The director of the series “Half an hour before spring” spoke about the behind the scenes of filming

Musical biopics on federal airs rarely delight with legendary verses and choruses. Songs, in contrast to the plot “she loved, but he cheated”, the producers obviously do not start, and any exception to this rule, it must be admitted, is impressive.

“Half an hour before spring”, in the part where Vladimir Mulyavin and his “Pesnyary” become one of the most famous VIA in the USSR, is generously filled with hits that were either restored or re-recorded with great reverence, if not love. And the rock opera “Song of the Share”, prudently called in those days a one-act theatrical cantata, was first performed in a professional recording. For this alone, real fans of “Pesnyary” can say a big thank you to the creators of the series.

Critical minds, of course, saw in the film what they usually want to see, namely theatrical pastiche, historical inaccuracies and inappropriate actors. In general, all those involved in the project received both compliments and injections for tone.

In a conversation with Stepan Korshunov, one of the directors of the series, MK discussed hard rock, VIA, theatrical mustache, superpower and punishment.

– Stepan, you are from a generation of people who, of course, knew about the Pesnyary group, but their music hardly determined your tastes …

– In my social circle, Pesnyary has always remained on a par with more modern music, which was gaining momentum in the eighties. Of course, “Time Machine” or “Aquarium” were more relevant then, but since I grew up among the theater and cinema audiences, VIA’s music was for us a symbol of some kind of carefree, happy pastime. There is an estate of Ostrovsky in the Kostroma region, and for many years the acting public gathered in the sanatorium of the Union of Theater Workers. A theatrical Woodstock was formed. And with our company, we listened to various VIAs a lot: “Flowers”, “Flow, Song”, of course “Pesnyary”. This music has become a sign of all our parties, endless fires, singing with a guitar. Hard rock or “Kino”, “DDT”, “Chaif” for some reason did not fit into the paradigm of this place, the social circle. Probably because everything there was very easy, airy, filled with love and sincerity. So I didn’t discover VIA while I was working on ‘Half an hour before spring’. This music has always been a part of my life.

– And some time ago you filmed the series “Vocal-Criminal Ensemble”. This is a detective, but there are also the seventies and VIA …

– “Vocal-Criminal Ensemble”, by the way, I did with the same scriptwriter as “Half an hour before spring.” Moreover, the script about “Pesnyary” began to write even earlier. The series has come a long way, because it took a lot of coordination with the Belarusian side. Some complications arose with differing views on the series finale. Initially, they wanted to bring the story almost to the eighties. But then they decided to leave behind the scenes a divorce from Lydia Karmalskaya and two other marriages. As a result, the rock opera “Song of the Share” became the central theme.

– The series was filmed by three directors, each of whom got a certain period in the life of Vladimir Mulyavin. Did you all work independently or were there any discussions of a common line?

– The line of the sixties was shot by Oksana Barkovskaya, and by the time I started working, she had finished her shooting. Kirill Papakul, who filmed the line of the fifties, is my classmate and good friend. Of course, we met with him and discussed a lot. In general, he appeared in the project long before me, so he was well immersed in the plot.

– In the sixties, the main character is played by Gleb Kalyuzhny. This is his first experience of participating in historical projects, and many still have doubts that he is well suited for this image …

— I have no such doubts. In my opinion, this is a good choice, Gleb is a wonderful artist, now he is filming in my film “Chelyuskin. First ”and plays one of the main roles there. This is also a historical project.

– In your segment, Mulyavin is played by Artem Volobuev, and we can say that Mulyavin’s mustache looks excellent on him …

– Artem starred in my “Vocal-criminal ensemble”, and I called him to audition for “Half an hour before spring”. Of course, many tried out, including very famous actors. Artem is often removed, but has not yet become as popular as some of those who were invited to these tests. I worked very well with him on the Vocal-Criminal Ensemble, but I understood that it would not be easy to convince the producers to take him to the main role, they always want someone from the media. And so we organize auditions, while the initial ones, where I myself play along with the actor, everything is filmed on camera with an eye to the fact that if you like it, then it will be possible to arrange more serious auditions, with makeup and a costume. I remember running into the room and seeing Artyom in a mustache, in some bright shirt from the seventies. I’m bewildered: “You were made up, it wasn’t planned.” And he answers: “No, I myself took a mustache and a shirt in the theater. Do you like it?” Everyone liked these tests, including Marina Mulyavina (daughter of Vladimir Mulyavina, who also took part in the creation of the series. – “MK”), we made another one, and Artyom was approved. I was happy.

– Vladimir Mulyavin is a real star of the VIA era, but they perceive him differently. Someone sees in him an incredibly talented musician who often had to compromise with the system and feel all the ideological oppression of that time. And for some, Mulyavin is a very successful person, whose life was privileged by Soviet standards. Which Mulyavin did you shoot in the series?

“I will tell you why this man certainly delights me. First of all, amazing energy and desire to achieve your goals. We found a documentary called “Our Roots in the Ground”, which, among other things, has a rehearsal of the Pesnyary group. And in those shots you can feel what kind of person he was. How he communicated with others, how he put himself in relation to the team. I discovered for myself a person who was very confident in himself, in his creative decisions, he understood well what he wanted. He was sometimes called a tyrant. As if he went too far and demanded the impossible. At first it seemed to me that this was probably a feature of a selfish person who goes to high goals for the sake of his own pride. But then I realized: Mulyavin never felt creative satisfaction, because he saw the world brighter than others, he heard music deeper and more voluminously than many of his contemporaries. It’s like having a sixth sense. It is both a superpower and a punishment. No one understands how great what you aspire to be.

– At the same time, few people like merciless rehearsals …

– Mulyavin could not let the musicians go until late at night, and then gather everyone early in the morning. I rehearsed on tour both before and after the performance. He sought heights from male ensemble vocals that only he knew. Of course, it’s hard for those around you.

– In the biographies of musicians, as a rule, there is not much music, because producers like melodramatic lines more. But you have more than enough music. Did you have to defend it or was it planned from the very beginning?

– Music even grew. We planned to give some musical numbers in fragments. They filmed them, of course, in their entirety, with the intention of then compressing everything. But even during the filming, we couldn’t stop, because this is beautiful music, unfortunately, largely lost. The rock opera “Song of the Share” was not released as an album, and only one recording remained, moreover, on a household tape recorder. When we began to recreate all this, then, of course, we tried to get the sound of “Pesnyary”. And the musicians who re-recorded their music shared their feelings with us in the process. At first they thought that they were brought some old stuff, but then they realized how wonderful music it is and how recklessly it is to perform. As a result, almost everything that was filmed is in the frame, and this is more than we originally planned.