The director of the series “Ask Martha” spoke about conflicts on the set

The heroine of Olga Sutulova does everything that a successful girl with an iron character should. She drives around Moscow in a cool car, breaks into the offices of those who have become the source of women’s grievances, and is ready to wreak havoc and destruction if this way she can achieve her goal. Olga Sutulova played different characters, but a lawyer without moral principles, causing damage not only to the enemies of her clients, but also to herself, sometimes looks like the actress’s signature performance. She made the main character of the series not a very charming person (this doesn’t happen often on television), but even in this form she carries the plot of the series without any problems.

There are also very worthy people next to Sutulova. The casting of actresses in this case is especially important, because lawyer Marta specializes in women’s cases, and as a result, together with Olga in the frame, Svetlana Ustinova, Polina Kutepova, Ksenia Lavrova-Glinka, Yana Sexte, Irina Grineva, in general, are something like a team dreams. The process was led by director Fluza Farkhshatova, and all this gives the project the charm of an exemplary feminist film manifesto. At least that’s what it may seem like from the outside. In a conversation with MK, Fluza Farkhshatova discussed hidden matriarchy, female conflicts and ideal actors.

— The profession of a lawyer is probably one of the most cinematic. There are so many films and TV series about them that there are already ready-made types. But your Martha is absolutely on her own. And, probably, this also happened because of the choice of actress…

— When I read the script for the first time, I had no doubt that Olya Sutulova should play the main character. And the first thought is usually the most correct. Then, of course, there were work moments during which I tested my intuition, but in the end we settled on Olya.

— In one of the TV series, Olga and her husband Evgeniy Stychkin played an excellent role as a troubled married couple. Was there any temptation to involve Stychkin as well?

– No, from the very beginning we took the opposite path and did not even discuss Zhenya’s candidacy, despite the fact that he is a wonderful artist.

— We can assume that the lawyers who watch your series will be a little surprised by the methods of the heroine Sutulova. To put it mildly, it does not always act legally…

– This is not a story about a lawyer. Our legal profession and everything connected with it are just assumed circumstances. We are talking about a woman of a very complex organization. On the one hand, she has a great desire to restore justice. But it acts using anti-human methods, because, in my opinion, it is impossible to manipulate people. As a result, she loses the boundary between work and family, actually loses her family and is simply forced to change her attitude towards herself and others. But even through mistakes, as well as through losses, she still moves, this is this type of person, this type of woman, perhaps not quite standard, but modern, and her voice is becoming more and more heard in society.

— All this is very Russian. A strong woman plays by her own rules in a patriarchal country…

— I would say in a patriarchal society with hidden matriarchy. In many Russian families, the woman is in one way or another in control of the situation. At all levels – social and everyday – we are always faced with the fact that decisions are often made by a mother, a wife, or simply a beloved woman. But she often has to act tougher and more provocatively, like our heroine. The relevance of such a scenario in Russia is much more acute. I think it is much more difficult for the conventional Martha to achieve her goals than for a woman lawyer in America or Western Europe, where equal rights are an undeniable norm of life.

— Russian TV series are often criticized for their polished and seemingly divorced from reality picture. In terms of the interiors and life of the characters, everything is also very elegant. It turns out that this criticism is also in your garden…

— Sometimes such criticism is truly appropriate. But I wouldn’t say that in our series we show fashionable interiors without any reason for it. Marta is a successful Moscow lawyer, and she can afford such conditions; there is no lying or substitution here.

— In the story, Martha helps women who find themselves in very unpleasant situations, so you employ a lot of actresses. The very situation in which women on the set work under the leadership of a woman is seen as something ideal, everything seems to be filled with peace and harmony. How was it really?

“It seems to me that the more women there are, the more conflicts there are.” A pleasant group of girls who, giggling sweetly, make a movie, is an illusion. It was difficult, sometimes even dramatic. For example, the line between Olga and Kirill Kyaro, who played her husband, was not at all easy. There are always emotions, aggravation, and we had to break spears in achieving an understanding that we all mean the same thing. Probably, the main difficulties fell on Olga’s shoulders. She is almost always in the frame and, one might say, carries the entire plot. And Olya completely devoted herself to this project; there was nothing else in her work schedule.

— Some of your films can be called masculine. For example, “What men talk about. Continuation” or the recent “God Complex”. Was the atmosphere on set different there?

— It’s easier for me not with women or men, but with those who understand what you want to talk to the public about through your film. Cinema is only for the viewer. And if the director didn’t find something to talk about with the viewer, then the film will turn out to be about everything. That is, about nothing. It is very important when there are artists nearby who do not pull the blanket over themselves, when they all understand the idea of ​​the film, work on the task and hear what the director is talking about with their help to the viewer. If a person is hearing, then it does not matter whether it is a man or a woman. And I’m lucky so far.

— “Ask Martha” from a genre point of view is like a multi-layered cake. There is drama, detective, and procedural here. Your filmography also includes very different films: from comedies to thrillers. What do you like best?

— From the point of view of the craft, I am interested in understanding the laws of different genres, and if there is a good script, then I am ready to shoot anything. I would really like to work with melodrama. As a viewer, I love psychological thrillers and try to make them whenever possible. I really want to make a good, subtle comedy, but there is no such material yet.

— A question that often causes serious debate: director or director?

– Director. I have no doubts here. I have always been uncomfortable with the disparaging term “women’s direction.” I am generally against gender differences. By the way, every year there are more and more women in film crews. It is believed that filming is always associated with heavy workload, but I will say it in spirit: women are much more resilient, patient and responsible than men.