Why Basilashvili refused to kiss Gurchenko on the set of 'Station for Two'
'12.10.2020'
Touching, ironic and sincere "Station for Two" is wonderful in every respect, reminds the author of the channel “Retinsky | About cinema "on Yandex.Zen.
Next - from the first person.
Moscow pianist Platon Ryabinin (Oleg Basilashvili) meets the love of his life when he least expects it and needs it. The film is easy to watch: it is understandable, without unnecessary branching of the plot, which, combined with the very natural acting of the actors, contributes to its pleasant and thoughtful perception. This film has firmly established itself among my favorite Soviet films.
Stories from life
The plot of the plot is based on real events, but with two different people: composer Mikael Tariverdiev and poet Yaroslav Smelyakov.
Mikael Tariverdiev was driving a car with actress Lyudmila Maksakova and gave her control of the vehicle. She lost control and ran into a pedestrian, who died from his injuries. Mikael took all the blame for what happened, the investigation was conducted for two years, he was convicted, but due to the lengthy investigation, he was amnestied even before leaving for the prison. The composer really took this story very hard and did not tell anyone about what happened. One of those who knew about this was Emil Braginsky. He developed a dramatic line in it - an innocent in an accident goes to jail, and based the script for the film "Station for Two".
And without the story of the poet Yaroslav Smelyakov, such a touching ending of the film would not have turned out - he, who is serving a sentence under a political article and awaiting an amnesty after Stalin's death, was released on receipt to a nearby village to visit his friends: screenwriters Valery Frid and Yulia Dunsky. Smelyakov was supposed to come back to the camp for the morning check-up, but meeting with friends, fatigue and a later feast played a cruel joke - all three slept through the alarm clock. To return to the appointed time, friends had to literally drag him for several kilometers.
The only thing that Emil Braginsky did not take into account in his script is that in the USSR a person convicted of an accident with a fatal outcome had to serve time not in a prison or colony, but in a colony-settlement where he could be allowed to live with his family.
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Filming
The most interesting thing is that the ending of the film was shot on the first day of filming. This happened due to the fact that winter was coming to an end and it was necessary to urgently shoot scenes of returning to the colony along a snowy road. Even the weather in the morning was gray, gloomy, which Ryazanov really liked - it had to emphasize the feeling of being late and the seriousness of the situation in which the main character found himself.
However, the clouds cleared away and the sun came out, the mood of the scene immediately became less disturbing. To remedy the situation, Ryazanov decided to add speakers - he made the actors run along the slippery and uneven road behind the sleigh with the operator who was filming this process. To increase the speed, all the members of the film crew pulled the sled. Even Eldar Ryazanov. All the falls of the actors, filmed at the same time, were that neither is - natural, and Gurchenko long after that healed his damaged knees.
Almost all the scenes on the platform, with railway platforms and tracks, were filmed at Losinoostrovskaya station. For the station and forecourt scenes, the Rizhsky railway station in Moscow was chosen, and restaurant filming was also carried out there.
Scenes in the colony - Ikshanskaya educational colony for minors in the village of Novoye Grishino, Dmitrovsky district, Moscow region. Scenes of Plato's meeting with Vera - in the village of Koveryanka, Dmitrovsky District, Moscow Region.
Refused to kiss Gurchenko
The script for the film was immediately written under Oleg Basilashvili, but they met Lyudmila Gurchenko just a few hours before the start of filming.
And on the very first day of shooting, the main characters had to participate in the scene where Plato kisses Vera. Basilashvili began to persuade Ryazanov to rewrite the scene - he did not want to “kiss this unfamiliar woman”, it even got to the point that the actor began to threaten with refusal to shoot in the film.
The situation was saved by Lyudmila Gurchenko herself - she changed the dialogue so much that the kiss was transferred to another scene. By the end of filming, Basilashvili and Gurchenko were already close friends.
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Get into the role
Oleg Basilashvili actually spent a whole month in the Ikshan juvenile correctional facility, where they later filmed prison scenes. The prisoners ignored the actor disguised as a convict for a long time, constantly tried to insult or humiliate him, and they only expected trouble from his presence. But gradually he was able to improve relations with them and even got a consultant from among the inmates, who spoke about how people look and behave in the zone.
Best movie
The film "Station for Two" participated in the main competition of the Cannes Film Festival, but the screening took place during the unfolding spy scandal between France and the USSR, so there was no hope for prizes.
However, at home, the film became the best film in 1983 according to a poll by the magazine "Soviet Screen". And at the XVI All-Union Film Festival Lyudmila Gurchenko was awarded the prize “for the female role”, the director Eldar Ryazanov received the prize “for his contribution to the development of Soviet comedy”. Largely thanks to this role, Lyudmila Gurchenko received the title of People's Artist of the USSR in the same year.
In 1984, in Poland, the film received the Warsaw Siren Criticism Award for “Best Foreign Film of the Year”.
