⠀⠀ On November 9, a Soviet film director was born, who shot a well-known and loved by many in the New Year’s Eve film “Girls” – Yuri Stepanovich Chulyukin. But today we propose to plunge into the shadow side of his art in the face of a small Far Eastern chronicle.
⠀⠀From the point of view of cinema, Vladivostok has always been considered one of the most attractive cities. It has everything for a beautiful shot: “Neapolitan” appearance, extraordinary relief and the very location of the city. He became one of the “masters” of feature films during the Soviet era. Vladivostok city landscapes also sunk into the soul of Yuri Chulyukin, since there he shot two feature films: the heroic-adventure dilogy about the civil war “And in the Pacific Ocean …” (1973) and “Let’s talk, brother!” (1978). These two films contrast sharply with his previous comedy work – in addition to “Girls”, the film “Unbending” was recognized as another successful film distribution.
«And in the Pacific…»
⠀⠀The film tells the story of the last days of the civil war. Pushed back by the Red Army to the Pacific Ocean, the White Guard troops are trying to stay in power. They pin their hopes on an armoured train that will deliver ammunition to them. The film is based on Vsevolod Ivanov’s play “Armoured Train 14-69”, which was written for the Moscow Art Theatre based on his “Guerilla Novels”.
⠀⠀Director Yuliy Chulyukin staged a film based on a script written by Alexander Gorokhov. The film was shot in the pavilions of the Mosfilm studio and in nature. The nature was a suburb of Vladivostok, Vladivostok itself, as well as the shores of Lazurnaya Bay.
⠀⠀Chulyukin himself spoke about the experience of shooting a historical film as follows: “I used to work mainly in the comedy genre. The material of my paintings was modernity, the heroes were mischievous, cheerful girls and guys. And now a different plot and other characters. Vsevolod Ivanov’s heroes lived in difficult times, they had a difficult fate. And nowadays wars have not subsided on earth, and man cannot stay away from the problems of time. He must realise his place in the modern world. This is the most important thing that attracts us from the fate of the heroes of a wonderful writer. “Guerilla stories” are very cinematic. Here is the sharpness of the plot, the tension of the dialogue, and large, capacious human characters manifested in dramatic situations.
⠀⠀He called Vladivostok a “monument to the heroes of the civil war”. Speaking about the modern life of the city and its veneration of fallen soldiers, the director noted “Every year on October 25, the day of liberation of the Far East from invaders and White Guards, people come and, kneeling down, a minute of silence remember those who gave their lives for the happiness of our Motherland. These shots will end the film “And in the Pacific…”
⠀⠀The seaside viewer watched the film with special interest, recognising the city and its suburbs, as well as familiar shores and familiar faces of their fellow countrymen.
«Let’s talk, brother!»
⠀⠀The next historical feature film was shot by Yuri Chulyukin at the “Belarusfilm” studio in 1978. In the then annotation in the magazine “Soviet Screen” the film was presented as follows: “It was 1922. The young Soviet Republic healed the wounds of the newly thundered civil war, began to build a new life, and in the Far East, in Primorye, heavy fighting with the remnants of the Kolchak army continued. These events are referenced by the action film directed by Yulia Chulyukin, who was awarded the prize for the development of an adventure genre in film art at the XII All-Union Film Festival in Ashgabat. Previous films by Yu. Chulyukina: “Girls”, “Unsubjected”, “And in the Pacific Ocean…”, “Homeland of Soldiers”. In the centre of the new picture is the story of dashing scout Mitka Kokorin and his older brother, the Bolshevik Peter, who found themselves in one guerilla detachment after three years of separation. They perform a difficult and dangerous task: to get the guerillas out of a trap set up by Kolchaks.
⠀⠀In his article “Strengthening in Spirit in the Fight…”, published in the same edition, L. Pavlyuchik notes that in this film the director paid a generous tribute to all the methods and conditions of the adventure film, while he managed to avoid the “captivity of the genre”. The traditional outline of the film is enriched both by the scope of mass scenes and close attention to the human soul. Continuing, the film critic writes: “Dominating the picture, adventure often gives way to an agitated psychological drama, a heroic comedy, or a solemnly upbeat ballad. But despite its seeming mosaic nature, this film is surprisingly monolithic, the genre “striped pattern” is brought by the director to a common denominator – an exciting, emotionally rich story about how a generation of loyal fighters of the revolution fought and died, loved and hated, when the victory was already close and the last gangs of belyaks and the interventionists were to be thrown into the ocean.
⠀⠀The film ends with footage of a powerful wave of people’s army, which demolishes enemy positions in the town of Zhukovka, clearing the way of the Red Army for a victorious march to the shores of the Pacific Ocean…
⠀⠀These films are definitely worth the November evening allocated for acquaintance with them, because Yuri Chulyukin’s directorial style opens from new sides.
Enjoy watching!
Editor: Varvara Kartushina
