Hussar Ballad
The Hussar Ballad (Russian: Гусарская баллада, romanized: Gusarskaya ballada) is a 1962 Soviet musical film by Eldar Ryazanov, filmed on Mosfilm. In effect, it is one of the best loved musical comedies in Russia.
| Hussar Ballad | |
|---|---|
A 1962 poster for the Hussar Ballad | |
| Directed by | Eldar Ryazanov |
| Written by | Eldar Ryazanov Aleksandr Gladkov |
| Starring | Larisa Golubkina Yury Yakovlev Igor Ilyinsky Tatyana Shmyga |
| Music by | Tikhon Khrennikov |
| Distributed by | Mosfilm |
Release dates | 1962 (Soviet Union) July 13, 1963 (United States) |
Running time | 96 min. |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Language | Russian |
With most of its dialogue delivered in verse, Ryazanov's script romanticizes the adventures of Nadezhda Durova during the Napoleonic wars. The swift paced, action packed, humor filled adventure is ingeniously mixed with light-hearted acting bravado and memorable operetta pieces. The film's musical score and songs were written by Tikhon Khrennikov.
The leading roles — those of the cavalry maiden Shurochka Azarova and the dashing hussar Poruchik Dmitry Rzhevsky — were played by Andrei Mironov's future wife Larisa Golubkina and the People's Artist of the USSR Yuri Yakovlev, respectively. Comedian Igor Ilyinsky appeared as one-eyed Field-Marshal Prince Mikhail Kutuzov.
The film is based on the play A Long Time Ago by Alexander Gladkov.[1]
The film proved so popular with Soviet audiences that poruchik Rzhevsky became quite a folklore character, featured in numerous jokes. See Russian jokes#Poruchik Rzhevsky for samples.[1]
Cast edit
- Larisa Golubkina as Shura Azarova
- Yury Yakovlev as Poruchik Dmitry Rzhevsky
- Igor Ilyinsky as Field-Marshal Kutuzov
- Nikolai Kryuchkov as Ivan
- Viktor Koltsov as Major Azarov
- Antoni Khodursky as Count Nurin
- Tatyana Shmyga as Louise Germont
- Lev Polyakov as Pelymov
- Yuri Belov as hussar-partisan
Interesting facts edit
- The director was planning to take Alisa Freindlich for the leading role. She was even auditioned several times for the role. No one doubted that she would get the role. However, at the last moment, Larisa Golubkina, who was not known to anyone yet, was confirmed for the role of Shurochka. It was her debut in the movie.
- Before Freindlich, Lyudmila Gurchenko, Valentina Malyavina, Tatyana Nikulina and Svetlana Nemolyaeva were auditioned for the role of Shurochka.
- The film was made especially for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino. The premiere of the film was held September 7, 1962, the day of the battle, in the Moscow cinema "Russia".
- A few of the costumes created for the film War and Peace were used during the filming.
- Sergei Yursky and Vyacheslav Tikhonov were first auditioned for the role of Lieutenant Rzhevsky.[2][3][4]
References edit
- ^ a b Emil Draitser, Making War, Not Love: Gender and Sexuality in Russian Humor (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000.) ISBN 0-312-22129-0, p.120 — a review 2008-08-21 at the Wayback Machine in Journal of Folklore Research
- ^ "Гусарская баллада". kinopoisk.ru.
- ^ "7 интересных фактов о фильме "Гусарская баллада"". 9 September 2017.
- ^ "Гусарская баллада. История создания". www.vokrug.tv.