama “Red Tent” an explanatory prologue to the main action. As prosecutors, witnesses and judges, the general mentally summoned all involved or participants in the disaster who appeared in Umberto's living room as he remembered them, as they had been 40 years ago.
As the most experienced and respected, the process is led by Roald Amundsen (actor Sean Connery). In addition to the male heroes present, among them: Tsappi (actor Luigi Vanucci), expedition leader on the Krasin icebreaker, professor Samoilovich (actor G. Gai), Soviet pilot Chukhnovsky (actor Nikita Mikhalkov), Lundborg and Biaggi, expedition radio operator (actor Mario Adorf), near Amundsen, there is a nurse Valery performed by the beautiful Claudia Cardinale, whose presence undoubtedly adorned the film “Red Tent”.
Actors and roles
1969 in the history of Soviet cinema will be remembered as the period of the appearance of a love line that is non-standard in the on-screen manifestation. Earlier in Soviet films, the manifestation of feelings seemed much more restrained. The character of the nurse Valeria was introduced into the plot of the picture at the urgent request, rather by order, of the film producer Franco Cristaldi. With his light hand, one of the central storylines became a beautiful but sad love story of a polar explorer from Sweden Finn Malmgren (actor Eduard Martsevich) and Valeria (actress Claudia Cardinale).
The fact is that the producer, according to the contract, had the right to invite any foreign actors to work on the project, since he paid for their fees. It was no secret to any of the crew that in the only female role in the whole film he saw only his bride - the already famous Italian actress Claudia Cardinal. After radical changes to the script, in connection with the adjustment of the producer, screenwriter Yuri Nagibin refused to further participate in the filming of the movie "Red Tent". Actors from the USSR regretted his departure from the project. Nagibin was replaced by the eminent Ennio de Conchini, Oscar winner, co-author of Italian Divorce.
Foreign movie lights
The indisputable success of the picture is the participation in it of the wonderful British actor Peter Finch. The general, in his performance, appears before the viewer as a middle-aged man, tired of life, at the same time experienced and still naive, gentle, exhausted by his complex of guilt over the past decades, but still a sincere and honest man. During the filming of takes, Soviet actors also listened to Finch's advice.
The Red Tent had a budget of $ 10,000,000, which ensured the participation in the film of both Peter Finch and Sean Connery. At first, the producer saw completely different masters of the stage in a meaningful image of Roald Amundsen: John Wayne, Paul Scofield, Laurenzo Olivier. However, they all flatly refused. The producer was almost desperate, but Sean Connery, the idol of millions, the mega-popular James Bond, agreed. His acting skills became a real find of the film.
The image of Roald Amundsen, passing through the entire plot of the picture, as if coordinating the development of action. The role of Connery can, without exaggeration, be called the pivotal point for the narrative. The image created by the actor is remembered by the viewer, does not leave anyone indifferent. In the domestic version, this is facilitated by the workshop voice acting by Yuri Yakovlev.
Full-scale shooting
About the work of the film crew during the on-site shootings of the Red Tent, sometimes in extreme conditions, it was possible to shoot a separate movie. Actor Eduard Martsevich was not at all sweet when the episodes were filmed on the coast of Franz Josef Land: he had to fall twice in doubles on the shoulders of a wormwood and then defile barefoot in real underwear among real ice hummocks. All the actors involved in the project sympathized with him.
“Red Tent” had a fabulous budget for that time, so Kristaldi did not spare funds for organizing film expeditions to the Far North. It is to him that the viewer owes the fact that he has the opportunity to contemplate the exceptionally beautiful landscapes of the Arctic, including the origin of the iceberg. Separate frames of the film act on the viewer in an amazing way.