Song from the movie "Moonshiners": the process of creation, the situation in the country, the reasons for rewriting

Movie "Moonshiners" director Leonid Gaidai - first motion picture, in which the most famous Trinity Soviet cinema - Coward, Dunce and Experienced performed by Yuri Nikulin, George Vitsina and Evgeniya Morgunova. According to the plot, their heroes hunt in a small forest hut by production moonshine. Gaidai wanted diversify film and commissioned talented actors to create and perform songassociated with moonshine. But Yuri Nikulin a little overdone and wrote text, which no Soviet censorship.

A glimpse into history

History moonshine, which is shown in Gaidai's film, is lost in the darkness times. Initially in such devices they tried to get not a strong drink, but gold. glass flasks with gurgling liquid were part of the arsenal of medieval alchemists. Of course, over time, devices improvedtheir performance improved. Poet-humorist Vladimir Vishnevsky said:

“In this self-revealing text on behalf of moonshiners: “And it brings income, friends, / By the way, all year round,” namely, in the subtext there is, at least slightly modified, but a socialist view of labor productivity.”

Soviet production of moonshine stills, of course, did not releasebut here is the drink itself existed in our country since 15th century. Originally moonshine vodka was used as medicines. Like an alcoholic drink moonshine spread to Russia during the reign Ivan the Terrible. And already in 19th century each large noble estate had its own secrets home brewing. Moonshine Sheremetyev, Yusupov, Razumovsky was much better Scotch whiskey and French cognac. Catherine II proudly gave Frederick the Great and Voltaire Russian strong alcoholic drink. Variety artist Alexander Morozov said:

“It's like pickling mushrooms and your homemade cucumbers. They also simply treated the production of their own moonshine. It was such happiness and pleasure.”

In Soviet Union production and sale of moonshine were criminal punishable crime. According to Decree Supreme Soviet of the USSR 1948 moonshiners were threatened with a term of at least six years from confiscation property. By 1962, by the time the film was released "Moonshiners", law a little relented. Emphasis was placed on propaganda and campaigning. Vishnevsky shared his memories:

“The cartoons of that time depicted a moonshine with vicious droplets. Moonshiners were the object of condemnation.”

First version of the song

That we heard in the movie, it second option songs, which was written by professionals in the highest party decree and passed all censored filters. BUT first text composed for the film "Moonshiners" Yury Nikulin to a well-known folk song melody "Semyonovna". Evgeny Morgunov, Georgy Vitsin, Yuri Nikulin recorded it literally from first double. The leadership even became worry: "Guys, what are you doing? Your song will be sung by all the country!" Vladimir Vishnevsky said:

“I think that Semyonovna is a unique musical algorithm. Just imagine the American anthem to the tune of "Semyonovna". Therefore, of course, in the ideological department of the Central Committee of the party, they correctly realized long before the era of PR, the zombie consciousness of 25 shots, and correctly decided that using such a melody would be a very good move.

After demonstrations films in cinemas obviously that the song "Moonshiners" will turn into drinking song. And, of course, the whole will sing it the country: from Moscow to the very outskirts. But was it possible allowto a great power living by moral code builder communism, which was accepted and published by six months before the movie premiere sang a song with the words “Who does not drink is a fool” or imagine the following text in the mouths of citizens: “And we will drink, / And we will drive, / And the police will come - we will run away.” The song had to rewrite again.

A new version

On the help Leonid Gaidai came composerwho had already worked with him to create the previous painting "Dog Barbos and an unusual cross". He wrote a new melody for the song "Moonshiners" Nikita Bogoslovsky. Composer Alexander Zhurbin said:

“This song, frankly, is not Bogoslovsky's best song. Probably everyone knows that at first there was a different version, there was a variation on the song "Semyonovna", and Yuri Nikulin himself wrote the verses. But everyone was afraid that it would be the anthem of Russian alcoholics, so it was replaced and Bogoslovsky's song was put on. But his melody turned out to be very simple, even, I would say, primitive. In some ways, it still resembles the song "Semyonovna".

It would really strange compare the song for "Moonshiners" with others works of Bogoslovsky. For example, "Favorite City" (1939) or, say, "Dark night" (1942), but also a task the composer was staged, one might say, from reverse. The melody had to be made not too bright and not contagious'Cause let's say the song from the movie sang the whole country, authorities couldn't.

well and text to the song "Moonshiners" was asked to write a poet Vladimir Lifshitz. His most popular work was composition about five minutes from the movie "Carnival Night". The film was released in 1956, and since then celebration each new year began with these words: “Five minutes, five minutes! / The clock will strike soon! / Five minutes, five minutes! / Make peace, those who are in a quarrel! Vladimir Vishnevsky said:

“This is what I noticed, having delved a few years later into the text of the song, which was written by the master of words and the brilliant poet Lifshits, for a minute, the creator of Five Minutes, that he simply fulfilled a film order, one cannot say that it was social, but something like that in the text felt."

Of course, and poet Vladimir Lifshits, and composer Nikita Bogoslovsky performed film order. But since they were both talented people, they did it with a special excitement.

Option songs composed by Bogoslovsky and Lifshitz for choral singing was unsuitable. But in the text attended politically correct and certainly important topic: Coward's words about punishment for moonshine. Well, in music, it was a good find a game dunce forks on bottles with finished products. Composer and sound producer Dmitry Funtikov reasoned:

“People perceived this impossible game of the Dunce and Experienced on the machine and bottles very interestingly. There have always been unfortunate musicians who tried to play on household appliances. They themselves considered themselves mediocrity, because they did not succeed in a normal melody. But the status of this trinity, who knew how to play on everything, naturally increased.

Moonshine and bottle game

Dmitry Funtikov said:

“In fact, this part (we are talking about the moment where Nikulin hit the cans with a fork and a ringing sound was obtained) was played in the orchestra and on the recording by a xylophone. Therefore, people who think that Nikulin hit the bottles so talentedly that different sounds were obtained are completely wrong and, most likely, have nothing to do with music. No matter how you hit the banks, the sounds will still be the same. Although many people seriously believed what they saw. We can say that this is a snag, but it is moments like these that make the movie more popular and interesting.”

At Soviet the viewer, probably, was not a shadow doubtsthat Dunce (Nikulin's hero) can really play with forks and bottles. Funtikov continued:

“There is also Experienced (the hero of Evgeny Morgunov) plays along with him with the help of steam. Also, on the one hand, a deception, because it is impossible to play notes with the help of a moonshine. But, on the other hand, Gaidai thus clearly described the era of the 60s, when Soviet people could do everything: including playing the “electronic apparatus” no worse than playing a wind instrument.”

Trusting viewers

People believed almost everything that showed Gaidai in his short film. The people believed that you can play solo on bottles, in what is in tiny hut you can drive moonshine in industrial scale, and that actors really moonshiners. The current general director of the Nikulin Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard Maxim Nikulin, the son of Yuri Vladimirovich, shared his memories:

“I don’t remember everything because of my early childhood. Friends of the family often came to visit us and asked about the state of my father. And they always pretended to feel sorry for him. We did not understand what to feel sorry for him. And they seriously believed that he had a strong alcohol addiction.

Cause such an audience trust were masterfully invented roles for the heroes and images. And, of course, uncommon comedy famous talent trinity. And although in the final the main characters were lattice in a police car, they called the audience rather sympathythan condemnation. Vishnevsky reasoned:

“According to the laws of Russian mysticism, with its respect for everything connected with fun and parties, the audience at first had mixed feelings towards the characters, but then they changed to positive ones.”

Probably Leonidas. Gaidai did not expect that after the release of his picture condemnation to moonshiners in the USSR will become universal and rampant. But even assuming that management "Mosfilm" put before the creators of the picture a similar task, then in its solution it did not succeed. Composer Alexander Zhurbin reasoned:

“Initially, they wanted to show how bad it is to be a moonshiner, how terrible it is to make money in such a “dirty” business. That is, roughly speaking, they wanted to create a satire. But I can say with confidence that this satire did not convince anyone, people continued to drive moonshine, continued to drink it and make money on it. The film did not teach people anything in this regard.