Clear Raven: Love and Espionage return to REN TV
Legendary cinematographer Mikhail Agranovich presents the director's work — the continuation of the series "Operation Carpathians". The second season can be considered a gift to the viewers of REN TV for the 80th anniversary of the Victory, even if the action takes place several years after the war. On the eve of the TV premiere, Izvestia talked with the creators and found out which foreign intelligence agencies the heroes of the film will have to fight.
A raven won't peck out a raven's eye
Mikhail Agranovich, a veteran Russian cinematographer, was invited to direct the project "Operation Carpathians 2". It was through his eyes that we saw Schweitzer's "Little Tragedies", Abuladze's "Repentance", "Mother", "In the First Circle" and Panfilov's "Ivan Denisovich", Gazarov's "The Inspector General" and many other masterpieces of Russian cinema. Agranovich rarely sits in the director's chair (but everyone still remembers the picture "Come see me"), but this is exactly the case. Of course, he's the director of photography too.
The genre of the series "Operation Carpathians 2" is a military historical detective. Shooting a film about the war is a novelty for Mikhail Agranovich.
— I've never even tried to work in this genre, — says Mikhail Agranovich. — I am glad that I got to see this painting, and I am happy that I was invited.
The events of the series unfold after the Great Patriotic War, in 1949, in Western Ukraine, in the Carpathians. The heroes are at war with British intelligence, which actively supports Bandera gangs.
Historians were involved in writing the script. The events are recreated with almost documentary accuracy. A saboteur nicknamed Raven (Vladimir Verevochkin) is thrown into the Carpathians to carry out sabotage and sabotage. His handlers from the British intelligence service MI6 are unaware that Raven is actually a Soviet intelligence officer, an MGB lieutenant who has obtained top—secret information that will help expose foreign intelligence agents in the USSR.
But it turns out to be difficult to achieve what you want — another high-class professional, who has long been embedded in the structures of the MGB, is working against Raven. With the help of his beloved Angelina (Maria Lisova) and the Plague thief (Alexander Loye), who are familiar to the viewer from the first season of the series, Raven will have to thwart the plans of the "mole" and the bandits working for him.
The series starred Alexey Shevchenkov, Alexey Grishin, Ekaterina Volkova, Yuri Nifontov. In the new season, they were joined by Evgeny Sidikhin, Gela Meskhi and Ivan Oganesyan.
The director has deepened human and love stories in the scripts. As Agranovich says, he was most excited by Angelina's story. Her transformation, first externally, then internally, occurs through love, through communication with a person who occupies the opposite position. Angelina understands who she lives with and what surrounds her. And we are following its changes with special attention.
A villager with a machine gun
The first season was filmed in the Urals in the Perm Region. Now the story is urban, so the filming of the series took place in Moscow and the Moscow region.
If in the first season Angelina appeared in the frame in outfits with a national Hutsul flavor, now the actress has changed into an urban costume. So that you can blend in with the crowd, get lost in the big city.
— Instead of scarves, my heroine wears hats, her style has become emphatically elegant and feminine, — says Maria Lisova. — Although I liked the rustic style more. There were no ethnic costumes in my acting biography yet.
Angelina faces a difficult task: she must make a choice that will turn her life around. Maria Lisova says that her Angelina is brave and strong. But in a difficult situation, she will have to give up her ideals.
The love story with Vladimir Verevochkin's character Raven will be the main one in the series. The couple will converge, break up, their relationship will be seriously tested. In general, the second season turned out to be more intense and emotional than the first.
Lisovaya is riding in the frame, using different types of weapons: a pistol, a machine gun, a knife.
"I used to ride a horse, but filming required more serious preparation," the actress admits. — The stunts were very difficult and dangerous. Life didn't prepare me for this. I just prayed, got on the horse, and trusted her.
In the continuation of the series, Raven is still embedded in enemy intelligence and tries not to give himself away.
— The first season was dangerous, we were testing the ground, — says the artist. — In the second season, all the characters have changed a lot. My hero meets Angelina and realizes that she is no longer the same. A certain event occurs in his life, as a result of which the Raven will face an internal struggle — heart with mind.
Raven acts according to the approved plan, he has no "yesterday" and "tomorrow". He lives by the day. There is only here and now, says Verevochkin about the hero.
The unlearned lessons
Raven considers the Grinder to be his teacher — this is the character of the Honored Artist of Russia Yuri Nifontov. He "migrated" from the first season. The grinder served in the police before the revolution. He accepted the new government and continued to serve the cause to which he is devoted. According to the actor, people of his profession are outside politics. They fought banditry under the tsar, and under the Soviet government, they are ready to twist any villain into a ram's horn. Such series are very necessary for the younger generation, says Nifontov.
— I teach at the Shchukin Theater Institute and I find myself thinking that young people know very little about the history of our country, — says the artist. — As they say, a nation cannot exist without history. It is necessary to know it. "Operation Karpaty 2 is a detective story, but it is based on historical facts. And young people should know how their fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers lived.
Evgeny Sidikhin plays Colonel Radchenko. This is not the first time he has crossed paths with the Agranovich dynasty on the set. Mikhail Leonidovich Masha's daughter, the actor starred in the film Sasha Ugolek a year ago.
— Mikhail Agranovich is a very intelligent, sensitive director who knows how to correctly prompt without knocking down your mood, — the actor confessed. — You meet a director and, thanks to his attitude towards you, you start to trust yourself more. I have had great pleasure working with Mikhail Leonidovich.
Another new artist in Operation Carpathians 2 is Gela Meskhi. By his own admission, he plunged into the era of the 1940s with interest. His hero is a captain in the Soviet Army. He has determined for himself that he lives for people. He's ideological. Like all the builders of communism in a great country.
— And after all, this unity gave its result, — Gela Meskhi reflects. — My character believes in what he's doing. He is honest, fair, and works for the good of his country. There is an order — you go and do it without discussing the order. I love war movies in general. I would like young people to watch this series. We have to remember the past, it's not up for discussion.
Mikhail Agranovich recruited his former students of the VGIK Faculty of Cinematography, Slava Ivanov and Dmitry Lukyanov, to shoot the series. Sophomores also come to help. It's more useful for them than lectures, says Agranovich. And the teacher has a lot to learn from the youth, who can enlighten the master in mastering the rapidly updating technology. And he explains to them why they need an operator at all, regardless of what kind of equipment he uses.
"We are very grateful to Mikhail Leonidovich for bringing a team of young cameramen to the project," says Yaroslav Nuvaryev, creative producer of the series. — They bring a new, fresh vision to the project. Plus: amazing nature and interiors, wonderful actors — we believe that our project will demonstrate an amazing result.
The REN TV channel will show the full series "Operation Carpathians 2" on May 4, starting at 14:30.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
