Definitely, nothing could confuse the Soviet government. Not a yacht. Nor Lord Glenarvan. Neither London. Neither the other bourgeois-capitalist scenery of Jules Verne - the Soviet government was able to discern the essence, the deep meaning of the adventure story behind any scenery. “The Children of Captain Grant” (published in full in 1868), whatever you say, is an entertaining book, a “novel to titillate the nerves” of the respectable public.
And so. This same novel was brilliantly filmed by the same Soviet government in 1936. And for what?! You never know how many heroes there were back then!
For what?
So that the world can see with its own eyes: we are for the continuity of heroism beyond states, nations and economic structures, we are for the eternal relay of fortitude in the face of even the most terrible trials - we are for victory at any cost.
It was the era of flaming hearts. The era of tectonic shifts in consciousness. Not darkness, no, although this is attributed to the Red Empire, we did not bring darkness to the world - hope for the impossible, for the construction of the kingdom of God on earth - by human forces, by reason, freed from the thousand-year slavish oppression of the “powers of this world.” It would not be out of place to say that history is made not by the “strong”, but by the weak of this world. However, here’s who studied what and what they believe in...
Who is used to fighting for victory,
Let him sing with us:
He who is cheerful laughs
Whoever wants it will achieve it,
Who seeks will always find!
"Robert's Song" It is imprinted in the consciousness of each of us, even if there is an ineradicable desire to erase this song from our consciousness. Forget so that life doesn’t interfere. And it’s also about steel muscles, “about scientists, heroes, fighters” and other nonsense... The words were written by Vasily Lebedev-Kumach (on occasion there will be a special conversation about his song lyrics: “Holy War” is him, as is “Easy in my heart from a cheerful song..."). Music - Isaac Dunaevsky. So let's talk about it.
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How is it with the ancients?
“Every time must determine its incomparable sound.”
This is exactly what happened in the pre-war USSR.
Dunaevsky, having set to work on the music for the film “The Children of Captain Grant,” seems to have invested all his power, all his inner fire (and he was a great master, one of the greatest in principle) into chanting the thirst for life, into chanting the happiness gained through struggle and labor , tests of spirit and body, which invariably and always lead to one thing - to victory.
The majestic overture to the film, forcing one to emerge from the stupor of everyday life, is the peak of his creations. If it were possible to define the nerve of the era, the nerve of that great time, if it were possible to put it into a sounding, visible form, this would be it, the overture to “The Children of Captain Grant.” Overture to an adventure film based on a novel by a long-lost French author.
The entire Soviet project, its entire metaphysics, was one great and terrible, never-before-seen and breathtaking adventure.
From a cliff into the abyss, soaring on wings that came from nowhere, and on faith, it would seem, in the unthinkable, never achievable by anyone! Therefore, do not be surprised: “The Children of Captain Grant” was a stunning success. And the music from the film - it became a hymn, a holy commandment: even in spite of everything, ours will prevail!
Come on, sing us a song, cheerful wind,
Cheerful wind, cheerful wind!
You have searched the seas and mountains, everything in the world
And I heard every song in the world.
Sing to us, wind, about the wild mountains,
About the deep secrets of the seas.
About bird talk
About blue spaces
About brave and big people!
A few words about Robert, he’s the one who sings the song. Robert was played by a 12-year-old boy, schoolboy Yakov Segel. Remember how dashingly he sits in the saddle? It’s business - he was taught horse riding in one night by Alexander Ptushko (he served in the First Cavalry Army). The same Ptushko who directed “The New Gulliver” (“My Lilliputochka” - remember?) in 1935, “The Golden Key” in 1939, and after the war the famous fairy tale films “Ilya Muromets” that were shown around the world ", "The Tale of Tsar Saltan", "Sadko". In 1967, Walt Disney personally offered Ptushko “any cinematic platform in America,” to which Alexander Lukich, in a manner characteristic of only him, replied: “Thank you! However, I have to refuse you. My film set is my homeland. Russia!"
And the boy Yakov Segel grew up, went through the entire war, returned to civilian life as an order bearer, studied at the directing department of VGIK, came to Gorky Studio and in 1956, together with Lev Kulidzhanov, made the film “The House in Which I Live.” If anything, both Leonid Nechaev and Stanislav Govorukhin were students of Yakov Segel’s workshop. Simple story, right? Nothing remarkable. Life is like life. We would like one like this now.
Sing to us, wind, about glory and courage,
About scientists, heroes, fighters,
So that the heart catches fire,
So that everyone wants
Catch up and overtake the fathers!
Here's an entertaining cinema for you.
Here are the songs of Isaac Dunaevsky.
There was another one there, which, as they say, “helps both in work and in battle” - more than anything else, in battle - “Song about the Captain.” Also based on poems by Lebedev-Kumach. And to the music of Isaac Dunaevsky. For me, this is the best charge of cheerfulness, courage and faith in victory of all those existing in the “light genre” (oh, and Dunaevsky got it during his lifetime for this “light genre”).
In a light genre...
Sometimes smiling is the same as conquering death.
This is the incomparable sound of the pre-war Soviet era.
There lived a brave captain
He traveled to many countries
And more than once he plowed the ocean.
He drowned fifteen times
Died among sharks
But he never even blinked an eye.
And in trouble
And in battle
He hummed this song of his:
"Captain, captain, smile,
After all, a smile is the flag of a ship.
Captain, captain, pull yourself up
Only the brave conquer the seas!”
The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editors.