The shooting of the historical drama “The Great. Golden Age” commissioned by Channel One

The film was directed by Sergei Ginzburg. Cast: Elizaveta Boyarskaya (Catherine II), Anton Khabarov (Grigory Orlov), Alexei Morozov (Grigory Potemkin), Pavel Vorozhtsov (Nikita Panin), Alexei Filimonov (Lev Naryshkin), Igor Gordin (Alexei Bestuzhev), Sofia Sinitsyna (Catherine Dashkov).

Filming of the series lasted 89 days and took place in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, including in Tsarskoye Selo, Peterhof, Gatchina, Strelna, Lomonosov, Elizavetino. For the first time, filmmakers were involved in the open water ship “Poltava”. And to create the scenery of Moscow, engulfed by the plague, they used more than 14 tons of sand and earth.

“Filming is over, feelings are mixed,” Elizaveta Boyarskaya shares her impressions. – Of course, we are all tired, the work schedule was very busy, but, on the other hand, sad. We had a great team of like-minded people. A wonderful group, all great professionals in their field, talented and caring people. And I thank each of them. We put a lot of love and effort into this picture, God forbid, so that the result satisfies us, the creators, and pleases the viewer.”

100 actors starred in the main roles and episodes, more than 1,500 in crowd and group scenes. 1,000 historical costumes were prepared for the project, some of which were created directly for the main actors (for example, 10 outfits were sewn for Catherine II), and some were taken on rental in Spain and the Czech Republic, at the film studios of Mosfilm, Gorky, Lenfilm and also from private collectors. Especially for the series, copies of unique museum pieces of jewelry were reproduced, including the Empress’s ring and the Orlov diamond, a famous gem named after Catherine the Great’s favorite.

Talking about her image of Catherine II, Elizaveta Boyarskaya admits: “Catherine is a figure that has been addressed more than once in cinema, both in Russia and in the world. You know, it so happened that I play the role of Elena Andreevna in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in two theaters at once. In his native Maly Drama Theater in St. Petersburg and at the Theater of Nations in Moscow. And these are two completely different performances, despite the fact that they are one play. And the Elena of the director Dodin is completely different for me than the Elena of the director Braunschweig. Everything always depends on the director, on the accents he wants to place, on the theme he chooses as the main one, on his view of the story both from an internal and visual point of view. The same with Catherine. Yes, we are telling the same story: that there was a Pugachev uprising, Princess Tarakanova, a difficult relationship with her son, favorites. There was smallpox, plague in Moscow. But this will be the view of the director Sergei Ginzburg and a certain company of artists.”

Inna Shkarbanova.

Photos from the shooting