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- "In these days, it's hard for me to imagine that I would start making someone laugh."
"In these days, it's hard for me to imagine that I would start making someone laugh."
In order to disorient enemy bombers, false airfields were created during the Great Patriotic War, but today few people know about this, Igor Ugolnikov is sure. The producer and the team of the film "There is only a Moment" decided to fill the gap. The Voenfilm studio, the SEREBRO film company and the REN TV channel have released a heroic comedy about the Great Patriotic War. The distributor is NMG Kinoprokat (part of the National Media Group holding). The People's Artist spoke in an interview with Izvestia about how to return military aircraft to a wide screen, where you can hold the Victory Banner in your hands and see Igor Ugolnikov in the role of Marshal Zhukov.
"After this film, the actor Daniil Popov will be a real star of Russian cinema"
— How did you get the idea to make this story?
"She was in the air. At the Voenfilm cinema complex in Medyn, in addition to tanks, cars, and various artillery, we have several mock—ups of airplanes and an airstrip - that is, the opportunity to make films about aviation. I have long had a desire to use our entire aircraft arsenal and make a lighter picture than the films already released by the Voenfilm studio, a heroic comedy about the war. Therefore, Alexander Zhigalkin's suggestion came in handy. We discussed the possibilities, remembered the wonderful Soviet movie "Restless Household" — and decided to do something similar.
We have a wonderful moment at the cinema complex, and according to the plot, this is the only plane that can fly at a false airfield — the main location of the picture. Hence the name of the film — "There is only a moment." I am very glad that Alexander Zhigalkin embodied the idea of the film as a director and producer, and our studio managed to provide the technical side.
— When you learned about the existence of false airfields during the war, what was your reaction?
— I learned about it a long time ago, from an old Soviet movie. Then I read several stories that these airfields were created intentionally to disorient enemy bombers and to prevent real airfields from being damaged. This military tactic was actively used by both the Soviet Army and the Germans at that time.
The idea of the film is also good because today few people know about this historical fact and we are filling this gap. The main character is a combat pilot, he strives to return to the sky after being injured, but due to vision problems he cannot get access to flights. He's a simple Russian guy, open, reckless, sometimes childishly perceives reality, but at the same time he's an ace, he shot down enemy planes. We embodied his drama.
It's a little bit of my drama, too.: I've always wanted to be a pilot. But my eyesight changed in childhood, and I had to forget about this dream. I partly turned it into a movie.
— Did you seriously dream of an aviation institute instead of a theater one? Maybe someone in your family was related to aviation?
— My grandfather was a pilot. In the Great Patriotic War, he was in the barrage regiment. He ended the war as an aviation major. Then he taught at the institute. He was buried in Riga, where I am no longer allowed to visit. The authorities forbade me.
— Why did you bet on a young unknown artist, and not take a star?
— That's a very good question. Because I am sure that after this film, the young little-known actor Daniil Popov will be a real star of Russian cinema. We work a lot with young actors in our films, and after the films are released, they become famous.
The premiere of the film "There is only a MOMENT"
— Won't your movie make people laugh at the Great Patriotic War?
— Listen, looking at the screen, the audience will not laugh at the tragedy of the Great Patriotic War. They will laugh at comical situations, not at war.
The enemy in the movie is the same one — serious, sophisticated. And the main character is fighting this enemy, fighting in the sky with a German ace. We are not laughing at the Great Patriotic War, but smiling at our characters.
"I would like to hear what 15-year-old viewers think about cinema"
— What kind of technique was used in the film?
— Our main model is the MiG-3, which we brought from the studio to the premiere and installed on Novy Arbat in front of the cinema.
German Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Heinkel He 111 aircraft, as well as several Yak aircraft, were made especially for this painting.
Old planes dating back to the Great Patriotic War are almost impossible to find. Fortunately, some models — MiG-3, Il-2, I-16, and I-153 (Chaika) - are in the Vadim Zadorozhny Museum of Technology, a partner of our studio. These planes can't fly now, but as soon as it becomes possible, we will definitely use them in the movies. Technology is generally very difficult now, with large and diverse difficulties, and it can be put into the air. And our models, which are quite lively and historically reliable, fly with the help of computer graphics and various tricks.
— Whose opinion about the film is important to you?
— The opinion of the audience who came to the cinema with their family. So that after watching the film, they would smile, talk and, perhaps, starting from the "false airfield", they would want to learn more about how their grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought, how they lived, loved, fought and won. I would like to hear what 15-year-old viewers think about cinema.
— In 2022, at the initiative of the President of Russia, the Foundation for the Support of Military-Patriotic Cinema was established. You are a member of his expert council. What are his tasks?
— To provide in our country the necessary conditions for the creation of military-patriotic films and programs for their popularization not only in Russia, but also abroad.
— And how to get young people interested in such content?
— Make good films. Military cinema is certainly opposed to entertainment cinema. But with regard to the film "There is only a Moment," we tried to combine military-patriotic cinema with spectator cinema. It is difficult to compete with our viewers' favorite fairy tales in terms of fees, and there is no point. We have only slightly shifted the focus from serious cinema towards small entertainment — perhaps, and we hope so, watching our film will be a stepping stone for someone to more serious military historical works.
— Do you plan to promote your films abroad? Now many people are looking at the Chinese market for rental.
— Two of my paintings were successfully shown in China: "Brest fortress" and "Podolsk cadets". I think "There is only a Moment" will find its audience. And the people who promote our cinema, including in China, are already doing it.
"I don't look like Marshal Zhukov at all"
— A mock-up of the Reichstag was built in Moskino. And for Victory Day, you prepared a performance in these settings, which was of great interest. What will happen to them next?
— We are preparing for a very difficult job. It's going to be different from everything we've done. It will be a very difficult movie both technically and meaningfully. I've never done this before. Yes, thanks to the efforts of the Moscow authorities, for which I am very grateful to our mayor, the Reichstag has already been built in the Moskino Film Park. We will finish building it inside. We hope that in May we will start shooting the film "The Banner of Victory". About our flag bearers, the last days of the storming of Berlin and the capture of the Reichstag. The events unfold over three days, from April 30 to May 2, 1945.
— Few people know that the soldiers who were supposed to plant the red banner on the Reichstag were not three, but much more.
— And we will definitely show all these heroes who hoisted their banners and participated in the storming of the Reichstag.
— On May 9, you already released a play at the Army Theater, which was also called The Banner of Victory. It's a very spectacular sight, especially when the whole hall is covered with a red cloth in the finale. Who came up with this?
— This is my idea. I proposed to the Theater of the Russian Army the idea of staging the play "The Banner of Victory." Fortunately, she was supported. A huge Victory Banner covers the entire hall at the end of the performance, and the audience hands over this banner. We also carried it through Red Square on June 24 in memory of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory Day Parade, which took place on June 24, 1945.
This performance is alive, and I will continue to develop it from show to show. And on December 6, I will also have to play Marshal Zhukov, since both actors playing this role there are filming movies. I'm going to have to get into my own show.
— So you will have your debut on the stage of the Army Theater?
— Yes, I will have my acting debut on the stage of the Army Theater. I don't look like Marshal Zhukov at all.
— Well, it's not required there.
— The performance is poetic, I think the audience will believe it. Marshals Konev and Rokossovsky, Commander-in-Chief Stalin, will be next to me. I think the audience will accept this fact.
The play "The Banner of Victory"
— Retro is the fashion now. The idols of the 1980s and 1990s are returning to the stage. Soviet cinema is being reshot. Don't you want to bring your original TV projects back to the screens, for example, "Both on!"?
— The time for "Both-on!" is over. And it ended back in that country, in that century, even in that millennium. Now the audience's interest has turned in a completely different direction.
"Which one?"
— Entertainment television has become different. And now they joke in a different way. And I still don't see my place in this new time.
"How's that?"
— If there is such a request, as they say, from the society, why not? But now we need to do it differently than we did then, 35 years ago. When, having fun and fitting into a new epic time of change, we could afford new entertainment on domestic television. Many people remember this program, and I'm happy about it. But in these days, it's hard for me to imagine putting on a plaid jacket and starting to make someone laugh on the TV screen. It's not the time right now. For me. I don't want to be, you know, a cynic, a retrograde, a grouch, and if viewers today have a request for established television humor and they want to have fun like this, then please, but for me it's unimaginable now.
— Is this not the time for humor?
— There is always time for humor. But not for anyone, and not for me. The only thing I can afford is to make such a light movie about the times of the Great Patriotic War.
— What else are you planning to surprise me with?
— Besides cinema, there is another one of my favorite jobs — participation in the creation of large military-historical expositions. We work a lot together with the Victory Museum on Poklonnaya Gora, and next year I will participate in a project dedicated to the defense of Tula.
And another outlet is space. We make documentaries and maintain close relations with both cosmonauts and the management of the state corporation. The space program of the USSR and Russia is, in my opinion, one of the most significant directions of the country's development, one of the locomotives of the development of science and technology. Our annual Tsiolkovsky Space Film Festival will be held in Kaluga for the seventh time in April, and I am sure that it will again attract many viewers and participants.
That's what I'm more interested in right now than wanting to shock someone with something. And, to be honest, while I have the Banner of Victory ahead of me, I can't think of anything else.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
