Eldar Ryazanov died in Moscow at the age of 89. The director left behind about 30 films, each of which became a hit in Soviet and Russian film distribution. Many of Ryazanov’s films have been quoted, his films, shot more than 40 years ago, are still watched in one breath and we can confidently say that there is no viewer in Russia who does not know the name of this director...
Ryazanov himself spoke modestly about himself: “ I never felt like a classic - neither cinema nor literature", - said National artist THE USSR.
Musical comedy "Carnival Night", released in wide release in 1956, is considered the first feature film Eldara Ryazanova.
Despite the skepticism of the artistic council, which called the rough material filmed by the director “boring and mediocre,” the film was an incredible success with audiences at that time: it sold over 48 million tickets. The young actress Lyudmila Gurchenko, who played one of the main roles in “Carnival Night,” according to critics, became an overnight star.
Movie “Hussar Ballad”, one of the main characters of which was the popularly famous lieutenant Rzhevsky (the role of Yuri Yakovlev), was filmed for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, and its premiere took place in Moscow at the Rossiya cinema on September 7, 1962.
Svetlana Nemolyaeva and Alisa Freindlikh also auditioned for the role of Shurochka Azarova, brilliantly played by Larisa Golubkina (this was her film debut).
In 1966, the audience was presented with a lyrical comedy by Eldar Ryazanov "Watch out for the car", which he based on the story by Emil Braginsky.
According to the director’s recollections, the plot was based on the then-popular legend of the “people’s Robin Hood,” who stole and sold the cars of “socialist property plunderers” and transferred the money to orphanages.
As Ryazanov and Braginsky later found out, the story about the noble kidnapper turned out to be completely fictitious.
“This guy raised his hand to the most sacred thing we have - the Constitution!” – says one of the characters in the film.
In the Italian version, the comedy “ Incredible adventures Italians in Russia“, filmed in 1973 by Eldar Ryazanov and Franco Prosperi, was called “One crazy, crazy, crazy race across Russia” - Una matta, matta, matta corsa in Russia.
They say that producer Dino di Laurentiis, having initially read the script written by the Ryazanov-Braginsky duo, declared it complete nonsense that the Italian audience would not watch.
At the request of di Laurentiis, Ryazanov rewrote the script, turning it into a chase film with various stunts and scenes with a live lion.
Ryazanov loved to play episodic roles in his films. In “Incredible Adventures,” he appeared in the film as a doctor on the wing of an airplane, beating the ice off a frozen mafioso.
Dialogue from the film:
– Don’t you know that I am Russian by origin? – Yes?
- Isn’t it noticeable?
- Very noticeable! You have a wonderful Ukrainian accent!
"Irony of Fate or Enjoy Your Bath"(1975) is still considered one of the most popular Soviet films and is traditionally shown on Russian television under New Year.
The film is based on the play “Enjoy Your Bath!” or Once Upon a New Year’s Eve,” which was written in 1969 and by the time the film was released, it was being shown in various theaters.
The Polish actress Barbara Brylska, who played one of the main roles, was dubbed by Valentina Talyzina, but her name is not in the credits, as well as indications that the songs for the heroes of Brylska and Myagkov were performed by Alla Pugacheva and Sergei Nikitin.
Eldar Ryazanov himself played in the film a passenger on an airplane, on whom the sleeping Lukashin constantly falls.
Dialogue from the film:
- No, I'm serious. It is especially difficult for us to have our own opinion. What if it’s wrong? Doctors' mistakes cost people dearly. – Yes... Teachers’ mistakes are less noticeable, but in the end they cost people no less dear.
Movie "Love affair at work", released in 1977, was a film adaptation of the play “Colleagues,” written in 1971 by Eldar Ryazanov and Emil Braginsky.
Words to famous song“Nature Has No Bad Weather” to the music of Andrei Petrov was written by Ryazanov himself.
During filming “ Office romance“The songs were performed by Andrei Myagkov himself (in “The Irony of Fate” Sergei Nikitin sang for him).
“If there were no statistics, we would not even suspect how well we work,” says the main character of the film, Anatoly Efremovich Novoseltsev.
In film "Garage"(1979), based on real events, Ryazanov did not change himself and again starred in cameo role. Ryazanov’s hero is the head of the insect department, who slept through the entire cooperative meeting, leaning on a stuffed hippopotamus.
“Garage,” released in 1979, tells the story of a meeting garage cooperative, where you need to decide which of those present will be deprived of the garage. The action takes place in the USSR in the late 1970s in the fictional Research Institute for the Protection of Animals from environment”.
Quotes from the film:
– The crane operator was paid a bonus, which was carried out strictly according to the estimate as payment for a day watchman. The day caretaker was paid, strictly according to the estimate, like laying asphalt, and the work on laying asphalt was paid, strictly according to the estimate, like landscaping work.
– What do you do, graduate student? You study the silver crane, and by the way, it nests abroad... This pie in the sky is not our bird at all.
– The silver crane is a dark bird. She doesn’t read newspapers and therefore has no idea whether it’s ours or capitalist.
Main roles in the film “Station for two” played by Oleg Basilashvili and Lyudmila Gurchenko.
The film participated in the official competition program of the 1983 Cannes Film Festival.
"Cruel romance" filmed in 1984 based on the play “Dowry” by Alexander Ostrovsky. For Larisa Guzeeva, the role of Larisa Ogudalova became her film debut.
“Forgotten melody for flute”, released in 1987, is based on the play “Immoral History,” which Ryazanov co-wrote with Braginsky. The main roles were played by Leonid Filatov, Tatyana Dogileva and Irina Kupchenko.
Dialogue from the film:
– I don’t have ham, sorry. What else did you seduce me with?
- Oh, there’s just caviar! Zucchini!
Ryazanov about himself:
“I believe that a person should always remain himself and do what he considers necessary. I've been in and out of fashion many times, but I've never done anything to be fashionable. Sometimes I was fashionable, sometimes I was not fashionable, then I became fashionable again. Every person should express himself if he has something to express“.
“I can say one thing about myself - I have always made films that I myself, as a viewer, would like to see. When I looked at such a picture made by someone else, I always regretted that it was not me who put it“, Ryazanov said several years ago.
From repression to comedy: long life Ryazanov
The future director was born on November 19, 1927 in Kuibyshev (now Samara). The parents of Ryazanov’s mother, nee Sofia Shusterman, lived there. Alexander Ryazanov and his wife worked at the Soviet trade mission in Tehran. Ryazanov spent the first years of his life there.
However, already in the 1930s, the father of the future director received an assignment in Moscow, where he moved with his family. Soon after moving to Moscow, the director’s father and mother separated. Subsequently, the father started a new family. In 1938, Alexander Ryazanov was repressed; in total, he served more than 17 years in prison.
Eldar was raised by his mother and then by his stepfather.
The director's teenage years occurred during the Great Patriotic War. When it started, he was only 14 years old.
Various biographies note Ryazanov’s love of reading. For example, in order to go to the library, in the third grade he forged a certificate, posing as a fifth grader.
First works
After school, Ryazanov entered VGIK, and he was able to get into the workshop of the then famous director Grigory Kozintsev, who directed “The Overcoat,” “New Babylon,” “Hamlet” and other films.
Ryazanov also studied other famous director- Sergei Eisenstein. He talked with him a lot, went to visit him.
In 1950, Ryazanov graduated from VGIK. His graduation work became the documentary “They Study in Moscow”, co-authored with classmate Zoya Fomina. She became the director's first wife, but this marriage broke up. In this marriage, a daughter, Olga, was born.
Immediately after graduation, Ryazanov got a job at the Central Documentary Film Studio. There he filmed stories for the film magazines “Pioneeriya”, “Soviet Sport” and “News of the Day”.
Only five years later, Ryazanov left to work for Mosfilm. His first major work at Mosfilm was the wide-screen concert film “Spring Voices,” which he directed together with Sergei Gurov.
The head of the studio, Ivan Pyryev, closely followed Ryazanov’s work. He persuaded his subordinate to make the film “Carnival Night,” which became Ryazanov’s debut in feature films. The film became the highest-grossing film of 1956. He also made the young actress Lyudmila Gurchenko famous. And Ryazanov himself turned into a star, whose work the entire USSR began to follow.
After “Carnival Night,” many of Ryazanov’s comedies followed, which also turned out to be successful. In 1958, “Girl Without an Address” was released, in 1961 – “Man from Nowhere”, and a year later – the famous “Hussar Ballad”. In the filming of “The Hussar Ballad,” Ryazanov was again helped by Pyryev, who persuaded Yuri Yakovlev to star in the film. The director himself had to convince the film bosses that the film was romanticizing Russian history.
At Mosfilm, Ryazanov also met his second wife, Nina Skuibina, who worked there as an editor. He lived with her until her death in 1994.
Literary creativity
Ryazanov’s childhood dream of a writing career also came true. In the 1960s, he began actively collaborating with screenwriter Emil Braginsky. It was in collaboration with him that scripts were written for many of Ryazanov’s famous works.
The first joint film between Ryazanov and Braginsky was the film “Beware of the Car,” which was released in 1966. The film is based on the story of the Soviet “Robin Hood”, who stole cars from thieves of state property. In the end, the story turned out to be fictitious. But Braginsky and Ryazanov were able to write out all the plot twists, dialogues and reversals of the characters’ characters so that the viewer believed in them.
Ryazanov and Braginsky consolidated their success with many other films. They co-authored the scripts for such films as “Zigzag of Fortune”, “Office Romance”, “Old Robbers”, “The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia”, “Station for Two”, “Garage” and “Ironies of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath” !”.
In 1977, Ryazanov’s books “The Sad Face of Comedy” and “These Frivolous, Frivolous Films” were published. Before this, “Zigzag of Luck” was also published as a book.
Mature years
Gradually, a circle of like-minded people begins to form around Ryazanov, which includes famous actors Soviet times: Yuri Yakovlev, Andrei Mironov, Evgeniy Evstigneev, Valentina Talyzina, Liya Akhedzhakova, Andrei Myagkov, Oleg Basilashvili and others.
In the 1970-1980s, Ryazanov worked a lot on television. He hosted the “Kinopanorama” program and also created his own television programs, among which were, for example, “The Parisian Secrets of Eldar Ryazanov” and “Conversations in the Fresh Air.”
In addition, he taught at Higher courses directors and screenwriters.
In 1991, the tragicomedy “Promised Heaven” was released, and then staged based on his own play “Prediction”. In 2000, Ryazanov directed the tragicomedy “Old Nags.”
The director's last films were the fairy tale “Andersen. Life without love” and “Carnival night - 2”.
Ryazanov was also the president of the Russian Academy of Cinematographic Arts “Nika”, as well as the founder of the Eldar Ryazanov Film Club.
Ryazanov made about 30 films and received many prizes and awards.
He was married for the third time to film editor Emma Abaidullina.
Despite their age, many of Eldar Aleksandrovich’s films remain, if not relevant, then still beloved for their warmth, sincerity and inner mischief
Movie selectionsStill from the film "Zigzag of Fortune"
Eldar Ryazanov has a special relationship with New Year’s miracles, and we will mention this holiday more than once in the context of his films, but let’s start with the 1968 comedy “Zigzag of Fortune.” Main character paintings, photographer Oreshnikov, performed by the rapidly gaining popularity Evgeny Leonov, wins big money in the lottery during the holidays. The trouble is that the money is happy ticket he took it from the common money accumulated by all the employees of the photo studio. Nowadays, such a premise could be used to make an adventurous adventure comedy, but Ryazanov took a more romantic path - in the plot he was more interested not in the external wealth of the heroes, but in their internal state.
Key phrase:“It has long been known: money spoils a person. But the lack of money spoils it even more.”
Ryazanov's cameo: No.
Still from the film "Promised Heaven"
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Ryazanov also had a special reverence for Italy; several of his films were in one way or another connected with this southern European country. For example, “Promised Heaven” is to some extent a paraphrase of the film “Miracle in Milan” directed by Vittorio de Sica. The latter was a sort of fantasy parable about the ascension, so the decision of the jury of one of international festivals presenting Ryazanov with the prize for the best science fiction film caused a sarcastic laugh from the director - for him, “Promised Heaven” was almost documentary film about the new Russia, in whose brutal transitional economy there was no place for too many. The film was supposed to be the next work of Georgy Burkov, who was destined for the role of the president, but shortly before the start of filming, the actor was first hospitalized and then died.
Key phrase:“My native country is wide, There are many forests, fields and rivers in it, I don’t know another country like this... I don’t know another... country... I’ve never been anywhere! Never!"
Ryazanov's cameo: Man in a cafe.
Still from the film "Dear Elena Sergeevna"
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The perestroika and new Russian years were generally difficult for Eldar Aleksandrovich; from a director, he was forced to retrain as a producer, an administrator, and a manager, which could not but have a negative impact on his creative impulses. However, there is a plus in the restructuring of the country; it forced Ryazanov himself to change his mind - to make a drama about youth. Ryazanov had the idea to film the play by Lyudmila Razumovskaya back in the early 80s, but the then management of Mosfilm did not allow the filming of such a harsh film towards schoolchildren. But with Gorbachev coming to power, censorship fell, and Ryazanov produced one of the most striking, but undeservedly overlooked, work with the brilliant Marina Neelova in leading role. Valeria Gai Germanika, Ivan Tverdovsky and Andrei Zaitsev have only now managed to approach the same depth of understanding of the inner world of adolescents.
Key phrase: “You are not a woman, you are a checkered notebook!”
Ryazanov's cameo: Neighbour.
Still from the film "Say a word for the poor hussar"
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Censorship also left its mark on the tragicomedy “Say a word for the poor hussar.” Firstly, Mosfilm refused to shoot the film, and Ryazanov had to work with television crews. Secondly, the strict script commission made many edits to the script by Grigory Gorin and Eldar Ryazanov, which resulted in plot holes that there was no time or money to fill. Finally, the management of Goskino also “shredded” the finished film, depriving the film of its tragic, deep ending. However, even in these conditions, Ryazanov remained at his best - brilliant acting work by Valentin Gaft and Stanislav Sadalsky, deep meaning and prominent characters, signature satire and interweaving historical facts and personalities into the outline of the story - all this makes viewers run to the screens at the first sounds of a hussar regiment entering the city.
Key phrase:“Well, don’t dirty my regiment. My eagles don’t read newspapers, haven’t even seen a book—they don’t have any ideas!”
Ryazanov's cameo: Confectioner.
Still from the film "Old Robbers"
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In our fast-paced times, under the pressure of energetic young people, it is not easy to hold on to your job not only for a pensioner, but also for someone who has barely exceeded forty. In Soviet times, the danger of losing a job was not so great, but the fear of being thrown out of the cozy world of one’s habits, skills and acquaintances was just as strong as it is now. In 1971, Eldar Ryazanov, together with his friend Emil Braginsky, wrote the script for the film “Old Robbers”, which raises the theme of an investigator sent into retirement, and by releasing the film, the director earned the popular love of the older generation. The magnificent duet of Yuri Nikulin and Evgeny Evstigneev could cope with any tasks alone, but the brilliant background of the actors makes the picture completely unforgettable.
Key phrase:“Actually, it is wrong that pensions are given in old age. It really should be given from 18 to 35 years old. Best age. In these years, it’s a sin to work; you only have to deal with your personal life. And then you can go to work. There’s no point in life anyway.”
Ryazanov's cameo: Passerby at the prison windows.
Still from the film "Cruel Romance"
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Ryazanov’s films rarely caused controversy among critics or among viewers, but “Cruel Romance,” a free interpretation of Ostrovsky’s play “Dowry,” truly stirred up the public and gave rise to full-fledged cultural wars. On the one hand, the film received several awards, and readers of the country's main film magazine "Soviet Screen" named "Romance" the film of the year, on the other hand, critics, especially theater critics, trampled on posters in anger and tore their hair out of anger at Ryazanov, who had significantly shifted the emphasis , arranged by Ostrovsky, and actually changed the interpretation of the plot. All the angry attacks of the “sharks of the pen,” however, instantly dissolve into thin air with the first gypsy chords of the picture, and the works of Alisa Freundlich, Nikita Mikhalkov and Andrei Myagkov were included in textbooks acting- the movie turned out to be soulful.
Key phrase:“I was looking for love and didn’t find it... They looked at me and look at me as if I was a joke. So, I’ll look for gold.”
Ryazanov's cameo: No.
Still from the film "Forgotten Melody for Flute"
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It’s hard to imagine, but the play “An Immoral Story,” which formed the basis for the script for the film “Forgotten Melody for Flute,” was written by Ryazanov and Braginsky back in 1976. Of course, then there could be no question of staging it, but with the proclamation of the Age of Glasnost, its implementation on the screen satirical story about the contradiction between bureaucracy and common people became a matter of honor for Ryazanov. Alas, the work on the film seriously undermined the director’s health; during the filming, Eldar Aleksandrovich suffered a stroke and combined work with rest in a hospital. Surely Ryazanov wanted to change the country with his painting, to make it cleaner, more open and sincere, but the harsh passage of time trampled these dreams - there was even more bureaucracy, the gap between the leadership and the people only intensified, and the current poverty is not even close to the meager life of the Soviet people .
Key phrase:“We can’t go to the collective farm - we don’t know how to do anything. We will completely ruin everything for them. They are already on their way out. It’s a pity for the collective farms.”
Ryazanov's cameo: Astronomer.
Still from the film "Hussar Ballad"
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Today's pretentious celebration of anniversaries makes many people think about how deeply and seriously we are immersed in the affairs of the past and how poorly we imagine our future. IN Soviet years Anniversaries were treated more simply (with the possible exception of the celebration of November 7), and the anniversary could well be celebrated with a light comedy. The musical film by Eldar Ryazanov “Hussar Ballad”, for example, was released on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, and its premiere took place on the day of the battle, September 7, but it cannot be compared with the current “Vasilisa”, “Battalion” or “Battle for Sevastopol” hand is a completely different approach to history. “Ballad” is a playful appeal to the brightest feelings, a graceful stimulation of patriotic sentiments and faith in great love, something that is often lacking in modern films about the military merits of our Motherland.
Key phrase:“Cornet, are you a woman?”
Ryazanov's cameo: No.
Still from the movie "Garage"
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Today, offering to watch the film “Garage” to a fourteen-year-old schoolchild is tantamount to showing him a film about the life of a tropical tribe, in the original language and without subtitles - nothing is clear at all! And it’s true: whoever now happily remembers the shortage of meat on the market, the trips of scientific workers to collective farms, the communist subbotniks and trade union gatherings - times have changed dramatically. But for those who in their lives have had time to stand in lines for blue chickens, who have found coupons for soap or postcards with the queue number for a Czech set, “Garage” remains a real nostalgic encyclopedia Soviet life, a catalog of things we've happily gotten rid of but remember fondly.
Key phrase:“What are you talking about? How can you kick me out? I sold my homeland for a car!”
Ryazanov's cameo: Head of the insect department.
Still from the film "Station for Two"
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Enjoying wild popularity in his homeland, Ryazanov rarely had the pleasure of presenting his paintings to foreign viewers, especially from the countries of the so-called capitalist world. And yet, his work in Europe did not go unnoticed - the melodrama “Station for Two” was selected for its competition program by the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Our film did not receive any prizes in France, but within the Union it did not need it; the film also became the best film according to the readers of Soviet Screen, and Lyudmila Gurchenko was recognized by the same magazine as the best actress. And everything that happened is absolutely justified. Indeed, the film is not very understandable abroad, there are too many “Soviet nuances” in it, which make it an incomparable spectacle for our compatriots, but you can’t even dig into the talented performance of her role by Ryazanov’s favorite actress Lyudmila Gurchenko - that’s it truly a symbol of the Soviet woman, lonely, loving, hard-working.
Key phrase:“What did I tell you to do, you asshole? I told you to guard the melons! What have you done?
Ryazanov's cameo: Deputy station manager.
Still from the film "Carnival Night"
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If we talk about Lyudmila Gurchenko, then we cannot ignore her brilliant comedic debut, which coincided with the full-fledged debut of Eldar Ryazanov himself - the musical “Carnival Night”. The picture about the clash of two generations who want to celebrate a common holiday in their own way has dozens of analogues, from the ancient “Republic of Shkid” to the recent “Gorko”, but even among a dozen colleagues “Night” rises like a beautiful tower. Rarely a director can boast that his first film becomes a box office leader, but Ryazanov easily overcame this milestone. It’s not often that honored masters agree to play in films by debutants, but both Sergei Filippov and Igor Ilyinsky gladly came to “Carnival Night”. Finally, remember the great song “Five Minutes” from the film - it still motivates and lifts your spirit. And this is 60 years after the film was released!
Key phrase:“The speaker will give a brief report, about forty minutes, I don’t think more is needed.”
Ryazanov's cameo: No.
Still from the film "Office Romance"
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It is no secret that many scripts for Ryazanov’s films grew out of his own plays, written in collaboration with Emil Braginsky. Naturally, the plays often found their way onto the theater stage before becoming the property of the State Film Fund, and among the productions there were some very talented ones. But not in the case of “Colleagues,” the forerunner of “Office Romance.” The play traveled to many theaters, but none of the director’s decisions satisfied Ryazanov, and then the director decided to transfer his story to the big screen himself, since the actors were ready to follow Eldar Alexandrovich through thick and thin. The lyrical comedy became one of the favorite films of Soviet women, the talented couple played by Freundlich and Myagkov, whose energy was largely built on the improvisations of the actors, turned into a standard romantic heroes late Soviet period. And how phrases from the film spread around the world...
Key phrase: “We call it “our mymra.” Of course, behind your back."
Ryazanov's cameo: Bus passenger.
Still from the film "Beware of the Car"
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For the script lyrical comedy“Beware of the Car” Eldar Ryazanov and Emil Braginsky (this is their first collaboration) sat down back in 1963, but promoting through the casting organs the story of a modern Robin Hood stealing a car from crooks and transferring money for them to orphanages turned out to be a difficult task. Only after the script, converted into a story, was published in a magazine and received positive reviews from the country's leaders, the film was given the green light (actually black and white). Ryazanov stood in front of the most difficult choice who to give the role of Detochkin to - Yuri Nikulin Waterloo by Sergei Bondarchuk auditioned for it. The producer of the European partner, Dino De Laurentiis, was dissatisfied with the script, but when Ryazanov added several action scenes with an airplane and chases to the script and introduced a live lion into the plot, the parties came to an agreement and the joint work began. The film is replete with celebrities, filming took place in the most recognizable places in Leningrad, many of the stunts were performed by the actors themselves - such a film is still breathtaking. “The Italians” became one of the highest-grossing comedies produced by the USSR together with film companies from other countries.
Key phrase:“What have I got to do with it, look what’s going on on your roads!”
Ryazanov's cameo: Doctor on the wing of an airplane.
Still from the film "The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!"
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It’s absolutely impossible to imagine your life without Ryazanov’s film, and it’s without “The Irony of Fate.” The song “I asked the ash tree,” Ippolit, wet with tears, and 3rd Street of Builders became as integral an attribute of the New Year’s holiday table as tangerines, champagne and sparklers. No matter how much negativity spills out onto the Internet every year about how childish Lukashin really is and how frivolously Nadya behaves, the couple of heroes Andrei Myagkov and Barbara Brylski still remain beloved by millions of viewers. From year to year, TV channels fight for the right to broadcast this film by Ryazanov at the very hour when the chimes strike twelve times, to once again demonstrate the miracle of unexpected love, the brilliance of sincerity and the nobility of adventurism. We, without a doubt, give primacy in our hit parade to this anthem of healthy self-irony and readiness for New Year's adventures.
Key phrase:“What disgusting, what disgusting this is your jellied fish…»
Ryazanov's cameo: Airplane passenger.
As it should be from a great comedian, Eldar Ryazanov's films are as funny as they are sad. It is no coincidence that the director titled his own books about cinema: “The Sad Face of Comedy” and “Funny Sad Stories.” Through humor and lyrics, the director moves towards drama and even tragedy. In the images of the eccentric characters in his films, the results of the eternal conflicts between the internal and external worlds are visible, and comical plots lead the heroes either to the need to reconsider values or to rhetorical questions about life. Interestingly, Ryazanov became a comedian almost against his will - the classic of the humorous genre of the Stalinist style, Ivan Pyryev, literally forced (and then only on the fourth attempt) the young director to take on “Carnival Night”. True, it is unlikely that Pyryev, whose heroes knew no despondency, could have imagined that his “successor” would add notes of intellectual melancholy to the life-affirming genre.
However, Ryazanov's films are not only comedies, but also fairy tales. The director is rightly called “the creator of Soviet folklore.” Together with his regular collaborator, screenwriter Emil Braginsky, Ryazanov regularly took stories and images from life, then gave them the form of stable plots and, finally, generously decorated them with elements of romance and lyricism (the action space is poeticized, and a happy ending awaits the heroes). Thanks to this approach, at the intersection of reality and fiction, Ryazanov’s cinema reflected recognizable Soviet and Russian archetypes: intellectuals, minor employees, bureaucrats, homeless people, “new Russians.” Everyday reality in the director’s films is recognizable and at the same time idealized, and this is probably the reason for the constant demand for his films among the widest audience.
Eccentricity and social satire
The interconnected comedy elements present in all Ryazanov’s films are eccentricity and satire. The director regularly turned to a parodic depiction of reality, thus trying to ridicule the existing order. Igor Ilyinsky is eccentric in “Carnival Night”, who creates a caricatured image of a bureaucrat and thereby ridicules the tendency of petty regulation by the state public life. The premise of "" is grotesque - the hero finds himself in the same apartment as his own, only in a different city. At the same time, socio-political criticism is also obvious - a satire on Soviet traditions of urban planning and, in general, the formal, dismissive attitude of the state towards people. In “Garage”, a rather conventional upheaval serves as a reason for reconstructing the working scheme of totalitarianism, where the comfortable conditions of existence for some are inseparable from the infringement of others. It should be noted, however, that best works Ryazanov - those where the eccentricity is not exacerbated to the extreme, and social satire is expressed not in literal, but in Aesopian language. Beginning with “Forgotten Melody for Flute,” these elements are more clearly expressed. The result is known to everyone - with the advent of such a turn, the director's best films were left behind.
Humanization: little people and the identification effect
Eldar Ryazanov managed to humanize Soviet cinema. Going against the pathetic heroic tradition of the revolutionary avant-garde and Stalinist academicism, the director returned to the screens “ little man"in the person of romantic poor fellows, modest employees, unlucky intellectuals and modern Don Quixotes. Turning to the canons that had developed thanks to Pushkin and Gogol, Ryazanov sculpted a portrait of a short man from picture to picture social status, not outstanding in appearance, but kind, charming in his own way and deserving of his own share of happiness. As a result, while one part of the multimillion-dollar Ryazanov audience could associate itself with the heroes, the other could not help but sympathize with them. What’s interesting is that partly the same applies to conventionally negative heroes: various kinds of crooks, careerists, snobs, bureaucrats and other “scum.” Even exposing them, the director sought to find in them something human, worthy of understanding and indulgence.
The intimacy and poetry of the city
A kind of conflict of spaces runs through all of Ryazanov’s work. Most of the action in his paintings takes place in the scenery of the everyday environment familiar to the viewer: standard apartments, premises of institutions and research institutes, restaurants, train stations, and the like. With limited spaces in “The Irony of Fate”, “Garage” and “Dear Elena Sergeevna”, the director seems to emphasize the state of unfreedom in which we find the heroes. It should be noted that these spaces are always carefully thought out and filled with metaphorical objects, which not only serve as eloquent signs of their era, but also complement the characteristics of the heroes.
Scene from the film "Office Romance" (1977)
The claustrophobic spaces are contrasted with rarer location shots. Ryazanov is an urban director who managed to create his own lyrical vision of the city on the screen, be it Lvov, Kostroma, Leningrad or Moscow. For example, in “Office Romance,” director and cameraman Vladimir Nakhabtsev managed to capture special poetry in the chaotic rhythm of life in the capital. And autumn shots of streets sprinkled with the first snow, perhaps, still continue to work romantic image Moscow.
Aphorisms
Another secret of the popularity of Ryazanov’s films is the abundance of lines that instantly went off the screen to the people. “There is an attitude to have fun celebrating the New Year”; “You need to know your boss by sight”; “They will screw you, but don’t steal”; “I sold my homeland for a car”; “My salary is good. Small, but good” - for each of the director’s films there are dozens of similar aphorisms. They appeared in a variety of ways: some were born at a desk, others were accidentally overheard, and others became impromptu actors. One way or another, they concentrated in a concentrated form the talent of Ryazanov and his co-authors to capture and convey the characteristics of the character and the conditions surrounding him. In other words, the director understood perfectly well that one precise replica can sometimes be more advantageous and more informative than an entire episode.
Collective Hero
This feature of Ryazanov's films probably has its roots in the work of his master, Sergei Eisenstein. Of course, you won’t find a “collective protagonist” in the radical form that is present in “Battleship Potemkin” in Ryazanov, but, nevertheless, the director’s penchant for multi-figure compositions is obvious. For example, already in “Carnival Night” the question of the main character is debatable - although Lena Krylova-Gurchenko seems so to most viewers, Ryazanov himself considered Ogurtsov-Ilyinsky to be the leading character. In “The Irony of Fate”, “Office Romance” and “Station for Two” the main character can be called a pair - two characters, initially acting as antagonists, gradually discover more and more similarities, becoming inseparable. In other films - in "Garage", "Promised Heaven" and "Old Nags" - the boundaries of a single main character are blurred into half a dozen characters, together forming a single portrait of a particular social or age group. Ryazanov even called the roles in these films “episodic leading” roles.
Working with an actor and a scattering of stars
On the set film"Garage" (1979)
Like Ryazanov, he is an acting director, for whom the most important thing is the performer in the frame. Which is understandable, because central theme his work is about man and human relationships against the backdrop of historical vicissitudes and specific social circumstances. It is widely known that Ryazanov managed to make friends with most of the actors. As a rule, it was important step before starting to work together. At the same time, on set, the director was distinguished by his seriousness and increased demands, believing that an actor can evoke a response from the viewer only if he “completely gets into the skin of the character” and at the same time “gives his best to the end, not sparing himself in anything.” However, this did not interfere with spontaneity. “I really love such “gags” when they are truly improvisational and not planned,” said Ryazanov. This is how some famous episodes were born - for example, famous phrase Yuri Yakovlev in “The Irony of Fate”: “Oh, she’s gone lukewarm!”
Considering that Ryazanov’s film career lasted more than half a century, it is noteworthy that his films featured their own best roles dozens of the biggest movie stars from several cinematic eras. In the 50s - Nikolai Rybnikov and Yuri Belov, in the “thaw” of the 60s - Oleg Borisov and Innokenty Smoktunovsky, in the “stagnant” 70-80s - Andrei Myagkov and Andrei Mironov, Alisa Freundlikh and Larisa Guzeeva, Nikita Mikhalkov and Oleg Basilashvili, during perestroika - Leonid Filatov and Marina Neyolova. Ryazanov made his debut with Sergei Yursky and Anatoly Papanov, Lyudmila Gurchenko and Larisa Golubkina. Screen veterans, stars of the 20s and 30s Igor Ilyinsky, Erast Garin and Nikolai Kryuchkov, found a second wind with him. He also revealed the dramatic potential of comedians Yuri Nikulin, Evgeny Leonov and Evgeny Evstigneev. Finally, such characteristic performers as Liya Akhedzhakova, Valentin Gaft, Yuri Yakovlev, Georgy Burkov and Svetlana Nemolyaeva became regular participants in his films. Isn't it amazing how high the concentration of iconic names is in just one director's biography.
Cameo
Continuing the acting theme, let's remember Ryazanov. Starting with “Give me a book of complaints,” the director often appeared in the frame of his own films in microscopic and, as a rule, wordless roles. Some of these cameos are nothing more than inside jokes. Others are symbolic: for example, in “Dear Elena Sergeevna” Ryazanov appears in the image of a neighbor demanding that teenagers stop making noise - this is how the director directly talks about his conflict with the younger generation. The third type of cameo has a significant plot function. Thus, in “Garage,” Ryazanov’s hero, who slept through all the intrigues, turns out to be the very “lucky one” who is excluded from the cooperative by lot. But perhaps the director’s most famous cameo is in “The Irony of Fate,” where he appears for a few seconds as Zhenya Lukashin’s traveling companion.
Songs and music
Scene from the film "Carnival Night" (1956)
An integral element of Ryazanov's cinema is songs. This is what happened with Carnival Night, which was, in fact, a musical that continued the tradition of the films of Grigory Alexandrov and Ivan Pyryev - sooner or later the characters begin to sing. Musicality is justified by the plot: the characters find themselves participating in a stage action or, having found a guitar in the corner, they try to express their innermost thoughts through song. The number of hits that came out of Ryazanov’s films is in the dozens: the New Year’s anthem “Five Minutes” from “Carnival Night”, “Detochkin’s Waltz” from “Beware of the Car”, “This is What Happens to Me” from “The Irony of Fate”, “Nature Has No bad weather" from "Office Romance", "Don't be afraid to change your life" from "Station for Two" and many others. Here Ryazanov found famous co-authors: Anatoly Lepin, Andrei Petrov and Mikael Tariverdiev - composers inclined specifically to the song form. Petrov collaborated with Ryazanov the longest - almost forty years on fourteen films. The secret of such a long-lasting union, presumably, lies in the special lyrical intonation and a certain degree of illustrativeness, which ideally suited Ryazanov’s cinema.
Workaholism
Eldar Ryazanov is often called a happy director. Of course, he knew practically no downtime, having shot twenty-five full-length feature films over half a century (this is in addition to working on television, literary activity and poetry). At the same time, Ryazanov, like all his colleagues, was faced with the delights of Soviet film production: censorship, state intervention in creative process and even prohibitions (“The Man from Nowhere” lay on the shelf for a long time). The reason for such enviable performance is, presumably, simple. And it’s not only about the stable success at the box office and the status of a master, which to a certain extent made it easier to launch new projects. Ryazanov himself explained his ability to work with his health and the inability not to create: “When I make films, I simply have no time to be sick. As soon as the film ends, illness and disease begins to creep out of all the cracks. Therefore, for me - this is a recipe just for me - I need to work all the time.”
November 18th famous director Eldar Ryazanov would have turned 91 years old. Hundreds of millions of people love him for his films “Beware of the Car”, “The Incredible Adventures of the Italians”, “Forgotten Melody for the Flute”, and the screening of “The Irony of Fate” on New Year’s Eve has become a tradition for many years. On the eve of the director’s birthday, the Inter TV channel will show 4 films shot by Ryazanov.
On November 17 at 8.45 watch “The Hussar Ballad”, at 10.45 - the film “Girl of the Base Address”, at 12.30 - “Give me a Book of Complaints”, and at 14.10 - “Beware of the Car”.
We have collected the most striking quotes from Eldar Ryazanov and the heroes of his films.
Rules of life of Eldar Ryazanov
- Where there is humor, there is truth.
— There are no unimportant periods in life.
“Those who constantly criticize our generation seem to have forgotten who raised them.”
“Children cannot be a bargaining chip for politicians.”
“When timid people lose their temper, you should beware of them.”
“For everyone to know, it’s enough to tell just one person.”
— People are divided into those who live to retire and the rest.
— There are things that should not bring monetary profit. Because they bring a different profit - not material, but spiritual. It cannot be measured with any money.
— I look with despair at how such concepts as artistic image, idea, sympathy, mercy, spirituality. And having evaporated from the cinema, they disappear from people’s consciousness.
“What touched me in the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties—it also touched me.” great amount people, the majority. Today there are fewer and fewer people like me. Fellini said in the eighties: “My viewer is already dead.” This is the terrible truth.
Rules of life for Ryazanov's heroes
- I don’t like to joke myself, and I won’t let people
— We won’t take Baba Yaga from outside - we’ll raise him in our team
- Comrades! Have a fun way to celebrate the New Year! We must spend our New Year's Eve so that no one can say anything
“If a person has become morally corrupt, you need to say so directly, and not laugh, you know.”
("Carnival Night")
- What a disgusting thing this jellied fish of yours is!
“You can’t be offended by the truth, even if it’s bitter.”
("The Irony of Fate")
- Stop! Don't raise your hands! You won’t wash them off for the rest of your life!
- If a woman with such external data fights for the truth, she is probably not married.
("Garage")
— One hundred grams is not a stopcock: if you pull, you won’t stop!
(“Station for two”)
- Chest forward!
- Breast? You flatter me, Vera.
- Everyone flatters you!
It's quiet around, only the badger is not sleeping.
He hung his ears on branches and quietly danced around.
- What about the circus?
“I have enough circus in my life.”
- Not only are you a liar, a coward and an impudent person, you are also a fighter!
- Yes, I'm a tough nut to crack!
("Love affair at work")
- You need to marry an orphan.
- They'll screw you, but don't steal!
— Man, more than any other living creature, loves to create additional difficulties for himself
- Listen, I've had a lot of fun. I have to put myself horizontal
("Watch out for the car")
On November 18, the remarkable Russian film director Eldar Ryazanov would have turned 90 years old. The range of emotional intensity of his films is unusually wide: from tragic " Cruel romance” to the uncontrollably cheerful “Carnival Night”. The fact that Ryazanov is a real master can be guessed by how “tenacious” his characters and quotes from his works are: here you have jokes about Lieutenant Rzhevsky on the verge of a foul (who even remembers where this Lieutenant Rzhevsky came from?), and “what a disgusting thing this jellied fish of yours is!” together with the entire trinity of lovers Zhenya and Nadya and the unfortunate Ippolit, and the motto “freedom for Yuri Detochkin!”...
All Ryazanov’s films are a kind of “colorized pictures from life.” They are realistic, but a little dreamlike. They are edifying, but not at all moralizing. His characters can sometimes look very ridiculous, but through all their absurdity shines through a reminder of things that are truly serious and important.
Yuri Detochkin
Objectively speaking, Yuri Detochkin is not at all positive hero. For a moment, imagine such a person in real life: he gets into the private lives of people, collects dossiers on them, and then also dispenses justice, instead of handing over the criminals to justice. Let us remember Kant: “You must always act in such a way that the maxim of your will serves as the basis for universal legislation.” What kind of society will it be if universal legislation will he steal cars from thieves, even if he transfers money for ill-gotten gains to those in need? Chaos. Life according to concepts.
But there is one feature in Detochkin that covers all his shortcomings. And makes him look like a holy fool. The search for truth defines his entire being. This is exactly why we are persecuting him. Detochkin’s tragedy is that legal law cannot keep up with him in his utopian pursuit of truth.
But for us, this obviously crazy, forgive the common expression, hero is a reminder. A reminder of the importance of sincerity and clarity in “discerning spirits.” That there is no room for compromise in dealing with evil. The method that Detochkin chose may be controversial, but the goal is correct.
Cornet Shurochka
The film “The Hussar Ballad” is practically a hymn to women’s equality (except for the fact that women do not have to be afraid of mice, this is, as they say nowadays, a false gender stereotype).
The beginning of the 19th century, that is, a time when it was simply ridiculous to think about gender equality. A girl trained in fencing and horse riding fits in perfectly with the setting Patriotic War 1812 and wipes the noses of young and experienced officers. Shurochka not only successfully pretends to be a young man - she accomplishes real feats, she receives a well-deserved award, she continues her military service...
The author of the script, Alexander Gladkov, claimed that his Shurochka was not at all based on the “first female officer” Russian army Nadezhda Durova. Indeed, in Shurochka there is more of what we would call “recklessness,” but the determination is the same. And this is a huge lesson.
Behind its cunning, there is actually simplicity. At first she makes fun of the self-confident groom, but soon her game turns into a life full of dangers. Shurochka makes it very clear that a person should be valued by what he has done.
Nothing prevents a girl with military skills from saving the imperial adjutant. A tree is known by its fruit, not by its form.
Nadya Sheveleva
In fact, “The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath” is a downright harmful film. Let's start with the fact that you shouldn't get so terribly drunk, even on New Year's Day (especially the day before). In addition, I’m very sorry for both Galya, Zhenya’s fiancée, and Ippolit, Nadya’s fiancé. It is not their fault at all that their supposed future spouses will meet their fate on a fabulous New Year's Eve and leave them without the slightest regret. They say that in the modern sequel to “The Irony of Fate” it turned out that Nadya returned to Ippolit, and Zhenya returned to Gala, and this is very realistic. But this will happen in twenty years, but for now let’s turn to the original.
The New Year's Eve described in the film is extremely chaotic, and it is not so easy to understand the characters. But Nadya has one integral quality - kindness.
It is out of her kindness that Nadya does not expose the intrusive guest to the police, especially when he begins to behave openly indecently, throwing out a portrait of her fiancé and so on. This is out of kindness (and not just because he annoys her in her own own apartment) she is ready to lend him money for a ticket to Moscow. In the end, she just sings kind and bright songs!
And at the end, her kindness merges with hope for a miracle. The drunken but wise Ippolit directly and honestly admitted that it is possible to break a relationship in one night, but not to build it. But Nadezhda wanted a fairy tale and a miracle too much. She takes Zhenya’s briefcase with a broom and goes to Moscow. Just return the forgotten broom. And a miracle happens.
Novoseltsev
“What could be instructive in this weak-willed little man - neither fish nor fowl?” - the reader will be surprised. In vain.
“Office Romance” is one of Ryazanov’s best and most profound works. Despite all the unreality of what is happening: ugly ducks do not turn into swan princesses just from one-time male attention, ordinary-looking men do not turn into macho men from the sympathy of their boss. But the essence is captured brilliantly: we all need love, attention and care. Only they tear off Mymra’s mask from the beautiful noble appearance given to Lyudmila Prokofyevna great actress Alisa Freindlich. Only they make an unnoticed employee of a meaningless institution a courageous and open person.
You can guess that Novoseltsev is not as simple as it seems by the fact that he is not a widower - he sued the children from his “stray wife.” And this is “plus one to karma,” as those living in computer games People. The point is not that Novoseltsev is a vengeful scoundrel who does not allow the unfortunate mother who has stumbled (or maybe not stumbled, but simply fallen in love with another - it was not a great sin to officially divorce in the era of stagnation) to raise her children. The fact is that the mother does not appear or is mentioned even once throughout the film. At least once, in conversations with colleagues, Anatoly angrily said that she was watching the children at the kindergarten or school. Or that he is trying to sue.
No this. Novoseltsev - worthy father, who very accurately understands his duty to the children abandoned by their mother.
Novoseltsev is a decent person. He categorically does not want to hit on his boss for the sake of promotion on the advice of his dishonest friend Samokhvalov. His awkward attempts to attract her attention to himself are only proof that underneath his spinelessness lies an inability to lie.
Finally, when the novel is already developing “to its fullest,” Novoseltsev once again shows his decency, this time in relation to his colleague Ryzhova, disgraced by Samokhvalov, when he slaps the latter. What, Anatoly didn’t understand that Samokhvalov would pawn him too? Yes, he just didn't think about it. He thought about a naive woman in love, offended for no reason.
The end of the story is natural. Novoseltsev, even a devoted “friend” can prove to his “iron lady” the strength of his feelings. Yes, hysterically, yes with a scandal. But I could. Because the basis of his character is not softness at all, but a steel core of decency.
Elena Pavlovna Malaeva
“Garage” is not a comedy, but a tragedy of Soviet life. People turn into something terrible for the sake of good. Fortunately, these are garages through which the highway should pass. Nowadays, people would create a scandal, write on blogs, on Facebook, to Putin - and would achieve not only compensation, but also public attention. But the calendar shows deep stagnation, the end of the seventies. The team's leadership simply offers victims. And the collective is ready to kill these victims.
And then a small and not so small woman enters the arena of this circus of human relations. beautiful woman, which no one nominated as a victim. Elena Pavlovna Malaeva, junior Researcher, childishly naively declares that this is not fair, locks the room where the meeting is taking place, and demands to sort it out. By the way, knowing full well that “sorting it out” might not be in her favor.
Oh, and she will get it for her love of truth. They will scold her and publicly spread gossip about her personal life, not even sparing her child. She would get angry, throw the key and leave: “Decide as you know, you can throw me out too.” But no. Malaeva is capable of offense, but is incapable of either pride or anger. She, too, like our first hero, is a born truth-seeker.
“Garage” ends just as sadly as “Beware of the Car” - the truth could not be restored. For no reason at all, the sleeping head of the insect department was excluded from the list of shareholders (this is happening in the mysterious Research Institute for the Protection of Animals from the Environment). But with the help of Elena Pavlovna, they managed to take at least two steps towards the truth - they exposed the “thieves”, and not those who could not defend themselves.
I don’t know whether Eldar Aleksandrovich was a Christian. But he endowed his heroes with simple human virtues. Which are essentially Christian.