Andrei Konchalovsky's film "Tango and Cash": history of creation, plot, actors, interesting facts

See the interaction foreign cinema Even the most fanatical lovers of this field of art rarely have to deal with domestic ones. The reasons for the absence of such a phenomenon vary: some blame politics, some blame undeveloped dialogue between cultures and too different attitude to feature films. However, it is still possible to meet a Russian-made film or TV series with foreign actors, just as it is possible to imagine the opposite situation (which, incidentally, is much more common). For example, Svetlana Khodchenkova and Konstantin Khabensky have worked with foreign directors on several occasions, Danila Kozlovsky, Alexei Serebryakov and many other stars of Russian cinema.

Still, if you think about whether a Russian director can make something cool, like, in HollywoodIt is unlikely that we will be able to recall at least a few examples. Foreign projects are too costly, and in Soviet times they were almost unimaginable. This article is about one very interesting "exception to the rules", a film by the legendary Andrei Konchalovskyfilmed in America.

American inspiration

In the 1980s, when travelling abroad became theoretically real, it was hard not to take such a chance. The boldest of them all Andrei KonchalovskyHe has made several ahead-of-its-time films and has established himself as a young and already successful creator.

So, in 1980, he decides to travel to the United States, dreaming of making his own Hollywood film. After settling in the States, Konchalovsky decides to make a film action film. This choice may have been determined by the rather successful films then being made in Hollywood with the Arnold Schwarzenegger. and established themselves on the market. In general, we can say that the Soviet director was looking for opportunities to realise his creative potential potentialsor to get a good fee and improve your financial situation.

Anyway, the decision to film "Tango and Cash." was finally accepted by Konchalovsky. He clearly wanted to achieve something outside his homeland. The producer of the film was John Petersone of the most influential men in American cinema.

Plot

The film is supposed to be "Tango and Cash." was supposed to be about two cops with very different personalities chasing a "big shot" and an international criminal. In the film. rivalry between the mismatched characters turns out to be the beginning of their friendship as Tango and Cash's main adversary sets them up.

The heroes find themselves in a high-security penal colony and are forced to find at least some common ground to catch the enemy. Accordingly, as a classic Hollywood film should. militant"Tango and Cash" focuses on the fight scenes, and the finale ends happy ending.

The work of two directors, or why the film "suffered"

"Tango and Cash" had all the chances to "shoot" on the American market. It had a huge budget of $55 million, cool producers, a young and successful director from the USSR, as well as stars in the main roles. The role of Raymond Tango was played by Sylvester Stallonea recognised maestro of the action film genre, and his partner Gabriel Cash. Kurt Russell.

Nevertheless, the film turned out to be "problematic"and Konchalovsky's idea was not realised to the end. In order to understand the reasons for the failure of the film, which ended up being nominated 2 times for the "Golden Raspberry."you need to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of American cinema. It's all about the special status the producer. He is so important on the set that he can be compared to a king.

"I realised that in Hollywood, anyone can be a director, even a five-year-old child who only needs to know the words 'motor' and 'stop'. Everything else is done by the czar, the producer," Konchalovsky himself told RT in an interview.

On the set of "Tango and Cash", a disagreement arose between the producers and Andrei Konchalovsky, and as a result of the conflict, the latter was dismissed. As a result, the last few scenes were reshot by another directorwho, however, is not mentioned in the credits. This turmoil on the set was the reason for the lack of a full-fledged success on the film market. The root of the problem, as Konchalovsky later recalled, was that he wanted to make more serious scenesTo show the difference from the typical 80s action films, and the producers argued for a comedic basis for the film.

"I hoped, I had illusions that I would be able to make a career for myself in Hollywood. But unfortunately or fortunately, it wasn't Hollywood," Konchalovsky said.

Interesting to know

• The film Tango and Cash is one of the few works Sylvester Stallone in a serious role. The role of Raymond Tango was more akin to intellectualStallone's character also had a very good sense of humour. Stallone's character also had a very good sense of humour.
• The original candidate for the role of Cash was Patrick Swayzebut he left the ambitious project and took up filming in the film "Roadside Diner".
• In one of the first scenes, Tango shoots a petrol tanker and a banned substance spills out. Another policeman watching this asks Stallone's character: "Do you think you're Rambo?". And Sylvester's voice replies: "Rambo is a pathetic loser." It's a reference to the iconic parts Stallone.