How and where to shoot "Station for two"

More than thirty years ago, the lyrical comedy Eldar Ryazanov came out on the screens about two lonely people whom fate brought to life by accident in a difficult moment for them. A touching storyline and sincere, honest work of the actors turned the "Station for Two" picture into a classic example of good Soviet cinema. Where did the "Station for Two" and how did the work on the film go?

Brief plot of the film

The film "Station for Two" - a story about how in the most unfortunate period of life you can find support, understanding and even love, and in the face of a man who literally could not stand a few hours ago.

The main character of the picture, musician Platon Ryabinin, lived happily and happily. While his wife, a well-known TV presenter, did not bring down a man to death in a car. As a respectable spouse, Ryabinin decided to save his beloved from prison and said that he was guilty of the death of a pedestrian.

Plato must be in the city before the trial, but then, as luck would have it, his father fell seriously ill. To see a loved one who, perhaps, will soon pass away, Ryabinin secretly leaves by train to Griboyedov, planning to return exactly to the deadline unnoticed.

Hungry, Plato at one of the stops goes to lunch in the buffet. There he has a scandal with the local waitress Vera. Due to long disassembly, the musician lags behind the train, and then, to all other things, he is deprived of his passport and wallet. Having lost literally everything, Platon Ryabinin finds a faithful friend in the face of a lone waitress Vera Nefedova.

History of scenario creation

Eldar Ryazanov in collaboration with Emil Braginsky wrote many good life scenarios. They even managed to compile them into a separate collection called "Funny gloomy stories".

This is the feature of all the works of Ryazanov: he shot such comedies, in which there was a lot of realism and drama, so the audience laughed through the tears. "Ryazanov" heroes in most cases first hate each other ("The Irony of Fate", "Office Romance"), but then look at each other better and understand that in many respects similar.

The basis of the script for the "Station for Two" tape was a real story. A common acquaintance of Braginsky and Ryazanov, composer Mikael Tariverdiev, entrusted the steering wheel of his new car to a young actress-lover. She shot down a pedestrian, and the composer decided to take her blame on herself. In response, Tariverdiev did not even give thanks: the woman soon turned away from him. After two years of protracted trials, the composer was still acquitted.

But Ryazanov and Braginsky continued this "line", assuming for a second that Tariverdiyev was still convicted. Proceeding from such proposed circumstances, the two screenwriters developed the plot of the future film with Oleg Basilashvili and Lyudmila Gurchenko in the lead roles.

E. Ryazanov and his work on the film

Eldar Ryazanov, basically, was shooting comedies. Throughout his career, the director made a dramatic film only once: in 1988, when he released "Dear Elena Sergeevna" on the screen.

Comedy paintings by Ryazanov are endowed with a special charm. The secret of the director's skill was that he showed life as it is, without unnecessary grotesque. But precisely because everything was as realistic and recognizable as possible, it became ridiculous. Find funny and witty in everyday life - this is a separate talent.

"Station for two" also adopted this feature of "Ryazanov" films: on the screen, like, the drama is played out, but why is it so funny? The director managed to ensure that the actors selected for the main roles abandoned their deliberate roles and appeared as they are in everyday life. For example, Lyudmila Gurchenko could depict in the frame of herself a kind of heroine, "the wife of the Decembrist." But she was simple and unobtrusive. Her heroine just like a human being wanted personal happiness: what to do if she fell in love with a convict? Oleg Basilashvili also does not act as a self-sacrificing noble hero. His act is a logical act of a man who simply loved his wife.

Participants of the film crew

Eldar Ryazanov was extremely constant in the choice of people in the crew. For many years he worked with the same specialists.

Emil Braginsky, a famous playwright, always acted as an assistant in writing scripts. Braginsky created most of his works with Ryazanov, but he also wrote scripts for other films: for example, "In Box 45", "Mexican", "Vasily Surikov", "If You Are Right ...".

Operator of the painting "Station for Two" was Vadim Alisov. With Ryazanov he worked almost on all his ribbons. In addition to cooperation with Eldar Alexandrovich, Alisov also took part in the shooting of the Transsiberian Express by Eldor Urazbayev, The Scammers Vsevolod Shilovsky and the serial Brezhnev by Sergei Snezhkin.

Music to the lyrical comedy "Station for Two" was written by composer Andrei Petrov. He worked on musical design for the films "Amphibian Man", "I'm walking around Moscow" and "Bunny".

Where did the "Station for Two" shoot? Places of field surveys

The filming of the picture began, so to speak, from the end of the narrative. Iksha - colony of strict regime for minors - was the first refuge of the crew. They say that the prisoners did not like the fact that the well-fed actor "wiped" them, but Oleg Basilashvili found a common language with them, though not immediately.

For Lyudmila, the episode happened to be the most difficult when, along with Basilashvili, she ran along the snow-covered road. The actress fell many times, and at the end of the filming day, Gurchenko's knees were all bruised and bruised.

Where did the "Station for Two" shoot in the other episodes? It was necessary to create a screen railway station at once from several really existing stations. In the episode where Plato takes Vera on a cart, Vitebsk railway station of Leningrad can be seen. But in St. Petersburg it was impossible to shoot the scene with the arrival and departure of trains. This required a dead-end railway station, such as the Moscow railway station in Riga. The restaurant, in which Verochka worked, was found and photographed there.

Part of the scenes was filmed at the Moscow railway station in St. Petersburg and at the station "Losinoostrovskaya" in Moscow. But mostly in the frame flashed the outskirts of Leningrad.

L. M. Gurchenko in the role of Vera Nefedova

Gurchenko began his acting career in the film "Carnival Night" by Eldar Ryazanov. It was in the 56th year. After the director, he never once cooperated with the young actress, up to the year 82. Lyudmila Markovna and Eldar Aleksandrovich did not comment on the situation at all, but the "well-wishers" hastened to explain the long break in cooperation with big disagreements. However, there could be no quarrels - just Gurchenko is a bright actress and she could be assigned not every role.

It does not matter where the "Station for Two" was filmed, because for the sake of Vera Nefedova's role, the actress was ready to endure any difficult conditions: severe frost, lack of sleep, broken knees. Her efforts paid off with interest: after the painting looked Yuri Andropov, Gurchenko was awarded the title of People's Artist.

Apparently, the relationship between the performer and the director was adjusted, since in 2000 Ryazanov found another role for Gurchenko in his project. Then he conceived the shooting comedy "Old Nags" about the four retired people who want to defend the truth in the "new" world, where everything is bought and sold. Lyudmila Markovna played the most frivolous and clockwork of them - the trade union activist Elizabeth.

O. Basilashvili as Platon Ryabinin

The film "Station for Two" was one of the best in the filmography of Oleg Basilashvili, despite the fact that the artist starred in more than a hundred paintings.

Oleg Valerianovich appeared in the cinema almost the same year with Lyudmila Gurchenko. Only his first roles were not so loud: "The Bride", "Hot Soul", "Virgin Soil Upturned" - these films are now practically no one remembers.

The first more or less noticeable role was played by Basilashvili in Nikolai Mikhalkov's drama "The Slave of Love." After the image of Thalberg in the film "Days of Turbins" Oleg Valerianovich noticed E. Ryazanov and invited to the role of two-faced Samokhvalov in the lyric comedy "Office Romance." The actor and director worked well: Basilashvili subsequently played in Ryazanov's pictures "Say a word about the poor hussar", "Station for two" and "Promised Heaven".

Oleg Basilashvili has been removed a lot in our days, although in 2014 he celebrated his 80th birthday.

Nikita Mikhalkov as the conductor of Andrey

Nikita Mikhalkov in the 80's was already a famous actor and director. As an artist, he starred in the pictures "I walk around Moscow", "The Noble Nest", "Sibiriada", "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". As a director, he took 10 pictures.

To play a practically episodic role in the "Station for Two" Mikhalkov, apparently, agreed out of respect for the master. The hero of the actor - cheeky conductor Andrew - appears in the frame only twice: the first time he leaves for the implementation of Verochka melons, and the second time when he enters into a fight with Plato in the restaurant. A little later Ryazanov invited Mikhalkov to the role of Paratov in the adaptation of Ostrovsky's work "The Dowry". More than two directors were not able to cooperate.

Other performers of roles

In his "station" comedy, the director invited many more celebrities. For example, Nona Mordyukova ("The Diamond Arm") played "Uncle Misha", inimitable Tatiana Dogileva - impudent on duty in Intourist, and imposing Alexander Shirvindt - pianist Shurik. All these characters appeared only in episodes, but had a big impact on the sound quality of the film.

The filming of the picture began, so to speak, from the end of the narrative. Iksha - colony of strict regime for minors - was the first refuge of the crew. They say that the prisoners did not like the fact that the well-fed actor "wiped" them, but Oleg Basilashvili found a common language with them, though not immediately. For Lyudmila, the episode happened to be the most difficult when, along with Basilashvili, she runs along the snow-covered road. The actress fell many times, and at the end of the filming day, Gurchenko's knees were all bruised and bruised.