Historical detective story “Khitrovka. The sign of four. It is based on a real event from 1902. In search of inspiration, the director Konstantin Stanislavsky (Konstantin Kryukov) decides to get to know the life of the city “from below”. He turns for help to an expert on the Moscow slums of Chitrovka, the writer Vladimir Gilyarovsky (Michail Porechenkov). Cultural figures are drawn into the investigation of the murder. In an exclusive interview with VOICE, Konstantin Kryukov talked about the interesting features of filming, his relationship with his wife Olga Buzova and Marina Aleksandrova.
— Konstantin, how did you get to Karen Shakhnazarov’s film “Khitrovka. The sign of four?
– When Karen Georgievich offered me to play this role of Stanislavsky, I was surprised because we have no visual similarity. When I arrived at Mosfilm and saw the other actors, I realized that everyone except me looked like those historical figures of the early 20th century. I was very confused by this. But then they changed my appearance – they chose a suitable mustache for me, straightened my hair. And this is not a historical study, but a detective story. Therefore, we did not achieve literal similarity. But we had fantastic chests of drawers. They provided costumes, up to the same quality of fabric that was available at the time.
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– Shakhnazarov never filmed detectives. He said that he wants to make an interesting adventure film with a good ending so that the audience can relax and have fun. You watched the film at its premiere in the Oktyabr cinema center – what is your impression of it: will the audience really relax and enjoy it?
– It is difficult for me to form an objective opinion about the film, because of its 154 scenes, I participated as a designer in 148. I liked what I saw on the cinema screen. I watched this movie so closely that its 2 hours and 9 minutes felt like 5 hours.
– This is the fifth tape on which you collaborated with Mikhail Porechenkov. He played a kind of “Russian Watson”. Porechenkov said he wanted to play the role of Holmes. But you played it. Because of this, he didn’t try to troll you or pressure you with his authority on set?
– I was very happy to shoot with Mikhail. We worked with him in many places, in different environments. Starting with my first film, 9th Company. We also had a photo with him fighting vampires (“Ghouls”a 2017 film based on the story by Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy “Ghoul Family”, – Approx. ed.). He is a very comfortable partner. We have a friendship behind the scenes. I didn’t have conflicts with him about the roles – we have such different looks and characters that no one crosses anyone’s path. At one of Khitrovka’s premieres. The sign of four,” Shakhnazarov said that he was pleased with his artists, who stand on the shoulders of the Soviet school. And I joked that I was actually standing with one foot on Karen Georgievich’s shoulder and the other on Porechenkov’s shoulder. But Misha doesn’t seem to mind.
– Porechenkov said that he and Stychkin were hooligans in the cadre. How did this pair influence the shoot?
– Many hooligans on the web. Evgeny Stychkin was the funnest both behind the scenes and on set. He turned out to be a great humorous hero. Many of his jokes were born during filming and not all of them made it into the film. In general, Karen Georgievich somehow brought the plays with Stanislavsky’s authorial stains in relation to the artists. And we rehearsed scenes from the show, based on his notes. It was wildly curious. It turned out that he was an incredibly accurate director and literally did not let the artist breathe: “I went three steps forward, looked to the left at the lamp, scratched my nose, was embarrassed, thought about it.” Overall, very detailed described the whole event. Artists are given more freedom these days.
– Your Stanislavski, even when he moves around the slums and dungeons of Khitrovka, wears a three-piece suit and tie in an aesthetic way, always has polished shoes. Do you think your hero is “overly intelligent”?
– In my opinion, this creates a reliable effect of a person’s entry into the environment. If a person were to change immediately in a new environment, then, firstly, there would be no conflict of his being in it, and secondly, it would be implausible. In the works of Gilyarovsky about the same Khitrovka, there were many interesting stories, how many things immediately betrayed such a stranger. And this created conflict all around.
– It is unlikely that you would like to shoot in the slums, especially among rats …
On the contrary, I thoroughly enjoyed it. To be honest, I have never had the opportunity to shoot in such scenery. I was very impressed by both the Neglinka river and of course the rats. Karen Georgievich came up with such a thing – he never let us go backstage before filming. That’s why we came to the site – and we always get the freshest impression of where we work.
– In this film, Anfisa Chernykh played a girl of easy virtue, nicknamed the princess. She walks in provocative dresses with half-naked breasts – such a sex bomb of the beginning of the last century. The girl on the date obviously liked your hero a lot. Many viewers expect the development of this line – kissing and intimacy. However, this is not happening. Why?
– The answer to this question is given by the princess herself – in the last scene of the film, when my hero says that she is an excellent woman, and she replies: “Konstantin Sergeevich, your main love is the theater.” And we wanted to preserve the fact that for Stanislavsky theater is everything in life. And at that time, interacting with the opposite sex was a serious and responsible decision. I think that in a historical detective story, sex is not a mandatory element.
– Your wife Alina was watching Khitrovka. The sign of four?
– Yes. It was interesting, I especially liked the final scene, in the theater – where we play “At the bottom”.
– How did filming in this tape affect your family life?
– The film was shot last summer, mainly at Mosfilm. We had a small trip to St. Petersburg. Alina went with me. It doesn’t always work out – the wife has a lot of work of her own. She is a gallerist, she has a gallery of modern art.
– You already said that your wife called you boring. However, she hoped she could change you. It worked?
– Of course, the wife believes that it was possible (smiling). I think I made her boring. I think we were influencing each other. I’m still pedantic in life – I don’t like to be late, I like everything laid out on the shelves. But after a long life together, I have already relaxed. This year will be 10 years since the wedding.
– Recently, at the premiere of the film “Call”, Olga Buzová hugged you on the red carpet and persuaded you to pose with her. Meanwhile, the wife was three steps away. What is your relationship with Buzová?
Olya and I have known each other for a long time. And we are in the same chat with her, in which there is a huge number of our mutual friends. Although we haven’t seen each other for years, there is such an active life on this chat – there are a lot of all kinds of videos posted there – that it seems that we are constantly communicating with each other. And when we saw each other on the track before the premiere of the Challenge, we said hello and played together.
– You are one of the most beautiful actors of Russian cinema. Do fans bother you a lot?
– You know, they don’t. I don’t feel any particular anxiety about it.smiling). I’ve been working very hard in the last three or four years, so I don’t have time to be in places where interaction with fans is possible. I probably don’t even notice them.
– In the past years, you acted in films of light genres. And lately you’ve been working mainly in serious films. Do you deliberately avoid acting in comedies?
– You know, I really love the light comedy genre as a phenomenon. I think that the cinema, especially in difficult times, should give people a chance to relax. That’s why I’m always in favor of such projects. But making a good comedy is very difficult – much more difficult than drama. I’ve talked a lot with the guys from the Comedy Club and I understand that despite all the superficiality and hilarity, it’s not an easy job at all. They are very well versed in the structure of humor. In general, this is a separate big science. I’m not part of it, but when you get in touch with the comedy genre, I’m always happy.
– Can viewers expect the release of another film or series with your participation this year?
– There should be a project coming soon that I’m a big fan of and I really liked the script – “Open marriage”. The main role in this series is played by Marina Aleksandrova. I was very happy to work with her – she is a completely unique, quirky actress who is very interesting to work with. I play the other young man she marries. In connection with the problems with the first. In general, it is such a story about people of our generation, their inner suffering.
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