Probably, you shouldn't try to film yet another new "Quiet Don". Indeed, every time a new and new interpretation is obtained, which is moving further and further away from the real one. To say that directors and actors see a work in their own way and try to present it understandable for a modern young viewer, but why then call their series the name of a great work?

For those who truly read "Quiet Don", saw in it not only love, or, as they say today, "relationships", but the whole tragedy of the Russian people in the fratricidal war, only the film directed by S. Gerasimov deserves to be called "Quiet Don ". The audience is already fed up with cheap TV shows by bad directors and the same actors and actresses.

The novel tells about the tragic events in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century, about the fate of people broken by the First World War and the revolution. “Quiet Don” is one of the best works, and it should be filmed the way the author intended. And this has been done so far by S. Gerasimov and his chosen actors. That is why there is no better E. Bystritskaya Aksinya, there has never been and is unlikely to be! This is proven by two subsequent films.



The same can be said about Grigory Melekhov, who is shown in the work not just as a good guy from Central Russia, near Ryazan or Kaluga, but as that Don Cossack, in which there is fire, hot blood ... This hero is a reflection of the entire Don Cossacks, a symbol of the whole people.

And such "quiet dons", in which Grigory is a cute, fragile, gay actor, only humiliate the dignity of the Don Cossacks. In any case, it is a pity that insignificant and mediocre films based on famous novels will be watched by the younger generation.



The only drawback of "Quiet Don" by S. Gerasimov is the number of episodes - only four, and therefore much remained behind the scenes. However, the actors who played not only the main characters, but literally everything, turned out to be at the highest level. And there will be no more better Aksinya, Natalia and Daria.

The writer Mikhail Sholokhov, seeing Elina Bystritskaya at the audition, chose her for the role of Aksinya. S. Gerasimov called “Quiet Don” a folk epic, a dictionary of the Russian and Cossack languages. And when the filming began, he gathered all the actors and said that they would have to become different people, that is, similar to those who are accustomed to working on the ground.

He demanded that the actors achieve full reality in the images, and therefore they had to learn a lot from the inhabitants of the Cossack farm, and above all labor, so that both the body and hands would do all the work with ease, at ease. Before some scenes during filming, Gerasimov forced the actresses to first wash a mountain of linen, and then not powder faceso that everything is believable.

He said: “Do more laundry, clean dishes, scrape floors, clean up the house. You will do everything at home - help the neighbors ... ”.

In communication with the Don Cossacks, Elina Bystritskaya recalls one of them - Baba Ulya, who taught her to carry buckets on a yoke: “And you carry it with your hips… carry it with your hips… You understand, the ent should not just carry water, but so that Grishka would like it…”.



And the fact that Elina Bystritskaya, and Zinaida Kirienko, and Lyudmila Khityaeva became real Cossacks can be judged by the huge stream of letters that were poured into them after the film was released on the screen and the memory of the audience, although about 60 years have already passed. Cossack actresses were "real", because later the audience began to call them among themselves - Aksinya, Natalia and Daria. And E. Bystritskaya, and Z. Kirienko, and L. Khityaeva had to live with a second name for a long time.

Cossack women, surrounded by steppe expanses, whose beauty was shaped by nature itself and hard work, are strong, desperate and fearless, "these are amazingly proud, freedom-loving women."Aksinya - wonderful black, burning eyes, a turn of the shoulders - a strong, beautiful, desperate woman in love.

Aksinya, Natalya and Daria left the pages of the famous novel on the screen, became real Cossacks. Is it really possible to replace reality with props, which new directors with newly-minted actresses and actors are trying to impose on the audience.

When M. Sholokhov was shown the first and second episodes, he sat for a long time in silence, near him in the ashtray there was a "hat" of cigarette butts. Finally he turned, his face looked tear-stained, he said hoarsely:





Cossack pride, brought up for many centuries, and how could it be otherwise, because the entire Cossack family arose from the most fearless and freedom-loving people. Much later, P. Glebov was awarded the rank of honorary major general by the command of the Don Army. Cossack troops with the right to wear uniforms and weapons.

Aksinya came to people from the pages of the famous Sholokhov novel, and then from the screen - alive, passionate, proud, beautiful. “Here she turns her head, mischievously and lovingly, from underneath she stares with fiery black eyes,…”.

The Don Cossacks awarded Elina Bystritskaya the rank of Colonel of the Don Army, handed over the appropriate certificate, uniform and began to call it "Elina Donskaya".



Until now, Lyudmila Khityaeva considers the role of Daria to be her beloved. Playing it, she learned to plow, mow, reap, cook Cossack dishes and, despite the fact that she was afraid of water since childhood, swim beautifully. A stately and beautiful Cossack woman Daria with a proud head and a slightly mocking sly gaze of expressive eyes - this is exactly how the audience remembered her.

For Zinaida Kirienko, the role of the emotional and devoted Natalia has become a hallmark. For a long time, some people approached her and looked at her - is there a scar on her neck, which allegedly remained with her after filming.

Russia can be proud of such actors, they remain not only in the history of cinema, but forever in the hearts of the audience. And many subsequent film adaptations of "Quiet Don" make people admire more and more precisely the film and actors of S. Gerasimov.