A destroyed publication, a conversation with Stalin, the last words of Mikhail Bulgakov and other stories about the legendary book.
On November 11, online readings of excerpts from Mikhail Bulgakov’s cult novel “The Master and Margarita” took place on the RuNet. The project was attended by famous cultural figures, businessmen and athletes, such as Diana Arbenina, Alena Khmelnitskaya, Maxim Tretyakov, as well as the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky. The readings were timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first publication of the book and the 125th anniversary of Mikhail Afanasyevich. Soyuz.Ru has prepared material about the great novel and is sharing it with readers interesting stories about "The Master and Margarita".
Working on a book
The first publication of the novel “The Master and Margarita” was destroyed. The author himself got rid of it after receiving a telegram banning the play “The Cabal of the Saint.” Bulgakov resumed work on the novel later, in 1931, and initially planned to call it Satan, Here I Am, The Black Magician, or The Great Chancellor. In total, the writer took about 10 years to create the manuscript.
It is believed that The Master and Margarita has always been the most important novel for Bulgakov himself. The last words of the writer that he said about his “diabolica” were: “So that they know... So that they know!”
Cat Behemoth
The Behemoth cat has long become a popular image in everyday life - any large black cat is associated by readers of The Master and Margarita with Bulgakov’s character. Many Russians to this day consider the hero of the novel cute and somewhat funny.
When creating this image, did Mikhail Afanasyevich think about a real hippopotamus? Did you want to see your cat huge?
It's worth assuming not. After all, a hippopotamus is not only an animal that we can see every day in the city zoo, but also a mythological creature, a demon of carnal desires. And it’s not for nothing that in “The Master and Margarita” he becomes Woland’s jester. So you shouldn’t imagine the hero of the novel as a fat cat; he can be thin, but he must be demonic.
Conversation with Stalin
It is known that in 1937 the author had a telephone conversation with Joseph Stalin. Nobody knows the details of that conversation. However, during mass shootings Bulgakov and his family remained safe and sound, although NKVD officers knew about the existence of the manuscript of the diabolical novel and repeatedly searched the writer’s apartment. Many literary scholars believe that some phrases spoken different heroes"The Master and Margarita" is addressed precisely Secretary General. What exactly they said to each other on the phone will remain a mystery.
Master Bulgakov
The series "The Master and Margarita" is quickly gaining legends. Everyone already knows that actress Anna Kovalchuk in the role of Margarita walked in steel panties, shoes and rubbed her feet with bolts; that in the scene of Margarita’s arrival at the Sabbath, Kovalchuk was very afraid of the rats that lived in the pond where the filming took place; that the black horses of hell are made from a horse owned by Alexander Nevzorov, and Behemoth is Kuklachev’s trained cat.
Of course, there was talk about mysticism on the set, though. A number of legends became known to the general public through the efforts of the newspaper "Life". Here are some of them.
"Master" is voiced by "Yeshua". Alexander Galibin is shocked
Actor Alexander Galibin, who played the Master in the series, was shocked when he learned that his character was re-voiced by Sergei Bezrukov.
As the newspaper “Life” reports, the role was difficult for Galibin, and therefore the work on the “voice acting” turned out to be a difficult test. Producer Valery Todorovsky thought that the actor’s voice sounded hoarse and trembled a little, so he suggested re-voicing the Master.
Director Vladimir Bortko agreed with Todorovsky, admitting that Sergei Bezrukov’s voice is stronger and more expressive than Galibin’s. Only they forgot to warn Alexander himself that the Master would not speak in his voice: “I voiced the Master and did not know anything that my voice had been replaced,” Galibin said.
Arbitrariness of “Margarita”: Kovalchuk interfered in the creative process
Anna Kovalchuk, who plays Margarita in the TV series “The Master and Margarita,” demanded that the scene in which the boy calls her character mom be excluded from the film.
The actress said that this episode was a betrayal of her daughter Zlata. Director Vladimir Bortko, who at first regarded Kovalchik’s demand as a woman’s whim, nevertheless, as the newspaper “Life” writes, followed the actress’s lead.
Talking with the director, she recalled that working on the series cost her family - immediately after the end of filming, her husband, Andrei Ilchenko, left her.
According to the production designer of the series, Vladimir Svetozarov, the episode of the meeting between the naked Margarita and the frightened child inspired fears from the very beginning: the scene had to be filmed in such a way that it did not resemble child porn. The episode took a lot of effort; when Kovalchuk was filming, all the “extra” people were asked to leave the pavilion. Therefore, the request to delete this particular scene seemed strange to many.
Abdulov almost disrupted the filming, being frightened by the “devilry”
Actor Alexander Abdulov almost disrupted the filming of the series “The Master and Margarita”. In the midst of working on the film, the actor unexpectedly demanded an increase in his fee. When Bortko finally began working on the series, Abdulov, who received about $3,000 per day of filming, demanded to double the fee, threatening to refuse work. The director, who could not imagine anyone else in the role of Koroviev, was forced to make concessions.
"LIFE" on POLIT.RU
74 years ago Mikhail Bulgakov introduced last change to your great novel“The Master and Margarita,” the interpretation of which researchers are still struggling with. In honor of this event, we offer seven keys to understanding this immortal work.
1. Literary hoax
Why famous novel Bulgakov is called “The Master and Margarita”, and what is this book really about? It is known that the idea of creation was born to the author after his fascination with German mysticism of the 19th century: legends about the devil, Jewish and Christian demonology, treatises about God - all this is present in the work. The most important sources that the author consulted were the works “The History of Relations between Man and the Devil” by Mikhail Orlov and Amfiteatrov’s book “The Devil in Everyday Life, Legend and in the Literature of the Middle Ages.” As you know, The Master and Margarita had several editions. They say that the first one, on which the author worked in 1928-29, had nothing to do with either the Master or Margarita, and was called “The Black Magician”, “Juggler with a Hoof”. That is, the central figure and essence of the novel was the Devil, such a Russian version of Faust. Bulgakov personally burned the first manuscript after his play “Kabbalah the Holy One” was banned. The writer informed the government about this: “And I personally, with my own hands, threw a draft of a novel about the devil into the stove...”! The second edition was also dedicated to the fallen angel, and was called “Satan” or “Great Chancellor”. Margarita and the master had already appeared here, and Woland had acquired his own retinue. But only the third manuscript received its current name, which, in fact, the author never finished.
2. The Many Faces of Woland
The Prince of Darkness is perhaps the most popular character in The Master and Margarita. On a superficial reading, the reader gets the impression that Woland is “justice itself,” a judge who fights human vices and patronizes love and creativity. Some even think that Bulgakov portrayed Stalin in this image! Wolanda is many-sided and complex, as befits the Tempter. He is viewed as a classic Satan, which is what the author intended in early versions of the book, as a new Messiah, a reimagined Christ, whose coming is described in the novel.
In fact, Woland is not just a devil - he has many prototypes. This is the supreme pagan god– Wotan among the ancient Germans, or Odin among the Scandinavians, whom Christian tradition turned into a devil; this is the great “magician” and freemason Count Cagliostro, who remembered the events of a thousand years of the past, predicted the future, and had a portrait resemblance to Woland. And also this " dark horse"Woland from Goethe's Faust, who is mentioned in the work only once, in an episode that was missed in the Russian translation. By the way, in Germany the devil was called “Vahland.” Remember the episode from the novel when the employees cannot remember the name of the magician: “...Perhaps Faland?”
3. Satan's Retinue
Just as a person cannot exist without a shadow, so Woland is not Woland without his retinue. Azazello, Behemoth and Koroviev-Fagot are instruments of diabolical justice, the most striking heroes of the novel, who have a far from clear past behind them.
Take, for example, Azazello - “the demon of the waterless desert, the demon killer.” Bulgakov borrowed this image from the Old Testament books, where this is the name of the fallen angel who taught people how to make weapons and jewelry. Thanks to him, women have mastered the “lascivious art” of painting their faces. Therefore, it is Azazello who gives the cream to Margarita and pushes her onto the “dark path”. In the novel he - right hand Wolanda performing “dirty work”. He kills Baron Meigel and poisons the lovers. Its essence is incorporeal, absolute evil in its purest form.
Koroviev-Fagot is the only person in Woland’s retinue. It is not entirely clear who became its prototype, but researchers trace its roots to the Aztec god Vitzliputzli, whose name is mentioned in Berlioz’s conversation with the Bezdomny. This is the god of war, to whom sacrifices were made, and according to the legends about Doctor Faustus, he is the spirit of hell and the first assistant of Satan. His name, carelessly pronounced by the chairman of MASSOLIT, is a signal for the appearance of Woland.
Behemoth, a werecat and Woland's favorite jester, essentially comes from the legends about the devil of gluttony and the mythological beast of the Old Testament. In I. Ya. Porfiryev’s study “Apocryphal Tales of Old Testament Persons and Events,” which was clearly familiar to Bulgakov, the sea monster Behemoth was mentioned, along with Leviathan, living in the invisible desert “to the east of the garden, where the chosen and the righteous lived.” The author also gleaned information about Hippopotamus from the story of a certain Anne Desanges, who lived in the 17th century. and possessed by seven devils, among which is mentioned Behemoth, a demon from the rank of Thrones. This demon was depicted as a monster with an elephant's head, trunk and tusks. His hands were human, and his huge belly, short tail and thick hind legs- like a hippopotamus, which reminded him of his name.
4. Black Queen Margot
Margarita is often considered a model of femininity, a kind of Pushkin Tatiana of the 20th century. But the prototype of “Queen Margot” was clearly not a modest girl from Russian outback. In addition to the obvious similarity of the heroine with last wife writer, the novel emphasizes Margarita’s connection with two French queens. One of them is the same “Queen Margot,” the wife of Henry IV, whose wedding turned into the bloody Night of St. Bartholomew. This event is mentioned on the way to the Great Ball at Satan's. The fat man, who recognized Margarita, calls her “bright Queen Margot” and babbles, “some nonsense about the bloody wedding of his friend in Paris, Hessar.” Gessar is the Parisian publisher of Marguerite Valois's correspondence, whom Bulgakov made a participant in St. Bartholomew's Night. In the image of Margarita, researchers also find similarities with another queen - Margarita of Navarre, one of the first French women writers. Both historical Margaritas patronized writers and poets; Bulgakov’s Margarita loves her brilliant writer- Masters.
5. Moscow – Yershalaim
One of the most interesting riddles“The Master and Margarita” is the time when events take place. There is not a single absolute date in the novel from which one can count. The action dates back to Holy Week from the first to the seventh of May 1929. This dating provides a parallel with the world of the “Pilate Chapters”, which took place in Yershalaim in the 29th or 30th year during the week that later became Holy Week. “...over Moscow in 1929 and Yershalaim on the 29th there is the same apocalyptic weather, the same darkness is approaching the city of sin like a thunder wall, the same Easter full moon floods the alleys of the Old Testament Yershalaim and the New Testament Moscow.” In the first part of the novel, both of these stories develop in parallel, in the second, they become more and more intertwined, eventually merging together, gaining integrity, and moving from our world to the other world. Yershalaim “transitions” to the streets of Moscow.
6. Kabbalistic roots
There is an opinion that when writing the novel, Bulgakov was not so much under the influence of Kabbalistic teachings. The concepts of Jewish mysticism are put into Woland’s mouth:
1. “Never ask for anything. Never and nothing, especially among those who are stronger than you. They will offer and give everything themselves.” As you know, Kabbalah interprets the Torah as a prohibition to accept anything not from the creator, which contradicts Christianity, in which, on the contrary, “asking for someone else’s mercy” is not forbidden. Hasidim (representatives of the mystical movement of Judaism based on Kabbalah) interpret the statement that God created man in his own image, therefore man must become like the Creator in creation. That is, it should work.
2. The concept of “light”. Light accompanies Woland throughout the novel. When Satan and his retinue disappear, the lunar road also disappears. At first glance, the “teaching of light” goes back to the Sermon on the Mount: “You are the light of the world.” On the other hand, this context strikingly coincides with the core idea of Kabbalah about “Or Chaim” - “the light of life”, which claims that the Torah itself is “light”. Achieving it depends on the desire of the person himself, which, you see, corresponds to the idea of the novel, where the independent choice of a person comes to the fore.
7. The last manuscript
The last edition of the novel, which subsequently reached the reader, was started in 1937. The author continued to work with her until his death. Why couldn't he finish the book he wrote for 12 years? Perhaps he believed that he was not sufficiently informed about the issue he was taking on, and that his understanding of Jewish demonology and early Christian texts was too amateurish? Be that as it may, the novel practically “sucked out” the life of the author. The last correction he made on February 13, 1940 was Margarita’s phrase: “So this means that the writers are going after the coffin?” A month later he died. Last words Bulgakov, addressed to the novel were: “So that they know, so that they know...”.
In some Bulgakov manuscripts the beginning of work on the novel “The Master and Margarita” is indicated by the author as 1928, in others as 1929. Initially, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov tried on the novel different names. Among the tried options were “Juggler with a Hoof”, “Tour”, “Black Magician” and some others.
When on March 18, 1930, Bulgakov’s play “The Cabal of the Holy One” was banned from production, the author personally destroyed the first edition of the novel “The Master and Margarita” in a fire and reported this to the government. A year later, the writer returned to work on the novel. He created new drafts in which he provided Woland with an unrestrained retinue. In the new sketches, Margarita and her then-unnamed lover appeared, later called the Master.
Work on the second edition continued until 1936. The work had a draft working title “Fantastic Novel”. The writer also considered other book titles, such as “The Engineer’s Hoof,” “Satan,” and “The Great Chancellor,” as spare ones. The third edition began in the second half of 1936 famous work was called "Prince of Darkness". Final version The title of the novel “The Master and Margarita” appeared in 1937.
In 1938, the sister of Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova, the writer’s wife, O. S. Bokshanskaya first published full text an extraordinary work. Bulgakov created his immortal literary creation for more than ten years. Until his death, he continued to make edits to the novel.
There is plenty of evidence of the unique internal chronology of Bulgakov's novel. For example, it clearly states that on May 1st the weather was unusually hot. The events of the novel on the eve of the last flight are described below. And then a powerful thunderstorm, accompanied by downpour, suddenly broke out in the sky above the capital. According to the press of those ancient years, on May 1, 1929, the temperature in Moscow became unusually warm - up to 30 degrees above zero. Following this, a cold snap with rain and thunderstorms came to the capital just as sharply.
The main character of the novel, the Master, is certainly endowed with some of the traits of Bulgakov himself. This indirectly confirms the age of the Master indicated in the novel. It says he is about thirty-eight years old. On May 15, 1929, Bulgakov turned thirty-eight years old. And this year he began the first version of the novel.
The novel is in no way a direct retelling of the Gospel. There's a lot of talk about this significant differences in the most important details of both narratives. Exposed death penalty Yeshua in The Master and Margarita pronounces the name of Pontius Pilate. In the Gospel, the crucified Jesus Christ pronounces the name of God. This gave reason to deacon Andrei Kuraev to declare the Yershalaim story described by Bulgakov blasphemous in relation to the Christian religion. However, the deacon made a reservation that he did not consider the novel “The Master and Margarita” itself to be sacrilegious.
In the first versions of the novel, Woland had the name Astaroth. Perhaps due to the comparison of this name with a specific demonic creature, the writer abandoned it, replacing it with Woland. There has never been a Variety Theater in Moscow. But after the novel became widely known, several theaters claimed the right to this name.
The words that Woland says in the penultimate edition of the novel: “He has a courageous face, he does his job correctly, and in general, everything is over here. It's time for us! were addressed to acting person, which was no longer in the final version of the work.
According to the recollections of the writer’s widow, the last thing he said about the novel during his lifetime were the words: “So that they know... So that they know.” Writing the novel was accompanied by mysticism. The very idea of creating such a work came to Bulgakov after one gift given to him. It was a book by A.V. Chayanov “Venediktov or memorable events of my life”, which describes the hero’s clash with demonic forces. The writer was shocked by the coincidence of the main character's surname with his surname.
The novel was created by the writer in Moscow in the thirties, when all the religious and moral foundations of society were violated. The writer burned the first version of the work because it contained echoes evangelical motives Not a single publication would then be published.
Bulgakov began to revive the novel to life after a telephone conversation with Joseph Stalin, that is, when he came into close contact with devilish forces. Paradoxically, the most severe repressions of 1937 did not affect the writer’s family.
Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov did not manage to either complete the novel during his lifetime or publish it. The work was first published only in 1966, 26 years after the death of its author.
“The Master and Margarita” was published in an abridged magazine version thanks to Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova, the writer’s widow. Despite the harsh Stalinism of those years, she managed to preserve the priceless manuscript.
Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov began work on this literary masterpiece in 1928. The very story of the creation of “The Master and Margarita” is unusual - like the hero of his book, the writer threw the first edition of the novel into the fire. But, as you know, manuscripts don’t burn...
In total, Bulgakov spent more than ten years creating the book. On March 18, 1930, the writer threw a draft of the novel into the oven with his own hands. Bulgakov was prompted to this act by the news that his play entitled “The Cabal of the Holy One” was banned from production.
But the story of the creation of The Master and Margarita did not end there. There were some sketches left, and besides, the author himself perfectly remembered the contents of the novel. However, Bulgakov was not destined to live to see the publication of his work, which took place only in 1966.
The Master and Margarita - interesting facts
Alas, fans of the “diabolica” have to be content with a rather modest description of the stranger Woland. And in the first manuscript that Bulgakov burned, as many as fifteen handwritten pages are devoted to the signs of the devil! However, maybe it’s for the better - what if Woland continues to appear at the Patriarch’s Ponds?
The history of the creation of the television series is interesting. The main location for filming the biblical scenes presented in the film was Bulgaria. For the sake of the film adaptation, a real one was created architectural ensemble, which reproduced in detail the interiors of Herod’s palace in Yershalaim. Moscow in the 1930s was filmed in the northern capital of Russia.
Instead of Oleg Basilashvili, they initially planned to invite Oleg Yankovsky to play the role of Woland, but he strongly opposed it. For what reasons - history is silent.
Curse of the Dark Messiah
The work “The Master and Margarita” was sadly glorified by deceased actors - full list deceased performers includes 17 names:
Abdulov, who played the role of Koroviev, died of lung cancer, which developed to the fourth stage.
He owns the image of the poet Ivan Bezdomny. Official reason death is considered acute heart failure.
Doctors came to the conclusion that the actor’s death was caused by severe nervous exhaustion due to alcohol abuse.
He played the role of financial director Rimsky.
People's Artist of Russia died of lung cancer. Many viewers remember him as one of the presenters humorous program"Town".
He got the role of the bribe-taking house manager Nikanor Bosogo.
The cause of Zolotukhin’s death was a brain tumor that was not amenable to surgical intervention.
He played the Jewish procurator Pontius Pilate.
In the work, Pilate suffers from severe headaches and even wants to commit suicide; Lavrov was destined to die from leukemia.
He played an investigator involved in the search for Woland's gang.
He was found dead in his apartment shortly after the premiere of the television series. The circumstances of the actor's death remain unclear.
He had the opportunity to play a thief who stole Ivan Bezdomny’s clothes on the pier.
Komarov was also remembered by the viewer as “Lieutenant Tsyganenok” from the film “The Weather is Good on Deribasovskaya”.
The same critic Latunsky, whom Margarita wanted to shoot “right in the heart,” and then pardoned and asked the sir to leave him alive.
What is noteworthy is that Landgraf suffered a heart attack.
Honored Artist of Russia, in “The Master and Margarita” he got the character of an accountant.
Died on the same day as Kirill Lavrov, according to tragic accident fell through the ice while fishing. For Merkuriev and Lavrov, the day of April 27, 2007 became real.
He played the doorman Nikolai, who greeted guests at Griboedov's house.
In addition to “The Master and Margarita,” Oskin starred in 60 films, including “Burnt by the Sun-2,” “ Heart of a Dog"and many others.
In the television series he played the role of one of the NKVD officers.
In The Master and Margarita, Poddubny was investigating in a “bad apartment.” The cause of death was traumatic brain injury; authorities are investigating the circumstances of the incident.
In addition, some actors who participated in the episodes died - Galina Barkova, Valentina Egorenkova, Stanislav Sokolov (secretary of Procurator Pilate), Mikhail Surov and Stanislav Pryakhin. Andrei Tolubeev, in whose voice the character Aloisy Mogarych speaks, has died.
As you can see, the history of the creation of “The Master and Margarita” and the subsequent work on this work is full of secrets and mysteries. It’s not without reason that they say that it’s better not to joke with dark forces...