The roles and actors of the movie "Stalker" (1979)

The name of Andrei Tarkovsky stands next to such geniuses of world cinema as Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, Sergei Paradzhanov and Ingmar Bergman. One of his most interesting works is the picture conceived as a film adaptation of the Strugatsky brothers' picnic on the roadside. Almost all the actors of the movie "Stalker" (the rating of the picture is 100%, taking into account the ratings in the English reviews published on Rotten tomatoes) are the brightest stars of Soviet and Russian cinema and, according to many authoritative critics, they own the lion's share of his success.

Content

"Stalker" is a film (actors and roles are presented below), which tells about events happening in unreal time and in a fictional space somewhere on the planet Earth. 20 years before the beginning of the action, the meteorite fell and anomalous phenomena began to occur. The territory, called the Zone, where unexplained events occur, were surrounded by barbed wire and surrounded by military checkpoints. Nevertheless, rumors began circulating among the population about the mysterious Room, in which the most cherished, sincere and long-suffering desires are fulfilled.

The main character - Stalker (A. Kaidanovsky) - recently left prison. He lives in poverty with his wife (Alice Freundlich) and a sick daughter. The only source of family income is the organization of dangerous illegal sorties into the Zone.

Once he is employed as a conductor by Professor (N. Grinko) and Writer (A. Solonitsin).

After long walks in the Zone (the actors of the film "Stalker" Tarkovsky pretty much worked, as many scenes were shot in extreme conditions) the trio reaches the Room. On the way to it, the Professor finds the powerful bomb that he himself once created. At the last moment the Writer refuses to make a wish. He informs satellites that his goal was to find a way out of the creative crisis. As for the Professor, he declares that he has penetrated the Zone to destroy the Room, because he is afraid that with its help people will begin to realize their most dangerous desires. Stalker struggles to persuade the scientist to abandon his intention. All three leave the room, never using its super-strong. Stalker returns to his wife and daughter and complains to his wife that there is no faith left in people, which is necessary both for going to the Zone, and simply to continue to live in a strongly changed world.

Kaidanovskiy Alexander Leonidovich

Almost all the actors of the film "Stalker" Tarkovsky at the time of the beginning of filming were already well known in the cinematic world.

In particular, the performer of the main role Alexander Kaidanovsky by 1979 already played in 35 films. He was closely acquainted with the father of Tarkovsky - Arseny, whose poetry was very much in tune with his soul. At the same time, he adored his director. According to the recollections of those who shot "Stalker" (the film, photo actors still do not leave high ratings positions), when the project was threatened with termination of funding, Kaidanovsky got drunk and cried, complaining that he could not do anything stupid than himself. Such respect and love were mutual. Suffice it to say that when in 1984 the actor decided to master the director's profession and entered the VKSR, Tarkovsky, who announced admission to his studio, stated that he would work only with Kaidanovski and "with someone else who would be worth it."

His role in "Stalker" actor considered the most important in his career and even before the end of filming said that everything that he will play later, will only fall in the creative plan.

Anatoly Alekseevich Solonitsyn

The first meeting of the actor with Tarkovsky took place when he took a vacation in the Sverdlovsk theater and came to the tests of "Andrei Rublev." Although Stanislav Lyubshin was the main candidate for this role, the director was able to obtain Solonitsyn's approval, especially since he was supported by a group of historian-experts. The film had an incredible success abroad and was highly appreciated by Russian cinematographers. Like other actors in the movie "Stalker", Solonitsyn did his best not to jerk away from the idea of his favorite director, whom he considered a genius.

Since then, Tarkovsky invited him to all his works shot in the USSR, and even specially invented for him at least episodic roles, since the actor was for him a kind of talisman.

In 1972, Solonitsyn played the role of the scientist Sartorius in the fantastic drama "Solaris". Then came the episodic role in Zerkal (1974).

In 1976, the director decided to stage Hamlet on Lenkom's stage. The main hero of the play, he saw only awkward and ascetic Solonitsyn. The actor was dissatisfied with this work, and soon the production was closed, as Inna Churikova, playing Ophelia, went on maternity leave.

Nikolai Grinkovich Grinko

This talented front-line actor was also considered the "talisman" of Tarkovsky. Like other actors of the movie "Stalker" - Solonitsyn and Kaidanovskiy, Grinko was already filming director. Their first joint work was Tarkovsky's debut film "Ivan's Childhood", the script of which, as the actor later admitted, did not at first inspire him. Only after viewing the picture Grinko realized that fate gave him a meeting with the real master. Later he was invited to the film "Andrei Rublev" for the role of icon painter Daniil Chernoy and "Solaris", in which he played the father of the protagonist, creating a truly biblical image.

The most difficult in his cinematic career, Grinko considered the work in "Stalker", as Tarkovsky forced the actors to repeat the scenes endlessly and tortured them at the scoring, trying to achieve absolute truthfulness of the images.

Alisa Brunovna Freindlich

If the other actors of the movie "Stalker" - Solonitsyn, Kaidanovsky and Grinko - before the invitation to this picture already had experience working with Tarkovsky, then for the actress, she became the first acquaintance with his director's methods. True, long before that, Andrei Arsenievich saw her in the production of the Warsaw melody, and her play made a great impression on him. This was reported to her by the production partner Anatoly Solonitsyn, who also gave a note in which the director invited Alice Brunovna to her picture. Due to the employment of Freundlich, their cooperation did not take place this time. However, Tarkovsky did not forget about the actress. Five years later, the same Solonitsyn informed Freundlich about the director's desire to entrust her with the role of Stalker's wife. Alisa Brunovna accepted the offer and played in the literal sense of the word on the verge of its possibilities. In particular, in the scene, when she should arrange a tantrum to not allow her husband to go to the Zone, the actress so permeated herself into an image that almost lost her consciousness. In addition, she practically improvised the final monologue, which became one of the most significant scenes in the film.

Fayme Yurno

Now that you know which actors of the movie "Stalker" played the main roles in the film, it is worthwhile to say a few words about the other participants of this creative ensemble. In particular, the elegant lady at the wheel of a cabriolet, which is present on the screen for 13 minutes, was played by Estonian actress Fayne Jurno. She was born in West Berlin in 1951 and moved to the USSR at the age of 6 years. As a schoolgirl, the beautiful Faime was recruited to the Tallinn Fashion House, where she was engaged in demonstrating fashionable clothes until 1992, and was also actively filmed for fashion magazines. The first role in the cinema Jurno received in 1974 in the film "Purely English Murder." Directed by S. Samsonov suggested Faye to play Lady Camilla. Her partners on the set were A. Batalov, B. Ivanov, G. Taratorkin and other stars of Soviet cinema. In subsequent years, the model and actress played several more episodic roles in various films, until in 1979 she found out that members of the film crew and the actors of the film "Stalker" had arrived in Estonia (where they were filming the tape, read on). After a while, Fayme received an invitation to take part in the work on the picture and played the episodic role of the lady at the wheel.

Where was he shot

The film "Stalker" (actors and roles are presented above) was shot at 25 km from Tallinn. For this purpose, the area of the destroyed hydroelectric power station on the Yagal River was chosen, as well as several streets in the city itself, near the boiler house. On her pipe there still remains the inscription UN, which was made to create a kind of decoration of the UN outpost. In 2006, a trumpet was fixed on a trumpet in English and Estonian languages stating that in this corner of Tallinn the film "Stalker" was filmed. Separate scenes of the painting were shot near Leningrad, and pavilion scenes in the studio of "Mosfilm".

Filming on the nature took place in 1977-1978. The final shots, when Stalker carries his daughter on his shoulders, as well as an industrial landscape from the open door of the bar were filmed in the Zagorodnoye Highway in Moscow. If you look closely, in the background you can see pipes of CHP-20.

I must say that the film was originally intended to be shot in the industrial city of Isfara in Northern Tajikistan. However, in January 1977 there was an earthquake, and had to look for a new nature.

How did the shooting go?

Work on the picture began only in mid-February 1977. In the pavilion "Mosfilm" was filmed the first scene of the film, taking place in the house of Stalker. Work on the nature resumed in May in Tallinn. Since the first developed materials of the film turned out to be a marriage, the director left for 40 days to sort out the capital, and the actors of the Soviet film "Stalker" remained patiently waiting for his return. By July the shooting was resumed, and a month later the first version of the picture was ready in the draft. In this version, according to the opinions of the Strugatsky brothers, Kaidanovskiy played a tough guy and a swindler.

The film crew imagined that the "Stalker" could be closed, but in July 1977, A. Tarkovsky received permission from the Goskino to increase the budget of the film to a two-part film. In September-October 1977 the work was continued with the cameraman L. Kalashnikov and production designer Sh. Abdusalamov. However, the entire film was rejected by the director. In October, at the insistence of Tarkovsky, the Strugatsky rewrote the script in the 8th or 9th time, creating the image of Stalker the fool. This option was liked by Tarkovsky, but because of the winter shooting was suspended. In addition, in 1978 Tarkovsky suffered a heart attack and again started working with the third team, which included the operator A. Knyazhinsky. The new version completely disappeared sci-fi entourage, and Kaidanovskiy embodied a completely new image on the screen. The film was completely reshuffled, and the shooting ended on December 19, 1978.

The actors of the movie "Stalker": reviews

This work Tarkovsky does not belong to the category of paintings that are popular with a wide range of viewers.

Moreover, even those who liked Strugatsky's book "Picnic on the Roadside", on which the film was originally shot, perceived the tape with hostility, since they found nothing in these works except the concept of the Zone. At the same time, the actors of the movie "Stalker" (reviews of the audience are both positive and negative) were considered a masterpiece, and his work in it was an unquestionable success and a gift of fate. They agree with those for whom watching a movie is not just an opportunity to spend a few hours free. It was for such a deep and intelligent viewer that Andrei Tarkovsky worked all his life. As for the rest, it is possible that they will never understand the deep philosophical meaning of this work, which is too far from the "chewing gum" that modern cinephiles treat. In addition, today there are very few professionals who can play as actors of the movie "Stalker".

Interesting Facts

• In two episodes of the picture a sheet of a detachable calendar appears on the screen, on which the date is visible - December 28. The director could not explain why he needed these episodes. Perhaps this is a coincidence, but Andrei Tarkovsky left this world on December 29, 1986.
• The picture was shot in one of the most ecologically unfavorable areas of Tallinn. As it became clear later, a long stay in this "Zone" while working on "Stalker" adversely affected the health of all who took part in it.
• In 1995, musicians Brian Williams and Robert Rich recorded a joint album "Stalker".
• Tarkovsky, his wife Larissa, who is the second director of the film, as well as the performer of the main role of A. Solonitsyn, died of bronchial cancer.
• In the early 1990s, the editor of the film, Lyudmila Feiginova, died in a fire. With it, the drafts of the first versions of the Stalker were burned.
• A. Kaidanovsky, known for his violent temper, unable to withstand the constant demands of the director for the hundredth time to re-shoot one or the other, fought with Tarkovsky, but he forgave him.
• The working title of the script was chosen the phrase "Machine desires".
• In 2008, the Tallinn City Hall was asked to name one of the sections of the road in the Rotterman area by the Stalker lane.
• In the scene of a fairly long span of the camera over the water, the viewer may notice a fragment of the Ghent altar by Van Eyck.
• Good at the beginning of the filming was received by Tarkovsky from the chairman of the State Committee of the USSR F. Ermash.
• In the article The New York Times "Stalker" was called a strikingly beautiful film.

Today, we do not have Nikolai Grinko, Anatoly Solonitsyn, Kaidanovsky, Knyazhinsky or Andrey Tarkovsky. However, the memory of these great figures of Soviet and Russian cinema lives and will go through the centuries, not least thanks to the picture "Stalker". The film, whose actors are famous for other roles, is included in many ratings of the best cinematographic works of the 20th century and is widely recognized as a classic.