"Our painting is populated by weirdos"
A descendant of the Greeks and Russian doukhobors, a former military engineer and a slightly insane inventor in one person — this is the main character of the lyrical comedy "The Ferryman". Director Fyodor Popov is convinced that this figure is almost biblical, despite the fact that this and other characters in the picture can fairly be called cranks. Based on real-life observations, the fantastic plot was born while traveling to new regions in 2023 and absorbed the reality faced by the creative landing of the film. Before the film was released on October 30, Fyodor Popov told Izvestia why the ferryman needed the second volume of Dead Souls, why there was nowhere without a time machine, and what the philosophical meaning of connecting the shores was.
"The group has traveled a pretty decent distance, all the way to the line of contact."
— Please tell us where the filming took place and how close is it to the location of the plot?
— We shot in the southwest of Taganrog - many villages, coastal villages, mainly towards Beglitsa and Mariupol. And the location of the film is one of the estuaries in Zaporizhia, whose inhabitants found themselves in a situation of a change of power, when the Ukrainian leaders and the military left there and the Russians came instead. And one of the themes is the acceptance of these changes.
A shot from the movie "The Ferryman"
— Is the plot based on real events?
— There's a lot of reality there. When the idea arose to create a film in this style, in this genre — there is drama, romance, and a lot of humor, there is even fiction — we sent a creative landing to these places, as it used to be called. My daughter Daria was also in this team — she is a journalist and a cameraman. They had escorts to ensure their safety. The group has traveled a pretty decent distance, right up to the line of contact. On those rare occasions when my daughter called me very briefly (it was unsafe to use a mobile connection), there were sometimes sounds of explosions on the phone. The task of the group was to collect "live" material for the script.
One of the participants of this trip was Mikhail Plisko, a wonderful young screenwriter and director. And his approach turned out to be close to us. It seemed to us that he found the right intonation. The application, which he wrote after returning from a trip, was based on the stories of local residents and on his personal impressions of the trip. So our scenario is based on real people, their living relationships, and their attitude to the events that are taking place — natural, genuine, and made-up. This is why history is dear and valuable, and this is what inspires.
A shot from the movie "The Ferryman"
— Who are your heroes?
— These are mostly women, children and the elderly, as men of military age are fighting. The main character is the ferryman Konstantinovich, played by the wonderful actor Artyom Alekseev, who starred in the title role in my previous film, The Corridor of Immortality. According to his mother, Konstantinovich is a descendant of Tambov Doukhobors, immigrants who found themselves in this place back under Catherine. And on his father's side, he is a descendant of the Greeks. This hero is very reverent, devoted, and sincere about what is dear to him: his daughter, his villagers, and the business he is engaged in. By driving the ferry, he connects the shores and the destinies of people, because the bridge that used to connect the two shores was destroyed and torn up for scrap after the collapse of the USSR. He fulfills, perhaps, a biblical mission.
And there is only one girl there — an American journalist who, by chance, did not have time to leave before the arrival of Russian troops. She gets to know the locals, gets into them, begins to understand the whole essence of what is happening there. Together with our hero, she goes through a certain path, an internal transformation takes place with her.
"The desire to persuade Gogol not to burn the second volume of Dead Souls may raise questions"
— Artyom called his hero folk and mad in the good sense of the word. Can I say that?
— The ferryman Konstantinovich is a responsible person. He takes responsibility for everything that is dear to him. But he's also a weirdo in his own way, a dreamer. In some ways, this is Ivan the fool from Russian folk tales, in some ways - Lefty or Kulibin. His fascination with the idea of building a time machine and his desire to travel to 1852 to persuade Gogol not to burn the second volume of Dead Souls may, of course, raise questions from some skeptics (laughs).
Although, the commander of the local Russian military unit, whom Konstantinich meets, is genuinely interested in this. Our picture is populated by cranks. There's a lot of fun stuff in it.
A shot from the movie "The Ferryman"
— Did any of the locals shoot?
— We filmed many local residents, of course. The people there are amazing, very helpful. They invited us to dinner, treated us, helped us a lot. They are very hospitable, cordial, and sincere in a human way. The people are wonderful!
— Why is Konstantinovich so eager to return to the past and prevent Gogol from burning the second volume of "Dead Souls"?
— He's very interested in how it ended there (laughs). Our hero is very inquisitive. Gogol is one of his favorite writers.
A shot from the movie "The Ferryman"
— Is he also a reader and a lover of literature?
— Yes, he is a literate person. An illiterate person would not be able to invent and assemble a time machine. I decided for myself that he once served in the engineering troops, that is, he has some kind of background, and that he is a lover of technology. The ferry is also a technique. Such a local Kulibin... and a romantic.
"If there is no love in the film, then there was no need to shoot it"
— This is a film about love, about time, about traditions, about the people, about the connection of generations. What about you?
— About love. If there is no love in the film, then there was no need to shoot it. Nothing happens without love. It's not just a man's love for a woman or vice versa. There is also love for the Motherland, love for children, love for the work you are doing — love in the broadest sense of the word.
This film is also about traditions, of course. About our roots, our history, if you want. If we want to understand what is happening today and what will happen in the future, we must look to the past. I've always loved history, since high school, and now I'm especially interested in studying it. What happened in our country in the 19th century, the First World War, the Second World War, the Caribbean crisis, the collapse of the USSR, is very interesting, especially in the context of what is happening in the world today. History and traditions are vital. A person who does not understand this, who does not honor his ancestors, is worth little, he has no future. These are the staples that hold a person together.
A shot from the movie "The Ferryman"
— Does the ferryman symbolize this connection in a philosophical sense?
— Yes, it connects the two shores. Unites a temporarily divided people. My father was born in the town of Shepetovka, like Pavel Korchagin, the hero of Nikolai Ostrovsky's novel "How Steel was Tempered." He participated in the Finnish campaign, passed the Great Patriotic War. I was born in Moscow, and my mother is from Moscow. Imagine, I remember Gagarin! He was driving along Leninsky Prospekt after a flight from Vnukovo Airport, and my family lived in a communal apartment there.
Of course, the story of my life cannot but influence my perception of what is happening, as well as the life story of the characters in my film — on their views. You can't throw everything away, turn over in a somersault and accept new orders. There are roots. That's probably the main thing in the picture. The main thing is Homeland as a comprehensive concept.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
