34 minutes ago
Nikita Mikhalkov “I’m walking around Moscow”
In 2023, the film “I’m walking around Moscow” turns 60 years old, and everyone watches it with the same interest as in the past. The lyrical comedy, invented by director Danelia, could not have happened at all if it were not for the persistence of the director. However, he knew perfectly well how to get around obstacles in his path, if he was burning with an idea.
Interestingly, at the beginning, Danelia and screenwriter Gennady Shpalikov had exactly the idea without a sensible plot. Summer Moscow, heavy rain, a young girl without shoes is walking along the road, followed by a cyclist. “And then what?” Georgy Nikolaevich asked when Shpalikov came up with this idea. “Let’s figure it out,” the screenwriter said.
In the end, they really came up with a whole film, in a certain sense innovative. According to the plot, the novice writer Volodya (Aleksey Loktev) arrives in the capital from Siberia and immediately gets acquainted with the metro builder Kolya (Nikita Mikhalkov). The latter decides to show the new friend the city. Along the way, they meet the beautiful Alena (Galina Polskikh) and begin to court her. This is how the story develops, until at the end of the day the roads of Volodya and Kolya diverge in the subway.
What genre should this film-walk be attributed to? What was the moral in it? Where is the conflict that was supposed to transform the characters of the main characters? And why film a story like this for no reason at all? Georgy Danelia’s bosses at Mosfilm had these and other questions when he came to them with the script. The experienced director immediately called the deputy chairman of the State Film Agency and knocked out a “green light” for himself, knowing that after the furore of his “Serezha” he had carte blanche. Georgy Nikolaevich faced one more difficulty with Shpalikov already during the delivery of the film. Again, questions arose: to what genre should I attribute “I’m walking around Moscow”? “To comedy,” Danelia replied. “Why isn’t it funny?” – followed question. “Because it’s a lyrical comedy,” the director concluded calmly. In general, got out.
They didn’t want to take Mikhalkov, and the Polskys had to change their hair color twice
Well-shot protagonists are the key to the success of any film, and therefore sometimes this stage of filming turns into hell. So, for example, Danelia did not want to approve his son Sergei Mikhalkov for the role of his Kolya. Andrey Konchalovsky had to persuade the director, so Nikita Sergeevich got a significant role for himself thanks to his brother’s patronage. However, when Danelia saw Mikhalkov, he was pleased with him.
But Galina Polskikh could definitely fly past the role in “I’m walking around Moscow.” When she was brought to Danelia, he said that they did not need a blonde. The actress was repainted in dark, although she could not give a damn about the whims of the director and calmly say goodbye to this project. And then suddenly Georgy Nikolaevich ordered that Polskikh quickly return her color back and start filming.
