The film Generals of the Sand Quarries ( 1971 ), shot by American director Hall Bartlett based on the novel by Captain Sand by Georges Amadou ( 1937 ), was widely released in the USSR in 1974 and gained immense popularity.
The love of the Soviet audience was also won by one of the musical themes of the film - “Fishermen’s March” , a cover version of which was soon performed in Russian . Since then, this song has often been called the “song from the movie“ Sandstone Quarry Generals ”, although this song was not originally written specifically for the film.
Content
Authorship
In the film, which was shot in Brazil , several popular musical compositions were used at that time. One of them, sounding at the beginning and end of the film, is “The Fishermen’s March” ( in Portuguese - Marcha dos Rescadores ). It was written in 1965 by the famous Brazilian composer, Dorival Kaimmi , who later played one of the supporting roles in the film. There are several variations of the song. In particular, she is included as one of the topics in his 9-minute “Fishing Suite” ( Suit dos rescadores ), also known as “Fishing Story” ( História dos pescadores ).
Original text and translation
In the original, the text is a song of a fisherman going to sea and addressing his wife:
| Original | Poetic translation |
|---|---|
Minha jangada vai sair pro mar, | My gang [1] floats away. |
In Suit dos rescadores, the following passage sings a female voice:
| Original | Literal translation |
|---|---|
Adeus, adeus, | Bye Bye, |
Russian cover versions
The author of the text of the Russian cover version was Yuri Zeitlin . The song, known as “I started life in urban slums”, “They call us generals of the sands”, etc., was performed in the 1970s by the vocal quartet “ Accord ” [2] , and then by other performers. In the late 1990s, she regained popularity after the performance of the group " Accident " in the film " Old Songs about the Main 3 ". This text is not related to the original and is tied to the content of the film; it is not a fisherman’s monologue, but an appeal of a homeless child to wealthy citizens complaining about their fate. Alexei Kortnev recorded the song “Gerasim and Mu-Mu” (“Why did Gerasim drown Mumu?”) Based on the story of I. S. Turgenev “ Mumu ” [3] .
There are other translations that are more consistent with the plot - in particular the one in which the text of the text is the death of the girl Dora (“Sadly the seagulls shout behind the stern”); they became prevalent primarily as yard songs .
The original version of the song (to poems not directly related to the plot of the film) called “Memoirs” was performed at the time by Arkady Severny . The Russian-language version of the song was also performed by the Yugoslav singer Vanya Stoikovich .
Song Opinions
Elena Belyakova (translator of the novel " Captains of Sand "): [4]
And what kind of music in this film! They sing in an unfamiliar language, but it seems that every word is understandable, and the most sensitive soul strings respond to her, and this sad and courageous melody sounds in the very heart:
"My gangade is floating away,
My fate, you are so difficult ... "
(Later I found out that the author of this and other songs from the film is a friend of Georges Amadou , Dorival Kaimmi , who, incidentally, played the role of Joan de Adam).
Interesting Facts
- The melody and the song itself often sounded in various Soviet and Russian films and series. The song sounds in the film " The Brigade " - it is sung on the stage of Bees, Cosmos and Phil at the wedding of Sasha Bely.
- Also, the hero of the film “Elder Son” Silva ( Mikhail Boyarsky ) plays the melody of the song on the guitar.
- A fragment of the song sounds in the "funny goblin" translation of the movie " Lord of the Rings " during the description of the fate of the Naked .
Comments
- ↑ Another translation option is “so that everything is fine”
- ↑ Another translation option is “so that nothing is bad”
Notes
- ↑ Zhangada - a traditional sailing raft.
- ↑ Re-singing of foreign songs by Soviet singers in Russian Archival copy of September 20, 2008 on Wayback Machine (inaccessible link - history )
- ↑ YouTube video
- ↑ Jorge Amadou. Sand captains
Links
- A selection of different performances of a song ( mirror )
- Accident - Sand Quarry Generals
- Vocal Quartet Accord . The Sandpit Generals
- Fly, gangad, above the sea wave ... (translation by A. Antonov)
- Translation with a refrain from Marcha dos pescadores
- English translation of the Russian text performed by the Accident Group
- Pavel Gusterin . March of Fishermen (free translation of Marchа dos Resсadores with continuation)