In May 2017, Valery Todorovsky completed a four-year creative vacation, and presented the audience with a new full-length picture about the ballet - “Bolshoi”. Let's find out what she is about and who played the role in the project. And also find out how the audience met this picture.
The film of Valery Todorovsky "Big"
When shooting this project, Valery Todorovsky realized that his new work would certainly be compared with the Black Swan. Indeed, in the center of the plot is a kind of rivalry between two talented girls. However, he was not afraid to take a chance and shot a picture that is noticeably different not only in the plot, but also in the atmosphere itself.
To add realism to the project, some of the scenes were actually shot at the Bolshoi Theater. Everything else was filmed in Minsk, as well as in the Murmansk town of Kirovsk, which symbolized the hometown of the main character - Shakhtinsk.
All dance numbers for the film by Valery Todorovsky “Bolshoi” was put by Oleg Glushkov. Viewers have already seen his work in other projects of the director, in particular in "Hipsters" and "Thaws."
main characters
The plot of the film "Big" is the path to the success of girls-ballerinas Julia Olshanskaya and Karina Kournikova.
Julia is a provincial talent from Shakhtinsk. Her parents with many children are poor, and they do not care about the abilities of her daughter. Therefore, to make a career, the girl has to rely only on her own strength.
Moreover, she has a stubborn character and does not know how to adapt and flatter. Because of this, it is difficult for her to find friends in a theatrical environment, because relations there are often built on the basis of hypocrisy and lizobluzhenie.
Karina Kournikova is a golden girl, but her type is not typical. She is in love with dance. Pi Karina rather maturely evaluates her talent and is doing her best to succeed, using her strengths. Like Julia, she does not want victory at any cost, since it is fundamentally for her to prove to everyone, and first of all to herself, her skill.
The former prima of the Bolshoi is Galina Beletskaya. In the past, she was a brilliant ballerina, but in her old age she teaches at the Moscow Academy. Having worked all his life in the theater, Beletskaya knows the price of true friendship. That is why she allows herself to tell everyone the truth in person, no matter how unpleasant she is.
Lyudmila Untilova - also teaches and leads the academy. Unlike Beletskaya, she is an excellent diplomat. And he expects the same from the students. That is why the ingenuous Julia finds in the person of Untilova enemy.
Vladimir Pototsky is the first Olshanskaya dance teacher. In the past he was a great dancer, but foolishly left the ballet and drank too much. Seeing Julia, he tried to rehabilitate himself and help her find her way to the stage.
Antoine Duvall, like Potocki, once shone on the best stages of the world. However, he is aging and realizes that he will soon have to quit his career. The performance at the Bolshoi should be his swan song. However, the artist is not completely sure that this is the right choice. Like Karina, Duval is in love with dance, and he doesn’t care who dances with him, if only this person was really good.
Tanya Efremova is a classmate of Julia and Karina. She is also talented, but because of her large breasts, she has to change her profession. Tanya is very attached to Yulia and tries to support her.
What is the picture about
In his new work, Todorovsky tells the story of Yulia Olshanskaya from the time when Pototsky began to teach her, until she entered the Bolshoi.
Once in Shakhtinsk, a drunk Potocki sees a little girl dancing for money in the market. He understands that she has talent, and begins to develop it.
Later, he brings Julia to Moscow and introduces Beletskaya. The former ballerina is at first skeptical of the girl. In the future, Julia becomes her beloved student, whom the woman helps to get the main role in the final performance of Sleeping Beauty.
However, Olshanskaya had a lot of other problems by that time. She is unrequitedly in love, and her family is in dire need of money. To help them, the girl secretly takes a "bribe" from Karina's mother and refuses to play a role in Sleeping Beauty in favor of her friend.
At the same time, this is a terrible blow for Julia herself, and on the day of the performance she decides to repeat the legendary feat of her mentor and jump from one roof to the second. To her surprise, the girl succeeds, and she continues to live.
Like Karina, Olshanskaya gets a job at the Bolshoi. However, if Kournikova is prima, then Julia dances in the corps de ballet.
Once Antoine Duval arrives in Moscow. He plans to dance in Swan Lake, where Karina takes the main party. The Frenchman is quite skeptical of Yulia, especially when she finds out that she drinks.
At one of the rehearsals, after seeing her dance, Duval changes his mind and puts the girl as Karina's understudy. Because of this, Kournikova, who is in love with him, believes that Olshanskaya is his mistress - she is telling her friend a bunch of nasty things. In her hearts, Julia admits that she "sold" the role in Sleeping Beauty.
Karina is shocked, so on the day of the premiere, she decides to "return" her friend a debt and hides. Because of her loss, Julia gets the role of Odette and in the presented Beletskaya earrings she enters the stage of the Bolshoi ...
Professional ballet dancers who played the main characters at the box office
Having examined the plot and the characters, it is worth learning about the actors of the film "Big" (2017).
About 70 professional ballet dancers were invited to participate in the filming. That is why all the dances look really amazing.
In addition, for the first time in Todorovsky’s career, non-professional actors became the main actors.
The film "Big" (2017) was the debut in the cinema for the 29-year-old Lithuanian dancer Margarita Simonova. It was she who played the role of the adult Julia Olshanskaya. And in childhood, this character was played by Russian gymnast Katerina Samuilina.
Among other non-professional actors of the film "Big" (2017) - the performer of the role of Karina - Moscow ballerina Anna Isaeva. In childhood, her heroine was played by Anastasia Plotnikova.
The role of Antoine Duvall went to the famous French dancer Nicolas le Riches. Unlike the above-mentioned actors of the film "Big" (2017), for him this is not the first work in professional cinema. True, he previously played in French tapes.
Professional artists
If the main roles in the "Big" went to the dancers, then most of the other non-dancing characters were played by experienced actors.
The role of Beletskaya was played by the cult Soviet and Russian artist Alisa Freindlich (“Office Romance”, “Women's Logic”). Her opponent, Untilova, was played by Valentina Telichkina (“By the Lake”, “Can't Be”), and the drunken Pototsky was played by Alexander Domogarov (“Countess de Monsoro”, “Fire and Sword”).
The role of Pototsky’s girlfriend, Svetka’s stripper, was performed by Jan Sexte (“Thaw”, “Heavenly Court”). And the leader of the Bolshoi troupe is Pavel Belozerov ("Cafe Strawberry" ").
Reviews for the movie "Big"
Despite the grand PR campaign, financially, the picture turned out to be a failure, as it earned 234 million with 370 spent on it.
However, this is not always an indicator of spectator attitudes. Especially in the expanses of the former USSR, where Internet piracy is thriving. And many viewers simply cannot financially afford going to the movies. Instead, they are waiting for the appearance of the picture in the public domain.
Since at the moment everyone who wanted to watch the movie on the Internet could do it, the reviews left about it on various resources show the real attitude of the audience.
For example, on “Kinopoisk” a picture is devoted to 67 reviews (40 positive, 13 negative, 14 neutral).
What do they write in them? First of all, the weak play of leading actresses is criticized. However, they are ballerinas, what to take from them.
But Alisa Freindlich earned a lot of praise for the film "Big". Many call her the most interesting heroine of the picture, for the sake of which she is worth watching.
Also, a lot of negativity is devoted to the plot, for the abundance of cliches and inconsistencies.
However, the general mass of reviews about the film "Big" are good, as about a good, albeit slightly banal, fairy tale.