The film "The Diamond Arm": director, actors and roles

At all times in different countries it was believed that art is the voice of the people. The development of technical progress made it possible in the 1950s to achieve a significant improvement in the quality of films. The increased popularity of cinematography led to an increase in the attendance of cinemas. Fans of the cinema, who made up a large part of the country's population, were exposed to the educational influence of this art form.

Art is an irresistible force

Possessing a sharp and unusual mind, in the past a scout, Leonid Gaidai knew how to see the small, hidden behind the big one. In the film "Diamond Arm" the director used this technique. Behind the darling innocent comic adventures of Semen Semenovich Gorbunkov in an allegorical form shows the senselessness of human existence under the conditions of the Soviet regime.

The film "The Diamond Arm" (the year of creation - 1969), which appeared on the screens of the cinemas, is a picture in the comic genre that revealed the numerous flaws in the socialist system in the country. From the first frames the audience is immersed in the atmosphere of a fairy tale. In those days, a walk outside the country was a pipe dream. The ban on going abroad was called "Iron Curtain" by the people. What is the film "The Diamond Arm"? The director built the plot on the fact that the main character SS Gorbunkov, a simple employee, gets the opportunity to go on a cruise tour outside the country. And this is ridiculous.

The Great Mockingbird

Gaydai Leonid Iovych won the fame of one of the best Soviet filmmakers. At the age of 18, when the young Leonid was not volunteered to the front, he settled himself in the stage of the Moscow theater of satire. The future director took an active part in his life. He went with the theater on tour, watched all theater performances.

In 1942, L. Gaidai went to the front. Demobilized for injury, he entered the Irkutsk Drama Theater. In 1949 he left for Moscow and entered the VGIK. His first films were not a comic genre and brought him a lot of trouble.

One of the first pictures of the young director, "The Bridegroom from the Other World," taught the future coryphaeus to skillfully veil his thoughts. The persecution of censorship for a long time left him without work. This was enough to change the genre of all of his subsequent paintings.

The director Leonid Gaidai managed to draw spectators into the comedy mood of the film. Having succumbed to the comic form of presentation, few thought that the films created by him could study the quality of life of a Soviet man.

Retreating from a realistic depiction of the flaws in society, L. Gaidai suddenly won. His paintings were "to cheer." Each new film was accepted by the viewer with approval. Despite the cool feedback of the art council, his paintings were popular. The "Diamond Arm", directed by Leonid Gaydai, was not so well known during its release, became a masterpiece of cinematography. The spectator took comedy from the first viewing. For many it has sunk into the soul so much that the desire to look at it again and again has always won.

Russian man, not missing an opportunity to laugh at himself, took the picture as an anecdote. The film was revised at every opportunity. Replicas of the heroes of the film were retold and used in everyday life.

People say about the captivating soul of people - the people's song. If it was accepted to speak about films like that, the "Diamond Arm", the director of which worked for the glory, would be the first national folk film. No picture in the history of Soviet cinematography has enjoyed such a stunning success.

About the plot

The script of the film was originally called "Smugglers". It is based on a case from real life, published in a magazine titled "Abroad." In the note, it was told about the criminals who tried to transfer over the border gypsum values. So there was the idea of creating a movie on this topic.

An unobtrusive employee, working as a senior economist at Dniprolybe, goes on a cruise on the snow-white liner "Grigory Svetlov". Quite casually with him in one cabin is someone Kozodoev Gennady Petrovich, a criminal element, using the journey with a mercenary goal - to bring smuggled values.

Semyon Gorbunkov, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, gets caught in a binding connected with the transportation of diamonds across the state border. Throughout the film, the protagonist, exhausted by the remorse of an honest Soviet citizen, tries to get rid of the persecution of criminals who want to return their jewels.

The adventures that take place with Gorbunkov reveal the absolute indifference of state organs to the fate of man. Semyon Semyonovich, used by police officers as bait to catch criminals, brought to despair, begins to look into the bottle, his family collapses, public organizations that do not understand his condition, spread rumors about him.

Frames where the assistant manager boards a lightning announcement: "The shame of a drunkard and rowdy" lasts only a few seconds, but the completely insane state of the prosecutor is clearly visible. The picture is literally full of similar incidents, peeped in everyday life.

The phrase of the manager from the mouth of Nonna Mordyukova: "Our people do not go to a bakery for a taxi" sounded like a verdict. A luxurious life for a decent family man is a taboo. After Gorbunkov's arrival the manager came to visit him. The four times asked question "what's with you with Semen Semenovich's hand" has remained unanswered. Dissatisfaction with the gift in her performance eloquently hints at the self-serving inclination of the civil servant. The comedy is literally full of such eccentric jokes, which focus on the cornerstones of society's life.

"Diamond Arm": heroes, main rollers

The script of the comedy was written under Yuri Nikulin. The choice did not cause any doubt. Yuri Nikulin was approved for the role of Gorbunkov.

Innate sense of humor could not but lead Yu Nikulin in comedy movies. In the role of Gorbunkov, he successfully combined the irony and good nature of a simple Russian man. Thanks to the painting "The Diamond Arm", the artist acquired the glory of the living legend of Soviet cinema.

The great comedian did not confine himself to cinema. From his childhood he dreamed of working in a circus. In the early 70's, Yuri Nikulin became not only popular, but also a favorite invited actor. Work in the circus somewhat limited his cinematographic activity. Sometimes due to congestion in the circus, he had to give up meaningful roles.

For the role of Gesha Kozodoyev, Georgiy Vitsin, Valery Nosik and even Mikhail Pugovkin were auditioned. The director stopped on the charismatic Andrei Mironov and did not lose. His manner of playing as a smuggler helped the artist fully reveal his talent. After renting the film, the actor became the general favorite of the public.

In important roles

Wife Yu Nikulina Tatiana starred in the role of a guide, and 10-year-old Maxim Nikulin played "walking on the waves" of a boy who helped Geshe get out of the island.

The great performer Anatoly Papanov, who is familiar to everyone on the famous thriller "12 chairs", where he played Ippolit Matveyevich Vorobyaninov, magnificently showed the permissiveness of the underworld. With surprising simplicity and ease, the comic character of the situation in its execution is perceived.

The role of Gorbunkov's wife in the film was played by L. Gaidai's wife Nina Grebeshkova, a great actress who got into the cinema by accident. As a schoolgirl, she dreamed of becoming a teacher of junior classes. After visiting her friend, she met a poet Vladimir Lugovsky, who invited her to try herself as a movie actress. Already in the first year, Nina Grebeshkova starred in her first film. On the third - she was invited to Leningrad. So began her career in cinema. The magnificent actress dreamed of playing "The Diamond Hand" in the management council. She even quarreled with her husband because he offers her the role of "marmalade creation."

Svetlana Svetlichnaya, a seductive beauty from a restaurant, was born to be an actress. Already in the kindergarten, she attended a drama club. She, with the first attempt to enter VGIK, was lucky to learn along with future movie stars. A short but very bright and expressive role of Anna Sergeevna in L. Gaidai's film made her the most recognizable actress of cinema. Svetlana Svetlichnaya was remembered by the audience as the first girl who performed a "striptease" on the screens of Soviet television.

One day

Knowingly in the credits to the film, the viewer's attention is concentrated on the fact that the "Diamond Arm" is a "film novel from the life of smugglers with a prologue and an epilogue, a criminal comedy." Thoughtfully peering at them, you understand the idea of the director. In an eloquent prologue beginning with a view of the overseas countries from a viewing platform with a concrete fence, one means the vain desire of a Soviet man to visit there. From the tower, the director takes the viewer to Baku streets, where there are also street children, and a frightened woman wearing a hijab, and an importunate pristine messenger, and two pharmacists waiting for the client. In other words, "decaying capitalism".

The plastered hand with diamonds in red line goes through the whole film with the persistent edification that only troubles are waiting for every Soviet man abroad. And when he returns, his behavior will necessarily show "the pernicious influence of the West."

Some low-lying

Gorbunkov goes on a cruise. The landing scene was taken off at the port of Odessa. In the footage of the scene, where the family escorts the protagonist, two motor ships are visible: "Victory" and "Russia", repainted under "Mikhail Svetlov". Gaydai Leonid Iovich was very sensitive to the work of his beloved poet. The desire to perpetuate his name dictated the choice of the name of the liner. The landing took place against the backdrop of "Russia". For the scenes on the deck, Victory was involved. It was on this ship that the song "The Island of Bad luck" was performed, which later became a hit. In one of the frames in the background, life-saving circles with inscriptions "Mikhail Svetlov" are seen. They, too, were repainted specifically for filming.

Many popular directors and screenwriters in the films left for themselves small, maybe even inconspicuous roles. After all, artists are seen and remembered, and they remain behind the scenes and are soon forgotten. In "Diamond Arm" Leonid Gayday played the role of a drunk alcoholic, who is taken by the police in the frames of the film.

Leonid Pleshakov, a journalist, appeared in the stage on the steps of the underground toilet. He got on set to interview Yuri Nikulin, who was granted a half-year vacation for filming.

Some episodes in the film were filmed specially to give away the censorship. Especially noticeable was the removal from the film of the epilogue in exchange for the fact that all other objectionable moments in the tape will remain. The director deliberately inserted in the epilogue footage with an atomic explosion, completely not glued to the plot of the film. Gaidai's expectations were justified: the explosion was removed at the request of the artistic council, and important episodes were preserved.

Winged phrases from "The Diamond Arm"

Made a furore in the cinematography, the picture "The Diamond Arm" is literally full of sparkling phrases, still living in the conversational speech of Russians. Wishes: "So that you live on one salary" turned out to be one of the worst. The earnings in the country have not reached the dimensions that make the life of the worker carefree.

Varvara Sergeevna, who bought a hundred lottery tickets, ordered to distribute them "among the tenants of our housing office" and immediately declared a threat: "If they do not take it, turn off the gas," which is still relevant today.

"Obliko morale," Gesha objected to the harassment of a street prostitute. How is it consonant with the statement that "in the Soviet Union there is no sex"!

"You will be at our Kolyma, please" - a clear hint that the criminals have a place in the zone.

Phrases from the "Diamond Arm", which have become winged, are filled with a profound socio-political meaning. A scene in the restaurant "Weeping Willow", where "even drinkers and peanuts drink even at another's expense", and to such a state that "we do not care", shows - from reality at that time it was possible to go except in a bottle. And this is at best.

Shooting locations

Where did they take the "Diamond Arm"? Some scenes of the film were shot in Moscow, in the pavilions of "Mosfilm". Adventures abroad took place in Baku. The fall on the watermelon crust happened near the house No. 8/1 on the main street in the town of Ichari-Shyhar. Not far from this place is now a cafe called "Diamond Arm". Waiters with loud shouts of "Shurt berg" still call passers-by to visit the institution.

Moscow is not the only place where the "Diamond Arm" was filmed. The pursuit of Gorbunkov took place in the forest of Pavlovskaya Sloboda. The main part of the film was shot in the resort areas of Russia. Hotel "Horizon", which played the role of the hotel "Atlantic", where an innocent pretty seductress invited Gorbunkova, was on Krupskaya Street in Adler.

The trip to Dubrovka was shot at 29 km Krasnopolyanskoye highway. White cliff where fishermen Senya and Gosha are located in Tuapse region and is called Kiseleva rock. The underwater ridge along which Gesha got out of the island, as before in the same place. Shooting of the "Diamond Hand" took place in the children's pioneer camp "Eaglet". He gave the filmmakers the opportunity to shoot some fishing scenes.

Opinion of critics

"The Diamond Arm" (directed by L. Gaidai) was perceived by the artistic council with coolness. Critics have considered N. Mordyukov too indecent, and A. Mironov is crooked, Yu. Nikulin is unconvincing, and A. Papanova is not bright. S. Svetlichnaya was too seductive, and the picture, in their opinion, neither this nor that.

Despite the conclusion of the artistic council, the premiere of the film was accepted by the audience with delight. "The Diamond Arm" is the best crime comedy of the domestic television. The topical moments of those days were very close to the viewer. Today they have not lost their relevance. Presented in a humorous form, the plot reached consciousness, understood and appreciated.