Crimes, friendship and parkour: what is the action-packed detective story "Black Staircase"

On Monday, June 1, the NTV channel begins showing the detective series Black Staircase.

The director of the project was Sahat Dursunov, who had previously worked on such serial films as “The Perfect Man” and “Village Detective”. The main roles in the film were played by Alexei Matoshin (“One Inhale”, “Filatov”) and Alexei Ushakov (“Others”, “Policeman from Rublevka 5”).

The plot focuses on operative Vadim Teltsov (Matoshin) investigating the murder of a businessman. The son of the murdered man, Max (Ushakov), is suspected of a crime, since he had a difficult relationship with his father. At first, disagreements arose due to the extreme hobbies of the hero (he is a ruffer and a parkour). The conflict escalated even more when the businessman stole a girl from his son. After the news of the upcoming wedding, Max was furious. He repeatedly threatened to kill his father, so those around him did not have the slightest doubt that the young man was guilty.

Max, who is soon credited with yet another murder, believes only Taurus. In an attempt to prove that the young man was not involved in the crime, the operative violates a number of job descriptions, after which he is dismissed. Max finds a way out of this situation - he offers Teltsov to open his own detective agency and promises to help him in everything.

Dynamic shooting and selfie on the roof

The shooting of the "Black Staircase" took place in Moscow and the Moscow Region, including on the roofs of high-rises.

According to the director, such impressive views opened up from there that the film team faced an unexpected problem: the members of the film crew kept on going to go to the edge of the roof and take a selfie from there.

“Since everyone has a smartphone and we all become photographers and cameramen with them, it was very difficult to keep people from the temptation to get our cameras and shoot something pretty while we were at such a height. But it was unsafe, therefore, each member of the film crew before the next climb to the roof underwent instruction, signed that all safety rules were explained to him. But all the same, of course, our guys managed to take a selfie, there’s no escape from this, ”said Sahat Dursunov in an interview with RT.

• © kinopoisk.ru

Such non-standard sites were chosen by chance. The series is filled with spectacular action scenes, and their number (in addition to being an integral part of the detectives of shootings, fights and chases) included extreme stunts that the hero of Alexei Ushakov performs on the roofs of multi-storey buildings. They fit perfectly into the main plot and make the story more dynamic.

The stunt team led by Vladimir Karpovich worked on the production of such scenes. He has over 60 projects in his arsenal. Among the most famous are the Siberian Barber, 9th Company, Brest Fortress and others.

According to the director, the actors took part in many tricks - with the exception of the most dangerous ones.

“It is impossible to replace the artist completely in a stunt, because I want to show the viewer that this is really a hero: here he is flying, here he is falling, here he is fighting. One of the difficult tasks was to combine an understudy and an actor during the installation so that the viewer would have the impression that the actor (or hero) independently performs all these difficult tricks, ”Dursunov explained.

Alexei Ushakov, in a conversation with RT, admitted that he didn’t doubt his physical fitness before filming and planned to perform complex tricks on his own, but later realized that such work needed even more serious preparation.

“It is necessary that every muscle in the body work, be trained. Constant training in the gym, experience of the parkour itself, and so on are needed ... I performed tricks, but not the most difficult and minimally traumatic, ”the actor explained, adding that he was interested in the extreme hobbies of his hero and he would like to try himself in what something like that, but still can not afford it due to lack of time.

“In my life, unfortunately, it turns out that I’m not up to it. I would really like to, I have many desires - to go to rock climbing courses, to take extreme driving courses, to jump with a parachute, to conquer the Alps ... I want a lot of things, but it so happened that after graduation I simply did not have time. At first I was at the institute 24/7, and after the institute I work constantly, ”said Alexei Ushakov.

• © kinopoisk.ru

In addition to the detective line and spectacular action, the series touched on the topic of relations between representatives of different generations. Workaholic Taurus is an adult, honest and principled detective with his tasks and problems. The son of a successful businessman Max is the exact opposite of Teltsov. He, a young, careless and impulsive rofer, climbs the roofs, takes everything he sees to the camera and uploads it to the network. Max has practically no life experience - as well as serious problems. Nevertheless, two dissimilar heroes are first forced to help each other, and then find common ground and together move towards common goals.

Dursunov emphasizes that if at first Taurus and Max are practically antagonists, over time and the development of the plot they encounter so many difficult circumstances that they develop similar understandings of basic things - a sense of duty, friendship, the need to help the weak, and rejection of injustice.

Alexei Ushakov was also interested in the relationship of the main characters. According to him, mainly Teltsova and Max are connected by the fact that both of them are single.

Another important leitmotif of the series was the growing up of a young man who suddenly was left alone and faced many difficulties. According to Sakhat Dursunov, the meeting between Teltsov and Max was a happy circumstance that did not allow the young man to turn on the wrong road at the very beginning of his life, to be in the dock and, possibly, in prison.

“Next to Teltsov, Max is growing up, growing up. And if in the first episodes he is still a guy who is still struggling with the hormonal background, then closer to the finale and in the finale itself he is a judicious, experienced young man whose views are becoming much more adult. It was interesting for us to observe this transformation and build it from series to series, ”the director said.

Alexei Ushakov emphasized that partly not only his hero is studying with a detective, but also Teltsov gets a new experience by communicating with Max.

The first season of the series includes 20 episodes.