'Wigs are in fashion': what Kalugina's secretary actually advised in the first version of Office Romance
'07.01.2021'
Source: Yandex Zen
Who does not know the secretary Vera, embodied on the screen by Leah Akhedzhakova? Her phrases diverged into quotes, but few of the fans of the film watched the TV show or read the play "Co-workers". And those who read / watched, note: in the play this character is absolutely opposite to the image of Akhedzhakova. And she advises something completely different, says the author of the blog "Kiprenskaya Style" on Yandex Zen.
Vera in "Co-workers" is a young, narrow-minded, blond creature of 23-25 years old. Fashionable and cute. And absolutely "cardboard", secondary. But now not about her, but about her advice, which in the play is completely opposite to the Verochkin from “Office Romance”!
Firstly, she immediately says about the shoes: “A blunt nose and a heel widening to the bottom are fashionable,” and the whole play on words related to “heels” in the film went to them.
Secondly, Vera says: "Wigs are now in use." But, they say, you can't get them. Therefore, to give hair a fashionable shade in conditions of shortage, it can be powdered with finely ground wheat flour. Here's a life hack. In the film, the opposite is true: "Now they don't wear wigs."
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The fragment with the famous words “Unsuccessful legs must be hidden under the maxi” has also undergone changes. In the play, Verochka advises midi, because for the mini “legs are unsuccessful”, and for the maxi “the relative is old” (Kalugina designated the age of the mythical provincial at 36 years old).
And this is very good advice! Only in our time, he does not belong to women 30+, but to much older ladies. Putting on a maxi, an older woman adds more years to herself (we always correlate shortened forms with youth, and elongated ones - with maturity). Mini, as a rule, will be inappropriate, but midi - that's it. No wonder this length is preferred by first ladies and many elegant women.
And finally, the well-known gait scene. Vera does not talk about Kalugina's gait (by the way, in the film I was terribly annoyed by this tactlessness), but says that the gait of the older generation is very different from the gait of the younger. Also tactless, but not "on a grand scale." But no less famous "eyebrows with a thread" in the play. As there is no orderly familiar "Well, let's go!"
And you know what? Although Vera in the play is not as charismatic and detailed as in the film, in this excerpt I liked her more than Akhedzhakova's character. She does not stoop to teachings, does not impose her ideas about fashion, but tries to find out what exactly a person needs, and in accordance with this gives recommendations (as it turned out, very sensible) and along the way explains why this is and not otherwise.
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Yes, there is an implicit, albeit tangible, emphasis on age, but this can be attributed to the character's youth and the fact that, in fact, Vera in the play is Kalugina's antipode. And the storytelling format itself assumes a more grotesque game and an explicit presentation of thought, without halftones and hints.
You can watch the version of the TV show here:
The situation with Ryzhova's letter in the TV show also does not look so clear. Vera found it printed on Samokhvalov's desk when she was looking for an urgent document for Lyudmila Prokofievna, and there was no way to wait for the owner of the office. Yes, the situation is still ugly, but more decent than the one that is presented to us in the film, where one gets the impression that either Vera opened the letter or deliberately rummaged through the papers of her boss. And there are no words about “retirement on the horizon”.
Original column published on the blog. "Kiprenskaya Style" on Yandex Zen.
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