The director of the second season of “Trigger” Igor Tverdokhlebov spoke about the behind the scenes of the project

The second season of “Trigger” seems to have everything that should be in the continuation of the sensational project. The main character, psychologist Artem Streletsky, gets even worse, sometimes it seems that the whole world is against him. And in such a situation, Streletsky’s provocative methods of work seem to be a natural reaction to everything that happens. Although for the hero Matveev, immersion in other people’s problems becomes a way to get rid of his own.

The continuation of the series has already received a lot of criticism for a variety of reasons. Real psychologists get angry the most, and they can probably be understood. Streletsky’s methods of work, despite the fact that the hero has a real prototype, look too cinematic. Psychologists say that they generally cannot start working with a person until he has given his consent to this, it is forbidden to recommend medicines, and sex with patients is generally beyond the bounds. The hero of Matveev does not take these taboos very seriously, and sometimes his hero behaves like a real James Bond.

Maxim Matveev admits that the role in the project gave him a lot. Before filming, he himself found himself in the chair of a psychologist, and since then he has been sure that it is there that some human problems need to be solved. Even before the start of work on the first season, the actor lost twenty kilograms for the role in the theater and, on the recommendations of the producers, remained in this form until the start of filming. Since then, he has apparently led a spartan lifestyle, at least as far as diet and exercise are concerned, and this probably hints at the seriousness with which Mateev takes the role of Streletsky. In our time, it is difficult to imagine how the circumstances will turn out, but it is the main character in Trigger that can become one of the locomotives in an actor’s career.

In the second season, Maxim worked with a new director. For Igor Tverdokhlebov, who replaced Dmitry Tyurin in the director’s chair, the plot about a strange psychologist and his no less strange patients is not the most familiar. The director has established himself as a specialist in a variety of detective stories ranging from the mysticism of The Fifth Guard to Major-3. However, after the folk-horror “Territory” Tverdokhlebov can be safely called a master of escalating passions, which is quite suitable for “Trigger”.

In an interview with MK, Igor Tverdokhlebov discussed force majeure in the cinema, Moscow in the frame and Maxim Matveev’s workaholism.

– The premiere of the second season of “Trigger” took place on streaming, now the series is on television. Are the streaming and TV versions different?

By the way, that’s a good question, I should check it out. Kidding. I think if there are differences, they are minimal. And due to age restrictions and the presence of commercial breaks. Sometimes I shoot several versions of the phrases that the characters say. I can shoot the scene differently. At the installation already jointly decide what is more accurate.

– The first season was shot by another director, and you probably had to take into account what has already been done before you?

– Of course, filming a sequel is a very big responsibility, I know this firsthand. (Smiles.) Especially when the first season is so wildly popular. It is very important to keep everything that the viewer has come to love, all the key elements of success, and at the same time try to bring something new – ideally something of your own. Trigger has a strong style, if you will, a visual and emotional identity. Breaking it means making a completely different series.

– Does this mean that you had very modest room for maneuver, if you need to be more careful with the style?

– The producers of the project, Alexandra Remizova and Ivan Samokhvalov, completely trusted my vision and supported me in every possible way at all stages of production. Most importantly, all this took place in an exceptionally friendly and, importantly, humorous atmosphere.

– You also got the main characters of the series in a ready-made form. Critics sometimes notice that the series is largely based on Maxim Matveev …

Maxim is the best thing that happened to me on this project. We became very close friends. I really miss working with him and not only. And, by the way, it would be strange if in the series, where the main character is Maxim Matveev, everything would not be based on Maxim Matveev. (Laughs.)

How did you work with him?

Maxim is a great professional. With him to work as a holiday. There was not a day when we did not laugh, and in such a friendly warm atmosphere we created. Seriously, I think he’s a genius. A director’s dream. I was surprised that he is a real workaholic. He teaches large volumes of text, not only his own, but also for other heroes, and the most unexpected thing is that he knows several episodes in advance. And this is a lot of letters and words! .. At four or five in the morning he is already in the hall – he keeps himself in shape, well, you yourself saw everything. And this is for over a hundred shooting days.

– Professional psychologists often criticize Trigger for creating an inaccurate representation of their work. Some say that in ordinary life, specialists do not behave like the hero of Matveev …

– I am absolutely fine with such criticism. And I am sure that most professionals also treat normally, watch with pleasure and understand that there is fiction in serials and films and the psychological techniques of the protagonist are deliberately brought to the limit.

– That is, you did not have the task of conveying exactly the methods of work of psychologists?

– No, of course not, otherwise it would have been a documentary series about the methods of work of psychologists.

Do you have any idea about the work of psychologists?

– Let’s just say that without this performance it would be difficult to shoot a series about a psychologist. So yes, I have.

– TV series set in our time seem less difficult in terms of filming against the backdrop of, for example, historical projects. But since cinema in Russia, according to the observations of people involved in the process, is often filmed contrary to circumstances, there must have been situations when everything went wrong on the set …

— There is a very well-known anecdote/meme about this, which very accurately characterizes everything that happens to the director on the set. Let me quote with your permission:

“Dad, is directing difficult?” “No, son. It’s just like riding a bike that’s on fire and you’re on fire and everything’s on fire and you’re in hell.”

I agree, very often on the set everything goes wrong. “Trigger” in this regard went surprisingly smoothly. There were no force majeure events, or they were quickly resolved through the humor, laughter and professionalism of the team.

– Personally, I’m a little surprised that Moscow in the series is a rather gloomy place. Recently, the city is shown in a completely different way. Why did you choose this view of the capital?

“It’s not about darkness. On the contrary, there is a lot of modern, sometimes unusual architecture in the frame – thanks to Dmitry Tyurin, the director of the first season, for this idea. I did not even immediately recognize that it was Moscow. Such a representation of the city, it seems to me, on the contrary, plays into the hands of the general atmosphere of the series and, most importantly, the internal state of the protagonist.