On February 20, the film “Kalashnikov” about the life of the creator of the legendary Soviet weapons was released in Russian distribution. First of all, the tape shows the formation of Kalashnikov as a person, as well as the process of inventing the legendary AK-47.
The viewer catches the heroes in the midst of a tank battle - Kalashnikov commands the crew. However, all his subordinates die, and the seriously wounded Mikhail finds himself in the hospital, from where he leaves for the rear.
Before reaching the house, Kalashnikov gets off the train at Matai station in Kazakhstan, where he worked in a train depot before the war. Here, the designer with a team of enthusiasts begins to develop a prototype submachine gun.
The film demonstrates all the stages of Kalashnikov’s inventive path: his attempts to convince others of the need for his work and the seriousness of his intentions; independent work and help from the command; finally, participation in the all-Union competition and cooperation with like-minded people.
The basis for the script of the picture was the memoirs of Mikhail Kalashnikov, also the authors of the project were advised by the daughter of the designer Elena Mikhailovna. In addition, the group traveled to the Shchurovsky training ground, where the film actually happened.
- Frame from the film "Kalashnikov"
- © kinopoisk.ru
Nevertheless, as Konstantin Buslov emphasized, this tape is a work of art, and a number of assumptions were made by its creators. Indeed, there is practically no question of the origin of the main character or his first family - his wife and son, who remained in Kazakhstan when Kalashnikov went to a secret design bureau.
The director, however, explained that in 110 minutes of screen time it is impossible to accommodate all the details (despite the fact that there was much more footage).
The main actor Yuri Borisov said that he was preparing for the role, studying the memoirs of Mikhail Timofeevich, but also used alternative sources of information.
“Since it’s impossible to get a complete picture of a person from an autobiography, I met someone who told me some negative reviews about him that were very important to me in order for this character to turn out (as much as I wanted, how much it’s possible) not heroic or condo so that he would have as many of his own complexes as possible, all the bad things that exist in each of us, ”the actor shared.
Therefore, in the on-screen Kalashnikov one can discern both haste in judgments and youthful maximalism. So, after a failure in the competition for the creation of weapons, the hero sees no other way but to return to the front. With a victory in the Great Patriotic War, he almost loses his goal in life, fearing that his development would be unnecessary (but, as you know, this did not happen).
In addition, scenes representing the absolute imagination of filmmakers, for example, episodes with mother’s letters, add to the hero’s humanity. According to the scriptwriter of the film Sergei Bodrov, they could have taken place, and therefore went into the script.
The image of Major General Kurbatkin, played by Vitaly Khaev, turned out to be especially reliable: between the historical prototype and the actor there is a portrait similarity. The artist also thoroughly studied the biography of his hero.
“It is very difficult to capture the character, the fate of a character that you know nothing about at such a short screen time, and he was very far away. Because the character is very complicated, he still fought with the Basmachi - he fought all his life, ”Khaev emphasized.
- Frame from the film "Kalashnikov"
- © kinopoisk.ru
“This is an episodic role, but, as I understand it, it is very important in the film, because all the people who somehow helped Kalashnikov or stood in his way are important,” the actor added.
The film contains many important characters from the Kalashnikov environment: the famous designers Degtyarev and Sudaev, military engineer Lyuty, a young employee of Zaitsev.
The focus of the creators of the picture was Ekaterina Moiseeva, the wife of Mikhail Kalashnikov - she was played by Olga Lerman. The picture shows the development of their relationship, starting with dating. The actress admitted that when creating the image she was inspired by Soviet films.
“We with Yura (Borisov. - RT ) during the break, at lunch, always watched an old movie. Herman, something else. For me it was atmospheric very important. After watching, we always went inside this era, ”she said.
Lerman also emphasized that it was especially important for the creators of the picture to make the characters believable and humane: “We wanted to play about people and make this film about people.”