At the end of 1988, the TV movie premiered Heart of a Dog by Vladimir Bortko based on the story of the same name Mikhail Bulgakov . Since then, the popularity of this two-part masterpiece has only grown, it has consistently entered the tops of Soviet / Russian films.
The expressions of Professor Preobrazhensky came into use: “The devastation is not in the closets, but in the heads”, “Give me a piece of paper so that it is armor”, “Do not read Soviet newspapers in the morning!” The common sense of the scientist was opposed to the revolutionary absurdity, which was embodied on the screen by Shvonder and Sharikov, whose phrases also became winged: “Abyrvalg”, “This is some kind of shame, professor”, “Cats were strangled, strangled”, “Take everything away and share”, “ Get in line, you sons of bitches, get in line."
The story was written Mikhail Bulgakov in 1925. It was supposed to be published in the Nedra almanac, but Lenin's ally, Politburo member Lev Kamenev banned it, drawing a negative resolution: “This is a sharp pamphlet on modernity. Under no circumstances should it be printed. And for the first time the story was published in 1968 abroad - in Germany and England.
The first film adaptation was also abroad: director Alberto Lattuada staged the Italian-German film "Heart of a Dog" (Italian "Cuore di cane", German "Warum bellt Herr Bobikow?" - "Why does Mr. Bobikov bark?") in 1976. The film reflected the disappointment in the flower revolutions of the hippies of the late 60s: shvonders and balls embodied the destroyers of the revolutionary illusions of the students.
A well-known Swedish actor, twice nominated for an Oscar, starred in the role of Preobrazhensky Max von Sydow, and one of the episodic roles was played by the future porn star Cicciolina.
The publication in the USSR of "Heart of a Dog" happened in the magazine "Znamya" only in 1987, 62 years after it was written. Director Sergei Mikaelyan gave this magazine to Vladimir Bortko to read at Lenfilm. “I knew other famous works by Bulgakov, the same Master and Margarita, but I didn’t read The Heart of a Dog,” Vladimir Vladimirovich told us. The professor's monologue instantly captured Bortko, he decided to shoot. Despite its sharpness, there were no censorship problems with this picture - perestroika thundered in the yard. Unlike the painting by Bortko"Blonde around the corner" with Andrei Mironov , which lay on the shelf for two years - until 1984. By the way, this picture brought the first fame to the director.
To shoot a picture based on the story of Bulgakov offered the director Vladimir Bortko, his colleague Sergey Mikaelyan , who then headed the Lenfilm television association. “Having met me in the corridor of the studio that time, Mikaelyan held out a magazine,” says Bortko. - I came home, started reading, got to the professor's monologue and realized that I would shoot and even know how. It should be a black and white movie and so on and so forth…”
A candidate for the role of a human dog was searched throughout the Soviet Union. Tried as little-known actors, and held - Nikolai Karachentsov , for example ... Until the director remembered the face he saw in the popular science film about alcoholics. It was it that looked at Bortko from a photograph, which was handed to him by assistants who were collecting photos of applicants for the role of Sharikov. “As they tell me, he pointed me to the first one - call the first one,” he says about the director Tolokonnikov. - I tried with Armor , with Simonov. I thought that Armor would play. And it turns out that the third test was with Evstigneev . Already at the first trial, I felt that I liked Bortko. He himself gave me remarks, and then periodically left the room. Subsequently, he admitted that he went out because he could not restrain himself, he was shaken by laughter.
The famous scene finally convinced the director at the audition: “I wish everything!” “Volodya killed me the moment he took a sip of vodka,” Bortko admits. “He chuckled so convincingly, his Adam's apple twitched so predatory that I approved him without hesitation.”
For the right to include the role of Philip Philipovich Preobrazhensky in his filmography, the battle of the titans unfolded. Tried Leonid Armor, Mikhail Ulyanov, Yuri Yakovlev, Vladislav Strzhelchik . But Evgeny Evstigneev won. “He, like me, did not read Heart of a Dog,” recalls the director. “And he asked his relatives if he should act in film. They unanimously answered:“ Yes!
“This film appeared in my father's life at the right time and literally saved him,” says Denis Evstigneev. - Dad was going through a difficult period when he was sent to retire at the Moscow Art Theater. It was difficult for him to agree to work in "The Heart of a Dog", then he just lived it. I don't know what happened on the set, but he constantly talked about his role, played something, showed some scenes ... At that moment, the picture became his support."
“The actor did everything right, except that Professor Preobrazhensky's gait resembled Professor Pleishner,” says Vladimir Bortko. - I told him about it. "And what should it be?" - the question followed. I answer: "Like D.I. Mendeleev."
One of the witnesses of Evstigneev's work on the set - Natalya Fomenko, an actress of the Maly Drama Theater of St. Petersburg, who played the role of the head of the cult department Vyazemskaya, the one who urged the professor to buy newspapers in favor of the starving children of Germany, recalled: “It was no secret to anyone that a difficult state of mind Evstigneev at that time. Sometimes he took his diplomatik and retired to the room, announcing: "I'll go and teach the text!" By the end of the day, the propsmen were already hiding this diplomatik with cognac ... "Despite such a "non-working" state, the actor, according to Fomenko-Vyazemskaya, held close-ups perfectly. Sometimes slurred speech betrayed him, but these trifles Evstigneev with The director corrected the dubbing.
The audience, after the premiere of Heart of a Dog, rushed to read the story, but did not find many jokes and scenes. The fact is that Vladimir Bortko and his wife Natalya wrote the script not only based on the story - they made extracts from the stories and feuilletons of the writer.
A mad janitor, whom the librarian, in order to get off, advised to read volumes of the encyclopedia - from the feuilleton "Gemstone Life", the prophetess in the circus - from the story "Madmazel Zhanna" ("Fool, make a smart face!"), Calling spirits - from "Spiritual session", and the "stars" of Clara and Rosa, which were conducted by Shvonder, from the feuilleton "Golden Correspondences of Ferapont Ferapontovich Kaportsev". These skits and witticisms not only added brilliance to the picture.
“Using Bulgakov's stories,” the director shared a secret with us, “we expanded the boundaries of the apartment where the story takes place. Now there was a street, a circus.” By the way, Peter “played” Moscow streets, since the shooting took place at Lenfilm.
Stars of the first magnitude auditioned for the role of Preobrazhensky: Leonid Bronevoi, Mikhail Ulyanov, Yuri Yakovlev and Vladislav Strzhelchik. Yevgeny Evstigneev won the “tender”, and this role came in handy for him. After the division of the Moscow Art Theater between Tatyana Doronina and Oleg Efremov, Evstigneev stayed with the latter. But he asked the director, since he had recently suffered a heart attack, not to give him new roles, but only to play out the old ones. Efremov took this as a betrayal and rashly slashed: "So go retire ..." Yevstigneev was in shock. It was in this state that he appeared at the screen test. So he himself at that time experienced sensitive blows of fate, which also fell to the lot of Preobrazhensky. “All the actors played wonderfully during the auditions, but Evstigneev was more accurate,” recalls Bortko. The artist's son, Denis Evstigneev, remarked: “The film literally saved my father. He constantly talked about his role, played something, showed scenes. The picture became a support for him in that difficult period. Many noted the penetration of Evstigneev's manner in this role, which he later called his favorite. As for Dr. Bormenthal, the director immediately saw him in Boris Plotnikov, then an actor in the Moscow Theater of Satire. “I immediately approved Plotnikov,” Bortko tells us. “And he was very pleased with them.” Plotnikov was afraid to play with the eminent artist, but Evstigneev said: “We are equal with you, colleague” - and timidity passed.
More than a dozen applicants auditioned for the role of Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov. Among them was Nikolai Karachentsov, who organically voiced the Gascon dog in the cartoon Dog in Boots, based on The Three Musketeers (1981). “Karachentsov talentedly portrayed a dog, but his acting role is a hero-lover, and I needed a dog and an alcoholic in one image,” says Bortko. Vladimir Tolokonnikov was selected according to the acting photo base, which was at all major studios - he served in the Almaty Russian Theater. Lermontov (as we learned, he still works there, and after Heart of a Dog, one of his most striking roles was in the film Hottabych in 2006, where he played an old genie). At the screen test, Tolokonnikov made a toast so colorfully: “I wish that everything!” That the director had no doubts. “Volodya killed me the moment he took a sip,” says the director. - Of course, it was not vodka, but water. But he drank very convincingly. The role of Sharik was played by a mongrel named Karai. He was chosen from several applicants - members of the dog club "Druzhok". “He was the smartest dog,” says the director. - He didn't speak French. He did everything from the first take. Karay subsequently became a "movie star", starring in the films "Wedding March", "Reexamination", "Rock and Roll for a Princess" and "Forever 19".
Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov from "Heart of a Dog", despite all his "negativity", has become a favorite character for millions of people. What feelings does Vladimir Tolokonnikov have for his character? "I love him! This is a beautiful little man, spoiled by Shvonder and Klim Chugunkin's pituitary gland, which was sewn into him. He's not to blame for this. If Einstein's pituitary gland were transplanted to him, he would be Einstein. Bortko came up with an episode for the picture, which Bulgakov does not have - after Sharikov was beaten, he, in a white shirt, with a candle, goes to the mirror and looks at his reflection. Trying to get into his past life. It was, as it were, an excuse, and I tried to play the episode in such a way as to protect Sharikov. I loved dogs since childhood, I always had a lot of them. And apparently, it was they who gave me the go-ahead - go, they say, say a word for us. But of course it's a joke."
On the set, Tolokonnikov was dissatisfied with himself all the time: he wanted to reshoot, remake. Bortko said: “Go ahead, you are always dissatisfied with something.” “We only reshot once,” Tolokonnikov says. - Remember the episode with the tie, when I say: “I need a document, Filipp Filippych.” Initially, this scene was decided that I, like Stalin, should sit at the table. But then it was remade. transition period. Or here is another scene that Bulgakov does not have - when Sharikov is speaking on the podium. They wanted to cut this frame, but Bortko said: "Maybe I did the whole film because of this frame."
“How quickly - in a month and a half - we launched with this film, it was so difficult to hand it over,” complains Bortko. - The artistic council at the studio concluded that the film was not very successful. On Central Television they were more supportive: they started watching the picture with gloomy faces, and in the end they even cheered up. But the newspapers the next morning after the premiere did not leave a stone unturned from us. It should have been read: rare stupidity. I remember a frustrated Tolokonnikov called: “Why are we like this? Where did we fail?” I answered: wait, time will tell.
It is known that Evgeny Evstigneev “for courage” liked to drink 50 grams of cognac before going on stage or before filming. Tolokonnikov said that due to theatrical troubles, Evgeny Aleksandrovich began to bring more and more alcohol to the shooting. And shared with Tolokonnikov. A phrase from the film “Do not offer beer to Sharikov!” turned into off-screen: “But why not pour Sharikov?” Vladimir Bortko told us about the conflict with Evstigneev on this basis: “Evgeny Alexandrovich decided that there would be no filming today. And he drank very well. There was a hard conversation. But after that, there were no such conflicts with him. Evstigneev did not drink alcohol on the site anymore.
The songs “Harsh years are passing away”, “Chatushki Sharikov” by the bard Yuliy Kim (“Bumbarash”) to the music of Vladimir Dashkevich (“Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson”) are also remembered in the film.
“In Bulgakov’s book it says: “They sing,” says Bortko. - But what? I ordered songs for Dashkevich and Kim. They wrote wonderfully. But then I realized that when Sharikov dances, he needs ditties. As Esenin had in his poem, they were like this: "The steamboat is sailing past the pier - we will feed the fish with the communists." And again I called Kim, and a day later he dictated to me on the phone: “Oh, apple, you are my ripe, but the young lady is coming, the skin is white, The skin is white, the fur coat is valuable, If you give something, you will be whole,” etc.
The role of the homeless dog Sharik was brilliantly played by the mongrel Karay. He became an actor quite by accident. In search of a dog, the film crew turned to the service dog breeding club and found out the coordinates of the owners of potential Sharikov. The owner of Karay Elena Nikiforova heard about the casting - they called her and offered to try. “Bortko himself watched the dogs,” says Elena. - 20 more dogs applied for this role along with Karay. Mostly they were outbred mongrels. I was simply asked what he could do - walk on his hind legs, crawl, and so on. Apparently, he was chosen because he was a “pure mongrel” - one ear hangs, the other stands. The dog was photographed to check the photogenicity, and they promised to call. the wires said: "Come to the shooting, we have chosen your Karay."
Elena picked up the future star as a puppy - a small fluffy lump swarmed among the garages. True, the dog began her creative career while still in propaganda teams - speaking among other dogs along with trainers. According to the hostess, Karay was, as they like to say today, a party-goer. Therefore, on the set, he was not afraid of anything - no spotlights, no makeup, no bandages, even such a terrible buzzing machine as a wind blower (the winter in the year of filming turned out to be little snowy - a snowstorm was caught up with a wind blower). True, according to the hostess, the mongrel had one fear - injections. However, in the film it was even useful. He was naturally afraid of them and pulled out when he was injected with sleeping pills.
Remember, at the beginning of the film, the Ball was with a scalded side? So, it turns out that Karay was put on a special make-up, with which the poor mongrel walked for weeks. “When I brought Karay, the film crew said that a stray dog cannot be so smooth and well-groomed. Therefore, the make-up artists made her ragged - they smeared the dog with gelatin. One side was supposed to be scalded - it was painted over with red paint. Since the shooting was every day, for some time he walked “in makeup”. People in the yard shied away from the dog like a leper. Karay himself was indifferent to the makeup. I then barely washed it from gelatin, ”- says the hostess.
Especially for the film, Elena taught the pet different things: to walk on its hind legs, to sit like a “bunny”, to snap at cats (although in life Karay lived with a cat in the same apartment and loved her very much). By the way, the episode with the cat was never included in the film, but there was plenty of torment over it. The bright scene with the sausage, which Sharik deftly catches on the fly, was also not easy for Karay. “For several takes, he was simply fed this sausage, which was also salty. But the mongrel honestly caught her, however, then she spat and rushed to a bucket of water to drink it down, ”recalls Elena Nikiforova.
In general, how to explain to the dog what to do on the set? Elena herself gave commands to the mongrel. “The only problem arose when Karay had to bite a man on the leg. Nobody wanted to be “bitten”, so they made a dummy. But the smart dog immediately saw through the fake and for a long time refused to “punch” it. In the end, he still did this ignoble deed, ”recalls Elena.
On the set, Karay was everyone's favorite and darling. Their mutual love immediately arose with Evgeny Evstigneev. Vladimir Tolokonnikov, who played Sharikov, also once specially came to the site (although their episodes did not coincide) to get acquainted with his "predecessor", as he called him.
But Karay's stage career has only just begun since his debut in Heart of a Dog. Then he starred in the short film "Reexamination", in the children's fairy tale of the Odessa Film Studio "Rock and Roll for the Princess" and in episodic roles in the films "Forever 19" and "Wedding March". Unfortunately, the dog died of poisoning two years after filming Heart of a Dog.Interesting Facts
- The well-known bard Yuli Kim also had a hand in creating the film: the ditties performed by Sharikov ("... come, bourgeois, I'll gouge out your eye") - his merit.
- One of the central and memorable scenes of the film, where Sharikov performs a ditty to the balalaika in front of a large audience of scientists, and Professor Preobrazhensky faints, is not in the literary source
- After the film, the already famous actors became even more popular. Vladimir Tolokonnikov once remarked: “Now in interviews they constantly ask me about Sharikov ... while this film is being watched, and I live!”
- To convey the flavor of that time on the screen, Vladimir Bortko used a sepia filter for the camera to simulate a black and white image. The reception turned out to be successful, and the director successfully used it in other films similar in time to The Idiot and The Master and Margarita.
- Actor Semyon Farada auditioned for the role of Shvonder.
- The footage in the film, which allegedly presents a documentary chronicle with the participation of a tram, was filmed by the director in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) (Degtyarny per., 7)
- In the literary source, Shvonder is a young man who has recently arrived in Moscow from the provinces. Actor Roman Kartsev was 48-49 years old at the time of filming.
- In the frame where Bormental catches Sharikov, he breaks the glass in the buffet. Indeed, during the filming of this scene, Vladimir Tolokonnikov severely cut his leg.
- In the film, Professor Preobrazhensky invites colleagues to examine Sharikov. He introduced one of them as Professor Persikov. In fact, Professor Persikov is a character in another story by Mikhail Bulgakov, Fatal Eggs.
- Sergei Filippov, who for health reasons could not attend the dubbing, is voiced by another person in the film. A professional imitator did it with brilliance - the voice cannot be distinguished.
- Actress Anzhelika Nevolina, who played secretary Vasnetsova, is the adopted daughter of actor Alexander Demyanenko (Shurik's Adventures).
- The film was advised by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Head of the Diabetology Clinic of the Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the Ministry of Health of the Ukrainian SSR (Kyiv) A.S. Efimov.
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Year of writing: 1925
First publication: in the magazines "Frontiers" (Frankfurt) and "Student" (London) in 1968 almost simultaneously.
For the first time in the Soviet Union, the story Heart of a Dog was published in 1987 and has been reprinted many times since then.
Several real doctors are named as prototypes of the literary character of Professor F. F. Preobrazhensky. This is Bulgakov's uncle, gynecologist Nikolai Pokrovsky, surgeon Sergei Voronov. In addition, a number of famous contemporaries of the author - the scientist Bekhterev, the physiologist Pavlov and the founder of the Soviet state Lenin - are called as prototypes.
We consider the story of Mikhail Bulgakov Heart of a Dog to be the second most important work after the Master and Margarita ...
Professor of Medicine, Eminent Surgeon, Philip Filippovich Preobrazhensky, managed to achieve in 1924, in Moscow, excellent results in human rejuvenation. He set out to continue medical research and decided on an unprecedented experiment - to perform an operation on a dog to transplant a human pituitary gland. As a test subject, a homeless dog was chosen, named "Sharik", which the professor picked up on the street. The dog ended up in a spacious apartment, he was well fed, looked after. Sharik formed the idea that he was special... The donor organs that Sharik got during the operation belonged to Klim Chugunkin, who died in a fight, a thief, rowdy and alcoholic.
The experiment was a success, the results exceeded the wildest expectations. The dog's limbs were stretched out, the dog lost its hair, the ability to pronounce sounds first, then words, and later full-fledged speech ... The dog began to look like a person in appearance ... Moscow was filled with rumors about miraculous transformations taking place in the laboratory of Professor Preobrazhensky. But very soon the professor had to regret what he had done. Sharik inherited from Klim Chugunkin all the most unpleasant habits, he received not only physical, but also psychological humanization. Polygraph Polygraphovich Sharikov (he gave himself this name) discovered in himself an addiction to terrible foul language, drunkenness, fornication, theft, vanity, tavern revels and reasoning about the proletarian idea. Sharikov gets a job as the head of the department for cleaning the city from homeless animals. He was helped in this by the chairman of the house committee, Shvonder, who hoped in this way, with the help of Sharikov, to survive Professor Preobrazhensky from a large apartment.
Sharikov really likes the work, a company car comes for him every day, the professor's servant treats him with subservience, and he does not feel obliged to Professor Preobrazhensky and Dr. Bormental, who are still trying to make a person out of Sharikov, instilling in him the basics of cultural life. He, like an evil dog, enjoys killing stray cats, but according to Professor Preobrazhensky, "cats are temporary." Sharikov brought to the professor's apartment a young girl he had hired, from whom he hid his biography. The girl learns from the professor the truth about the origin of Sharikov and refuses the courtship of Polygraph Poligrafovich - and then he threatens to fire her. Dr. Bormental stands up for the girl...
After numerous misadventures of Sharikov, Dr. Bormental, together with Professor Preobrazhensky, perform a new operation, returning Sharikov to his original appearance. The dog does not remember anything from what he did in human form, he remains to live in the apartment of Philip Filippovich Preobrazhensky.
Happy reading!
"Dog's heart"- a story by Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov.
Story
The story was written in January-March 1925. During a search conducted at Bulgakov's by the OGPU on May 7, 1926 (order 2287, case 45), the manuscript of the story was also confiscated from the writer. Three editions of the text have been preserved (all in the Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library): the chapter "Give the word to the textologist".
In 1967, without the knowledge and against the will of the writer's widow E. S. Bulgakova, the casually copied text of "Heart of a Dog" was transferred to the West: the chapter "My French Queen ..." simultaneously to several publishing houses and in 1968 was published in the magazine "Frontiers" (Frankfurt ) and in Alec Flegon's Student magazine (London).
Plot
The story of a dog that turned into a man turned out to be the property of the tabloid press. Curious people begin to come to the professor's house. But Preobrazhensky himself is not happy with the outcome of the operation, as he understands that he can get out of Sharik.
Meanwhile, Sharik falls under the influence of the communist activist Shvonder, who inspired him that he is a proletarian suffering from oppression by the bourgeoisie. (represented by Professor Preobrazhensky and his assistant Dr. Bormenthal), and turned him against the professor.
Shvonder, being the chairman of the house committee, gives Sharik documents in the name of Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov, arranging him to work in the service for trapping and destroying homeless animals (in "cleaning") and forcing the professor to officially register Sharikov in his apartment. In the "cleaning" service, Sharikov quickly makes a career, becoming the boss. Under the bad influence of Shvonder, having superficially read communist literature and feeling like "the master of the situation", Sharikov begins to be rude to the professor, to behave cheekily at home, to steal things with money and to pester servants. In the end, it comes to the fact that Sharikov writes a false denunciation of the professor and doctor Bormental. This denunciation only thanks to the doctor's influential patient does not reach law enforcement agencies. Then Preobrazhensky and Bormental order Sharikov to get out of the apartment, to which he replies with a categorical refusal. The doctor and the professor, unable to endure the impudent and impudent antics of Polygraph Poligrafovich and expecting only the worsening of the situation, decide to perform a reverse operation and transplant the canine pituitary gland to Sharikov, after which he gradually begins to lose his human appearance and again turns into a dog ...
Characters
Data
- The prototype of the “Kalabukhov House”, in which the main events of the story unfold, was the profitable house of the architect S. F. Kulagin (house number 24 on Prechistenka Street), built with his money in 1904.
- Throughout the entire story, Professor Preobrazhensky constantly sings "From Seville to Grenada ... In the quiet twilight of nights." This line is from Tchaikovsky's romance "Don Juan Serenade", the verses to which are taken from A. K. Tolstoy's poem "Don Juan". Perhaps, in this way, Bulgakov beat the occupation of the professor: the character of Tolstoy's poem was known for his sexual adventures, and the professor returns sexual youth to his withered patients.
- The professor performs an operation on Sharik from December 24 to January 6 - from Catholic to Orthodox Christmas Eve. Sharik's transformation takes place on January 7, on Christmas Day.
- There is an opinion that Sharikov can be perceived as a carrier of the demonic principle. This can be seen in his appearance: the hair on his head is "hard, like bushes in an uprooted field," like a devil. In one of the episodes, the moment Sharikov shows Professor Preobrazhensky a shish, and one of the meanings of the word shish is the hair standing on end on the head of the devil: 642.
- Perhaps the prototype of Professor Preobrazhensky was his uncle, mother's brother, Nikolai Mikhailovich Pokrovsky, a gynecologist. His apartment coincides in detail with the description of Philipp Philippovich's apartment, and besides, he had a dog. This hypothesis is also confirmed by Bulgakov's first wife, T. N. Lappa, in her memoirs. The prototypes of Professor Preobrazhensky's patients were the writer's acquaintances and well-known public figures of that time: 642-644. But there are other hypotheses (for more details about them, see the article by Philipp Philippovich Preobrazhensky).
- House committees, which Professor Preobrazhensky complained about, and one of which was headed by Shvonder, really worked very poorly after the revolution. An example is the order to the residents of the Kremlin dated October 14, 1918: “[...] house committees do not at all fulfill the duties assigned to them by law: the dirt in courtyards and squares, in houses, on stairs, in corridors and apartments is terrifying. Garbage from the apartments is not taken out for weeks, stands on the stairs, spreading the infection. Stairs are not only not washed, but also not swept. Manure, garbage, corpses of dead cats and dogs have been lying in the yards for weeks. Homeless cats roam everywhere, being constant carriers of the infection. The “Spanish” disease is circulating in the city, which has entered the Kremlin and has already caused deaths ... "
- Abyrvalg - the second word spoken by Sharik after turning from a dog into a man - this is the reversed word "Glavryba" - the Main Department of Fisheries and the State Fishing Industry under the People's Commissariat of Food, which in 1922-1924 was the main economic body in charge of fishing grounds RSFSR. The first similarly constructed word was "abyr" (from "fish"). Sharik said this word in reverse order, because, being a dog, he learned to read using the sign "Glavryby", to the left of which there was always a policeman, because of which Sharik approached the sign from the right side and read from right to left.
- The rock group Agatha Christie recorded the song Heart of a Dog, the text of which is Sharik's monologue.
The story as a political satire
The most common political interpretation of the story refers it to the very idea of the "Russian revolution", the "awakening" of the social consciousness of the proletariat. Sharikov is traditionally perceived as an allegorical image of the lumpen proletariat, who unexpectedly received a large number of rights and freedoms, but quickly discovered selfish interests and the ability to betray and destroy both his own kind (a former homeless dog climbs the social ladder, destroying other homeless animals), and those who endowed them with these rights. At the same time, it should be noted that Klim Chugunkin earned money by playing music in taverns and was a criminal. The finale of the story looks artificial, without third-party intervention (deus ex machina) the fate of the creators of Sharikov looks predetermined. It is believed that in the story Bulgakov predicted the mass repressions of the 1930s.
A number of Bulgakov scholars believe that "Heart of a Dog" is a political satire on the leadership of the state in the mid-1920s, and each of the characters has a prototype among the political elite of the country at that time. In particular, the prototype of Sharikov-Chugunkin is Stalin (both have an "iron" second surname), Professor Preobrazhensky - Lenin (who transformed the country), Dr. Bormental, constantly in conflict with Sharikov - Trotsky (Bronstein), Shvonder - Kamenev, Zina's assistants - Zinoviev, Darya - Dzerzhinsky and so on.
Censorship
At the reading of the manuscript of the story during a meeting of writers in Gazetny Lane, an OGPU agent was present, who described the work as follows:
[…] such things, read in the most brilliant Moscow literary circle, are much more dangerous than the useless harmless speeches of writers of the 101st grade at meetings of the All-Russian Union of Poets.
The first edition of The Heart of a Dog contained practically open allusions to a number of political figures of that time, in particular to the Soviet plenipotentiary representative in London, Christian Rakovsky, and a number of other functionaries known in the circles of the Soviet intelligentsia for scandalous love affairs.
Bulgakov hoped to publish The Heart of a Dog in the Nedra almanac, but the story was recommended not even to be read to Glavlit. Nikolay Angarsky, who liked the work, managed to pass it on to Lev Kamenev, but he declared that "this sharp pamphlet on modernity should by no means be printed." In 1926, during a search in Bulgakov's apartment, the manuscripts of The Heart of a Dog were confiscated and returned to the author only after the petition of Maxim Gorky three years later.
Screen adaptations
| Year | Country | Name | Producer | Professor Preobrazhensky |
Dr. Bormenthal | Sharikov |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The story, written in 1925, recreates the contemporary reality of the writer - the Soviet reality of the early 1920s. However, the picture reproduced in the smallest detail does not at all become a documentary portrait of the era. The combination of a fantastic assumption with many specific details, the interweaving of comic details of Sharik's "humanization" with the tragic consequences of this experiment form a grotesque image of reality.
The theme of the story is man, as a social being, on whom a totalitarian society and the state are carrying out a grandiose inhuman experiment, embodying the brilliant ideas of their theoretic leaders with cold cruelty. This rebirth of personality is served by the "new" literature and art.
The story "Heart of a Dog" is distinguished by an extremely clear author's idea. Briefly, it can be formulated as follows: the revolution that took place in Russia was not the result of natural socio-economic and spiritual development, therefore, it is necessary to return the country, if possible, to its former natural state.
This idea is realized by the writer in allegorical form through the transformation of an unpretentious, good-natured dog into an insignificant and aggressive humanoid creature. At the same time, a whole series of persons are woven into the action, in the collision of which many problems of a general or particular order are revealed, which were of extreme interest to the author. But they are most often read allegorically. Allegories are often ambiguous and can have many interpretations.
The story is based on a great experiment. Everything that happened around and what was called the construction of socialism was perceived by Bulgakov precisely as an experiment - huge in scale and more than dangerous. To attempts to create a new perfect society by revolutionary, i.e. methods that do not exclude violence, he was extremely skeptical about educating a new, free person by the same methods. For him, this was such an interference in the natural course of things, the consequences of which could be disastrous, including for the "experimenters" themselves. The author warns readers about this in his work.
"Heart of a Dog" is Bulgakov's last satirical story. She escaped the fate of her predecessors - she was not ridiculed and trampled on by false critics from "Soviet literature", because. came out only in 1987.
, Vladimir Tolokonnikov, Boris Plotnikov and Roman Kartsev starring, adaptation of the story of the same name Mikhail Bulgakov.
Plot of Heart of a Dog
The events of the movie dog's heart"take place in Moscow in the mid-1920s.
Brilliant neurosurgeon professor Philip Filippovich Preobrazhensky(Evgeny Evstigneev) has been researching the possibilities of human rejuvenation for many years, and successfully applied the results of his experiments in practice.
One winter, the professor picked up a homeless mongrel on the street in order to carry out a scientific experiment he had long conceived of transplanting the pituitary gland and human seminal glands into a dog in order to study their effect on the body.
On the same day that a dog named ball, to Preobrazhensky guests have come - the new manager of the house Shvonder(Roman Kartsev) with his assistants. The purpose of their visit was to “compact” the professor by placing other tenants in several rooms of his apartment. Nothing came of this venture because Philip Philipovich turned for help to one of his patients - a high-ranking Soviet official. Leaving with nothing Shvonder harbored a grudge against the obstinate tenant for his failure.
After some time, the professor, with the help of his assistant, a young talented doctor Ivan Arnoldovich Bormental(Boris Plotnikov) performed a long-awaited operation, the results of which exceeded the wildest expectations. The dog began to turn into a man, who gradually began to realize himself as a new personality. Unfortunately, this person inherited the character traits and habits of an organ donor for transplant - a brawler and an alcoholic Klima Chugunkina, killed in a beer drinking buddies.
Very soon, the professor, seeing what kind of monster he brought to life, turning the sweetest dog into a boor, a slacker and a drunkard Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov(Vladimir Tolokonnikov) - this is the name chosen by the former Ball- bitterly regretted his experiment.
The history of the film Heart of a Dog
Movie dog's heart was first shown on the Central Television of the Soviet Union on November 19, 1988.
The story on which the tape is based was written Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov in 1925, but since it was impossible to publish the book in the Soviet Union due to its pronounced satirical orientation, it has been distributed in samizdat since the 1930s. The story was first published abroad in 1968, and in our country it saw the light only during perestroika.
Publication" dog heart"took place in the June issue of the magazine" Banner"for 1987, and in November of the following year, the premiere of the television version of the story took place.
Vladimir Bortko said that the director Sergey Mikaelyan, who then headed the television department " Lenfilm":
"Having met me in the hallway of the studio at that time, Mikaelyan held out the magazine. I came home, started reading, got to the professor's monologue and realized that I would shoot and even know how. This should be a black and white movie...
For the right to play a professor Preobrazhensky fought such venerable actors as Leonid Armor , Mikhail Ulyanov , Yuri Yakovlev , Vladislav Strzhelchik, but won Evgeny Evstigneev. Although Evgeny Alexandrovich before working on the picture did not read the story " dog's heart", he was so organic in the role Philip Philipovich that this work has become one of the best in his film career.
The son of an actor, a famous cameraman, director and producer Denis Evstigneev recalled:
“This film came into my father's life at the right time and literally saved him. Dad was going through a difficult period when Moscow Art Theater he was retired. Difficulty agreeing to work in " dog heart", then he just lived with it. I don't know what happened on the set, but he constantly talked about his role, played something, showed some scenes ... At that moment, the picture became a support for him."
Of the eight candidates for the role Sharikova, among which was Nikolai Karachentsov , Vladimir Bortko chose the actor of the Alma-Ata Russian Drama Theater Vladimir Tolokonnikov. On samples Tolokonnikov played a dinner scene when Sharikov utters his later famous phrase: “I wish that everything!”. The actor made a toast and drank so convincingly that the director had no doubts about the candidacy for the role Polygraph Poligrafovich:
« Volodya killed me the moment he took a sip of vodka. He grunted so convincingly, his Adam's apple twitched so predatory, that I approved him without hesitation.
For the role Shvonder together with Roman Kartsev famous comedian auditioned Semyon Farada .
To these and other wonderful actors who starred in both major and episodic roles, - Nina Ruslanova , Boris Plotnikov, Olga Melikhova, Angelica Nevolina , Sergei Filippov , Valentina Kovel and others - managed to embody the images of the characters of the story so vividly on the screen that the film is still rightfully considered the best adaptation of Bulgakov's prose. This success, of course, contributed to the director's talent Vladimir Bortko, and high professionalism of the operator Yuri Shaigardanov, and the skill of set designers, costume designers and make-up artists who worked on the film, and musical numbers created by the composer Vladimir Dashkevich and poet Julius Kim.
Movie dog's heart in 1989 was awarded the " golden screen"at the International Film Festival in Warsaw (Poland) and the Grand Prix at the International Television Film Festivals in Dushanbe (USSR) and Perugia (Italy). In 1990, the director of the film Vladimir Bortko and Evgeny Evstigneev who played the role of professor Preobrazhensky, became laureates State Prize of the RSFSR named after the Vasiliev brothers.
The shooting of the film took place in Leningrad, and the "role" of the streets of Moscow, where the action of the film takes place, was successfully "played" by the streets of the northern capital. Prechistenka, where the fateful ball his meeting with the professor became Borovaya street, Obukhov lane, where the house where he lived Preobrazhensky, filmed on Mokhovaya, also shooting took place on Preobrazhenskaya Square, on Ryleeva Street, in Degtyarny Lane and in other places of the city on the Neva.
The scenes in the cinematograph were filmed in a movie theater" Banner", while in order for the actors-spectators to laugh in the frame, a comedy was shown on the screen Yuri Mamin "Feast of Neptune".
Interesting facts about the movie Heart of a Dog
First " dog's heart"was filmed by Italian and German filmmakers in 1976. In Italian, the film is called" Cuore di cane" ("dog's heart"), the German version of the name is " Warum bellt Herr Bobikow?"- translates as " Why is Mr. Bobikov barking?"(last name" Sharikov"Germans changed to" Bobikov"). The painting was staged Alberto Lattuada(Alberto Lattuada), the role of a professor Preobrazhensky performed Max von Sydow(Max von Sydow).
- The film contains characters and scenes from other Bulgakov's works. Professor Peaches, which Preobrazhensky invited to see ball- hero of the story Fatal eggs"and the circus soothsayer is a character in the story" Madmazelle Zhanna". The story of a janitor who read two volumes of a dictionary Brockhaus and Efron- Quote from the story Gem life", an episode with the "stars" of twin sisters Clara and roses taken from the feuilleton" Golden Correspondences of Ferapont Ferapontovich Kaportsev"and the scene with the professor's table-turning neighbors is from the story" seance".
- Vladimir Bortko starred in the film in the episodic role of onlookers in Obukhov lane, refuting rumors about the Martians.
- Role ball performed by a mongrel named Karay, which was selected from 20 applicants for the role. The dog for which the film Bortko became a film debut, turned out to be a talented actor and subsequently starred in the films " Resit", "Rock and roll for a princess", "Forever 19 year old" and " Wedding March".
Film crew of Heart of a Dog
Directed by Heart of a Dog Vladimir Bortko
Screenwriters of the film Heart of a Dog: Natalia Bortko, Mikhail Bulgakov (novel)
Cast: Vladimir Tolokonnikov, Evgeny Evstigneev, Boris Plotnikov, Roman Kartsev, Nina Ruslanova, Olga Melikhova, Alexey Mironov, Anzhelika Nevolina, Natalya Fomenko, Ivan Ganzha and others
Operator: Yuri Shaigardanov
Composer: Vladimir Dashkevich
Date of the premiere of the film Heart of a Dog: November 19, 1988
Heart of a Dog movie premiere channel: Central Television of the USSR
