Vysotsky - thank you, for my life

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Movie
German title Vysotsky - thank you for living
Original title Высоцкий - спасибо, что живой (Vysotsky spassibo, tschto schivoi)
Country of production Russia
original language Russian
Publishing year 2011
length 132 minutes
Age rating FSK from 12
Rod
Director Pyotr Buslov
script Nikita Vysotsky
production Anatoli Maximow , Konstantin Ernst , Michael Schlicht , Nikita Vysotsky
music Ruslan Muratov
camera Igor Grinjakin
occupation

Vysotsky - Thank You for Living is a Russian film by director Pyotr Buslow about the Russian poet, bard and actor, Vladimir Vysotsky . The script was written by the poet's son, Nikita Vysotsky .

The premiere was originally scheduled for July 24, 2011 , on the 31st anniversary of Vysotsky's death; however, it was later postponed to autumn 2011. Then a new date was set at a rock festival: December 31, 2011. On July 25, 2011, the second trailer was released and the final release date was given: December 1, 2011. In Germany, the film came at the same time as the Russian premiere out in a limited rental on December 1, 2011.

action

In 1979 the KGB of the Uzbek SSR prepared an operation to convict organizers of illegal concerts in Uzbekistan of fraud. KGB Colonel Bechtejew recruits two employees of the Tashkent Philharmonic for this : the cashier and the organizer of such concerts, Friedman. The two agree to cooperate with the KGB of the Uzbek SSR. Vladimir Vysotsky is selected as the target of the operation .

Meanwhile, Vysotsky in Moscow plans to travel to Paris to see his wife Marina Vlady . The KGB employee curating the Taganka Theater informed him that after his concerts in Izhevsk some people were arrested and that he should not travel to Uzbekistan, where he was invited by Friedman. Should he want to travel to Paris, his passport would be ready soon. Vysotsky comes home to find his parents and an emergency team. The doctor tries to persuade his parents to forcibly admit Vysotsky to a hospital, but Vysotsky refuses. Vysotsky later stayed in the apartment with his friend and “tour agent”, Pavel Leonidow, and with his new passion, Tanja Ivleva. Leonidov tries to persuade Vysotsky to attend concerts in Uzbekistan, even though he knows that his health is badly damaged. Tanja is against it in general because she thinks that Leonidov just wants to benefit from Vysotsky.

Ultimately, the group around Vysotsky travels to Tashkent: in addition to Vysotsky and Leonidov, his friend and colleague Seva Kulagin, as well as his doctor Anatoly Nefjodow. They pretend to be happy and excited, but when the bard is not there, they immediately start quarreling about Vysotsky's state of health. When they arrive in Tashkent, they meet Friedman, who immediately suggests flying back to Moscow. However, Vysotsky refuses and the group travels to Bukhara , where they stay at the Sarafshan Hotel . In the evening, Vladimir Vysotsky developed drug withdrawal symptoms; an ambulance is called, but the ambulance refuses to give the bard drugs (these are always just called "drugs" in Vysotski's surroundings). Nefjodow manages to steal an ampoule from the doctor with a trick, but it is not enough for the planned series of concerts. The only way, without Vysotski's knowledge, is to order Tanya Ivleva from Moscow, who should bring a pack with the ampoules. The KGB man Bechteev, who monitors the hotel room by bugging, orders his employees to intercept Tanya Ivleva, who comes from Moscow.

However, Tanja does not come with a scheduled flight, but with a military transport plane. She hires a driver at the Tashkent airport to get to Bukhara. The driver, a Uzbek, tries to rape Tanya on the way - but this is prevented by Bechtejew, who follows the car. When the driver stops in a village, Bechtejew threatens him in case something should happen to Tanja. When the driver drops Tanya in front of Bukhara, she continues with the bus - but is then arrested and taken to Bechtejew. He wants to know who the drugs are for. Tanja insists that they are for her own use. Bechtejew asks her for a written statement and keeps her passport, but releases her.

Meanwhile, several concerts by Vysotsky are taking place in Bukhara. It takes a lot of effort for him to do the first concert where he exhausted himself completely. Sewa and the doctor Nefjodow worry about the bard, who might collapse on the stage. Meanwhile, Friedman and Leonidow share the proceeds of the concert and burn the torn tickets - which means that this concert is illegal and the organizers keep all the proceeds.

At the second concert on the same day, a respected Uzbek party cadre arrives, who is received by Friedman almost obsequiously. Sewa Kulagin is very worried about Vysotsky's health, but Friedman and Leonidow insist on the concert. Sewa takes the initiative, pushes a grand piano onto the stage and begins to sing Vysotsky's songs; for this he is booed by the audience. Vysotsky takes the stage and demands that the boo stop immediately. Then he starts his own performance. At the end of the concert he collapses so that the last song from the tape has to be played. The high party cadre present was the first to applaud, and the hall took up his applause.

Colonel Bechteev intends to arrest Vysotsky immediately after the concert. But this operation is stopped by his boss, the Uzbek KGB general, who admonishes him to be careful: "Could a senior member of the Central Committee have been to a concert by a drug addict criminal?"

The KGB curator of the Taganka Theater comes to Uzbekistan and suggests Bechtejew that Tanya Ivleva be arrested on departure from Tashkent.

The next day Vysotsky is better and they go to the market together. There Vysotsky, disguised as an Uzbek, plays an improvised performance, which means that Seva Kulagin, who wanted to buy a carpet, only has to pay 180 instead of 250 rubles.

After returning to the hotel, Sewa is called by Marina Vlady from Paris, who asks to speak to Vysotsky. When Nefjodov calls Vysotsky to warn him, he hears Tanya screams - Vysotsky has died. All attempts to revive him fail. It is decided to give Vysotsky an injection of adrenaline into the carotid artery. During this time between life and death, Vysotsky has a dream in which his second wife and two children get stuck in a taxi in the dirt. Towards the end of the dream he pushes the car out of the dirt and comes to life.

The KGB employees who monitor the hotel room report to Bechteev that Vysotsky is dead. Bechteev gives the order to lock the hotel and switch off the telephones and drives to Bukhara. However, when Bechteev arrives, Vysotsky is alive again. Bechtejew overhears Vysotsky and Ivleva's nocturnal conversation, but is interrupted by the Taganka curator, who continues to demand that Iwleva be arrested. Bechteev penetrates Leonidov, confiscates the drugs, and orders him to leave for Moscow immediately. During the night Tanya and Vysotsky talk about life and poetry; Sewa Kulagin and the doctor Nefjodow get drunk at the miracle they experienced.

In the morning everyone arrives at Tashkent airport. Tanja is not checked in without a passport; the Aeroflot employee sends Vysotsky to Bechtejew, who had given the order. Bechteev makes him an offer to leave Ivleva behind in Tashkent, which Vysotsky refuses because he does not want to be blackmailed by the KGB. During the conversation, Friedman storms in and burns the torn cards in front of Bechtejew to show his colors and destroy the evidence against Vysotsky. Bechtejew is impressed and gives Vysotsky Tanya back his passport. On the return flight Vysotsky begins to write a new poem on the back of a pack of cigarettes.

Meanwhile, Bechtejew tore up the investigation files against Tanja and the concert promoter Friedman on the runway.

In the credits it is said that Vysotsky died exactly one year after his clinical death in Bukhara on July 25, 1980.

actor

The makers of the film kept the name of the actor who played the lead a secret for many months after the film opened in theaters. In the credits only the name "Vladimir Vysotsky" is mentioned. Son, screenwriter and producer Nikita Vysotsky commented: "We do not name the actor and do not include him in the credits, so that nobody is there, so that the character of Vysotsky stands for itself."

Filming

The film was originally called “The Black Man”, and Igor Voloshin was engaged as director and screenwriter . Later the film was handed over to the director Pyotr Buslow . Voloshin himself claims that he submitted the film himself for personal reasons.

The filming took five years, over 100 days of shooting. During the financial crisis , filming was stopped and then restarted. The film cost $ 12 million.

The character of Vysotsky was achieved with the help of sophisticated make-up from silicone, as well as CGI technologies. The face mask was developed within 6 months. The main character's make-up procedure lasted between 4 and 6 hours each day; Make-up removal took 1.5 hours. The actor came to the set already finished; in the service instructions, instead of his own name, it was always "Vysotsky".

Later, in several interviews , Sergei Besrukov admitted that he was the actor behind the mask of Vysotsky.

Theatrical release

After a record-breaking theatrical release on 1,400 screens for a Russian film, grossing over the first weekend (December 1–4, 2011) was over $ 11 million. This is one of the best movie starts for Russian films.

On the second weekend (December 8-11, 2011), the film fetched another $ 6.4 million. Thus, the film, which grossed over $ 21 million in the first 11 days of cinema, was able to bring in both the production budget ($ 12 million) and the advertising budget ($ 5 million).

In Germany, the film was also released on December 1, 2011 by Kinostar Filmverleih in a limited number of copies and cities. Both a Russian version with German subtitles and a German dubbed version ran. The box office results in Germany amount to 292,382 euros.

DVD and Blu-ray

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in Russia on January 6, 2012 . The Russian editions contain a making-of documentary in SD, interviews with the actors and four cut scenes.

On April 27, 2012 the German DVD and Blu-ray were released. The German version of the Blu-ray has a significantly worse picture than the Russian version. The German editions only contain a German cinema trailer and a picture gallery.

In January 2013, the long TV version was released on BluRay in Russia. The film was extended to a four-part series with a total running time of 203 minutes. The title on the cover of the long version has also been changed: "Vysotsky: Four Hours of Real Life" ("Высоцкий: четыре часа настоящей жизни"), although the original theatrical title is used in the opening credits of each series. Also in this version the name of Sergei Besrukow was put first in the credits.

criticism

The film was largely received negatively by Russian critics. Vysotsky's last wife, Marina Vlady, also commented negatively on the film, as the film is “an insult to Vysotsky, his art, his memory and our life together”.

The time :

“The film is about a songwriter who doesn't need a fifty-meter-wide, high-tech stage to inspire the audience like Pink Floyd, but - as can also be seen - only his guitar, his voice and his songs. Nevertheless, Buslow adds music to his pictures as if from an action strip. There are no chases, but the pounding and pounding music. That turns the events into the grotesque in some places. "

Spiegel Online :

“Unlike films like The Strange Case of Benjamin Button (2008 with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett), Vysotsky was about reproducing a familiar face for the first time. The experiment can only be described as successful. "

Remarks

  1. ↑ Vladimir Menshov and Ivan Urgant star in the film about Vysotsky (Russian) ( Memento from December 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Russian cinema: we are being faked again (Russian) ( Memento from March 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) March 11, 2011
  3. ↑ The second trailer for the film "Vysotsky" // Фильм. Ру
  4. ↑ cf. official Russian site of "Vysotsky - Thank you for my life"
  5. ↑ New secrets of Vysotsky - "Thank you, for my life" (in Russian) ( Memento of July 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ a b The main intrigue of Vysotsky - Thank you, for my life (November 15, 2011)
  7. ↑ Игорь Волошин: "I was ready to bring Vysotsky back from the afterlife ..." (July 1, 2010, Russian) ( Memento of November 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ 15 facts about "Vysotsky - Thank you, for my life" (Russian)
  9. ↑ Interview in the program “Wetschernij Urgant” on April 16, 2012
  10. ^ "Thanks for saying it" - Kommersant Online April 17, 2012
  11. ↑ The new cinema year began with a triumph for "Vysotsky" ( Memento from September 7, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  12. ↑ Vysotsky's Mask and the Painted Santa lead the way in Russian film distribution
  13. ↑ Focus: Film "Vysotsky - Thank You For My Life"
  14. ↑ Izvestia: Marina Vlady condemns the makers of the film "Vysotsky - Thank you for my life"
  15. ^ "The too loud life of the musician Vysotsky" - Zeit Online
  16. ↑ Russian music legend in the sights of the KGB - Spiegel Online

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