Half a century of the Officers

On July 26, 1971, the film "Officers" directed by Vladimir Rogovoy was released on the screens of Soviet cinemas.

The film "Officers" was based on the play by the famous writer and playwright Boris Vasiliev "Tankmen". Based on the literary works of Boris Vasiliev, 20 full-length feature films have been staged, as well as a large number of TV films, TV series and theatrical performances in the USSR, Russia, India, and China. Among the films based on the works of Vasiliev are those that have become classics of Soviet cinema: "The Dawns Here are Quiet", "One-Two, Soldiers Were Going…", "Tomorrow Was the War".

The play "Tankmen", written by Boris Vasiliev in 1954, became the debut in the literary work of the writer-front-line soldier. In 1955, based on this play, the play "Officer" was staged at the Theater of the Soviet Army, but it lasted only two performances and was removed from the stage.

In 1970, the then Minister of Defense of the USSR, Andrei Grechko, ordered a film from the State Cinema about the difficult fate of officers ' wives. Boris Vasiliev reworked his play "Tankmen" and based on it prepared a script for a 2-episode film. However, the military leadership did not like the scenario of Boris Vasiliev. Another screenwriter, Kirill Rappoport, with whom Boris Vasiliev had previously created scripts for 4 films, was instructed to correct Vasiliev's script. As a matter of fact, the adjustment was reduced to deleting any references to the period of the "Great Terror". For Boris Vasiliev himself, who considered Stalin "a fool more than Hitler", the plot lines associated with Stalin's repressions in the Red Army were of fundamental importance, and he did not raise his hand to such "castration".

Vladimir Rogov was assigned to shoot the film, which was reduced to one episode due to the "castration" produced by Rappoport. Many sources indicate that the film "Officers" was the debut in the work of this director. But this is not the case. Before" Officers", Rogovoy managed to shoot two full-length feature films, including the military-patriotic comedy "Fit for non-combat" with Vitya Perevalov in the title role. I remember, as a child, at the age of 11-12, I enjoyed watching this film. Yes, apparently, and not only me, since almost 28 million people watched this picture in cinemas.

The false idea that the film" Officers " was shot by an inexperienced debutant, perhaps based on the words of Georgy Yumatov, the performer of one of the main roles. Boris Vasiliev himself insisted on his participation in the film. In cinematic circles, Georgy Yumatov enjoyed the fame of a drinking man, and on this basis, the cinematic leadership refused to give him a role. As if he was the only one such! Only thanks to the personal guarantee of Vasiliev, Yumatov was able to get a role in the film.

Georgy Yumatov, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, who literally experienced this war on his own skin - the scar from a bullet wound shown in the film frame is real, received at the front - constantly drew attention to the falseness in the depiction of battle scenes, but explained this by the inexperience of the director.

Outside the Soviet Union, Vladimir Rogovoy's film "Officers" remained practically unknown, it was not nominated for participation in international film festivals. And even inside the USSR, it did not gain much fame from the cinematic leadership. Hence the almost complete lack of reviews for the film from professional film critics.

But from ordinary moviegoers, the film received literally national recognition. Suffice it to say that according to the results of a survey of the Soviet Screen magazine, actor Vasily Lanovoy was recognized as the best actor of the year in 1972 for his role in this film. And the picture in the first year of its demonstration was watched by more than 53 million Soviet moviegoers. And the number of applications to military schools has increased 20 times in a year!

The modern moviegoer also appreciated Vladimir Rogov's film "Officers"quite highly. 79% of IMDB and Kinopoisk users gave this film scores from 8 to 10. And 41% of users gave the film the highest score - "ten".

Taking into account the above, the rating of Vladimir Rogov's film "Officers" according to FilmGourmand was 8,449, thanks to which it took 342nd Rank in the Golden Thousand.

I'm just tormented by one question: if the film was staged according to the original script of Boris Vasiliev, without adjustments by Kirill Rappoport, how would this affect the audience's perception?

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