Love affair at work

In 1971, Eldar Ryazanov, together with his permanent co-author Emil Braginsky, wrote the play “Colleagues” - as the first part of the dilogy, the second part of which was “Relatives”.

In the same year, the play was staged in Moscow - at the Theater. Vl. Mayakovsky and in Leningrad - in the Comedy Theater , and then in dozens of provincial theaters. Everywhere, "Co-workers" came with constant success, which prompted Eldar Ryazanov to make a film based on the play; although the direct impetus, according to the director himself, was the unsuccessful, in his opinion, telecast of the comedy. At the same time, Eldar Ryazanov himself called another reason for staging the film (as well as writing the play) - to earn money.

The film premiered in Moscow on October 26, 1977; "Office Romance" immediately became one of the most popular Soviet films, and in 1979 was awarded the State Prize of the RSFSR ^[1] .

The film takes place in Moscow in the fall of 1976 .

The main characters are Anatoly Efremovich Novoseltsev and Lyudmila Prokofievna Kalugina.

Anatoly Efremovich Novoseltsev is a forty-year-old man who works as a senior statistician in a large statistical institution, with no visible career prospects. He has long been divorced and single-handedly raising two sons, whom he has sued from his ex-wife, who left him for another man. Shy and unsure of himself .

Lyudmila Prokofievna Kalugina is the director of this institution. She has a service Volga with a personal chauffeur and a nice apartment in the center of Moscow, but she is lonely and unhappy in her personal life. The fact is that she broke up with friends, one of whom stole her beloved man. Therefore, Lyudmila Prokofievna comes to work earlier than everyone and leaves later than everyone. A purely business woman, being absorbed in work, crushed the feminine in herself. All employees call Kalugin “our mumra” for their eyes, although, as it turned out, she is only 36 years old.

Olga Petrovna Ryzhova , a colleague and friend of Novoseltsev, gives him an idea - to ask Kalugina for promotion and the position of head of the light industry department so that she no longer ask “twenty to pay” from her colleagues, especially since this position is vacant. Meanwhile, a new employee appears in the institution - Yuri Grigorievich Samokhvalov, appointed deputy Kalugina. Novoseltsev and Ryzhova are well acquainted with him: they studied in the same group at the institute , and Ryzhova had an affair with Samokhvalov in his institute years.

Taking advantage of his official position, Samokhvalov is trying to promote his old friend to the head of the department, but the attempt ends in nothing. Kalugina considers Novoseltsev to be a mediocre and uninitiated employee, although in reality he simply sat up for a small job and had already outgrown his post.

Samokhvalov offers Novoseltsev to “ strike ” for the director to get the coveted promotion. At first, Novoseltsev flatly refuses - he is afraid of Kalugina and completely does not perceive her as a woman, but in the end he agrees.

On the occasion of taking office, Samokhvalov invites colleagues to his party to "bring" Novoseltsev with Kalugina. But the latter, in the midst of universal fun, maintains an official business tone and ignores the awkward courtship attempts by Novoseltsev. A fairly drunk senior statistician is trying to charm the boss with his talents, but since his ability to read poetry, singing and dancing does not receive recognition, in the presence of the guests he calls Lyudmila Prokofievna “cracker”, “callous” and “heartless”.

The next day, on the advice of Samokhvalov, he comes to Kalugina’s office to apologize to her for being rude, but he does it awkwardly and even brings Lyudmila Prokofievna to tears. Anatoly Efremovich tries to calm Kalugina, and she tells him the sad story of her loneliness. So Novoseltsev discovers that before he was deeply mistaken about the heartlessness and cruelty of his boss, and falls in love with her.

Out of sincere feelings for Kalugina, Novoseltsev begins to look after her. In Lyudmila Prokofievna, the feminine principle wakes up, and she, too, gradually falls in love with her subordinate. One evening, Kalugin invites Novoseltsev to his home, where he is met by a charming woman who has nothing to do with “our wash”.

The next morning, Kalugina makes a splash in the institution: she appears wonderfully transformed, being late for work for the first time in her life. And Novoseltsev is also changing: men's courage and self-confidence are returning to him. At the same time, still loving Samokhvalova Ryzhova begins to shower him with love letters through her secretary Kalugina, Verochka, who makes these letters a subject of gossip and gossip, a stable “topic of the day” in the institution.

Samokhvalov complains to the activist of the local committee, Shura, about the persecution by Ryzhova and asks to influence her. Novoseltsev learns about the comrade’s act from Shurochka and gives him a slap in front of Kalugina’s eyes. In retaliation, Samokhvalov tells Lyudmila Prokofievna how Novoseltsev decided to “hit” her with the aim of promotion.

Kalugin is shocked by the suddenly revealed truth. She no longer believes in the sincerity of Novoseltsev’s feelings, and the happiness of lovers is in jeopardy, but the heroes still reconcile after a short scuffle in the institution. According to information from the final credits of the picture, "after nine months, the Novoseltsevs already had three boys."

Starring

• Alisa Freindlikh - Lyudmila Prokofievna Kalugina (Mymra), beloved (in the end wife) Novoseltseva and director of a statistical institution
• Andrey Myagkov - Anatoly Efremovich Novoseltsev, protagonist of the film, lover (at the end of spouse) Kalugina, father of 2 (at the end of 3) sons, colleague and former fellow student of Samokhvalov and Olga Ryzhova, as well as senior statistician and friend Ryzhova / voice-overs
• Svetlana Nemolyaeva - Olga Petrovna Ryzhova, colleague and former classmate Novoseltseva and Samokhvalova, girlfriend Novoseltseva and former lover Samokhvalova
• Oleg Basilashvili - Yuri Grigorievich Samokhvalov, the main antagonist of the film, former fellow student Novoseltseva and Ryzhova, former lover Ryzhova and deputy director of the statistical institution / voice over phone husband Verochka
• Leah Akhedzhakova - Verochka, secretary of Kalugina
• Lyudmila Ivanova - Shura, trade union activist

Cast

• Pyotr Shcherbakov - Pyotr Ivanovich Bublikov, head of the catering department
• Nelly Millet - Samokhvalov’s wife
• Nadezhda Repina - Alyona, employee of a statistical institution and friend of Verochka
• Victor Filippov - Borovsky, a colleague and head of the local industry department
• Alexander Fatyushin - employee of a statistical institution
• Georgy Burkov - supply manager
• Maria Vinogradova - member of the inventory commission
• Olesya Ivanova - member of the inventory commission
• Vladimir Plotnikov - driver of Kalugina
• Alexander Denisov - Vova, the eldest son of Novoseltsev
• Yuri Zaranko - the youngest son of Novoseltsev

• Script writers - Emil Braginsky , Eldar Ryazanov
• Director - Eldar Ryazanov
• The main operator - Vladimir Nakhabtsev
• The main artists - Alexander Borisov , Sergey Voronkov
• Composer - Andrey Petrov

• 1978 - Best film of the year , Alisa Freindlich and Andrei Myagkov - best actors of the year (according to a survey by the magazine " Soviet Screen ") ^[2]
• 1979 - State Prize of the RSFSR named after the Vasilyev brothers :
  • co-author of the script, Emil Braginsky, co-author of the script and director, Eldar Ryazanov and cameraman, Vladimir Nakhabtsev
  • actors Andrei Myagkov, Oleg Basilashvili and Leah Akhejakova ^[1]

All music was written by Andrei Petrov .

• The music was performed by the USSR Goskino Orchestra conducted by Emin Khachaturian .
• Parody verses on the waltz motif “ On the hills of Manchuria ” (version until 1945): “Quiet around, just a badger does not sleep ...” (music by I. A. Shatrov , folk words, performed by Andrey Myagkov).
• In 2002, the soundtrack for the film was reissued on CD by Bomba Music .

Filming took 63 days. They shot the picture in large episodes, with three cameras, which was new to the Soviet film industry.

The actors for this film were selected very quickly, since Eldar Ryazanov had some kind of “reserves” after the screen tests in his other paintings:

• Svetlana Nemolyaeva auditioned for the role of Nadia in the film “The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!” ";
• among the applicants for the role in it were Oleg Basilashvili (he was supposed to play Hippolytus, but on the eve of the shooting his father died) and Alisa Freindlich (she also auditioned for the roles of Shurochka Azarova in the “ Hussar Ballad ” and Alevtina in “ Zigzag of Fortune ”) . The only performer of the leading role, taken “from the side”, was Lyudmila Ivanova .

The appearance of Andrei Myagkov and Leah Akhedzhakova ^[3] is also associated with the Irony of Fate. According to Eldar Ryazanov, Myagkov specially put on such a mustache and goggles in a rough frame, so that at the beginning of the film he would make the greatest impression of a “stationery rat” and a lack of initiative slouch.

It was not easy to do this, since two years before the actor starred in the role of the lyrical romance of Zhenya Lukashin from The Irony of Fate, but the director tried to remove his current character from the previous one as far as possible ^[3] . According to Ryazanov, the scene of the “romantic feast” of Kalugina and Novoseltsev at her home is an exceptional improvisation of these two actors, played at the highest level of acting.

Also improvisation was the scene of Novoseltsev’s appeal with a “rationalization proposal” to Kalugina, at the celebration of Samokhvalov ^[3] . Snow on trees with still green foliage captured in the film fell in Moscow on September 25, 1976 ^[4] . Originally, such a scene was not planned in the film, but the director decided not to miss this whim of nature and extended the film by 3.5 minutes ^[3] .

In order not to turn the film into a television play with an action exclusively on the premises (such as Ryazanov’s next film “The Garage ”), Ryazanov decided to “dilute” the scenes inside the buildings with the views of Moscow pedestrians and cars, as well as its landscapes ^[3] .

The film takes place almost all the time in one building of a statistical office. Three parts of this building were actually filmed in different places in Moscow:

• The entrance to the institution and its facade is the entrance to the former Khomyakov apartment building at 3/6 Petrovka Street . The current Federal Agency for Sea and River Transport and the Bolshoi Restaurant are located there.
• All internal premises (including the offices of Kalugina and Samokhvalov, as well as the working room of the institution) were built in the Mosfilm pavilions.
• The roof with plants is the roof of the Nirnsee house , located at 10 Bolshoy Gnezdnikovsky Lane .

Heroes live in different places in Moscow and Moscow region, so that you can trace the route of each house to work, and also emphasize their social status :

• Lyudmila Kalugina - in the “elite” house at Bolshaya Nikitskaya street , 43 ^[5] (the facade of the house faces Skatertny Lane );
• Yuri Samokhvalov - on Gorky Street , in a house adjacent to the Central Telegraph (central Moscow).

Ordinary employees live in sleeping areas:

• Novoseltsev - in the lane Chernyshevsky ;
• Secretary Verochka - on Chertanovskaya Street ;
• Ryzhova - in the Moscow Region, on the Yaroslavl direction ^[6]

When Olga Ryzhova first meets with Samokhvalov, she says that she lives in a separate apartment "out of town, but not far from the station." At the same time, Losinoostrovskaya was removed as a station near Moscow. Thanks to numerous acting improvisations, much more material was shot than was included in the final version of the film (almost 3 episodes). For example, an episode was cut out of the film in which Shurochka (after the appearance of the “revived” Bublikov) rushes through the corridors of a statistical office with a cry:

It's not my fault! The namesake died, and they called us!

An enraged bagel goes at her with fists. Finally, Shura takes courage, goes out to meet him and exclaims:

Long live the living fellow Bagels!

Everyone applauds, and Bagels in amazement says:

Comrades, thanks for everything! ^[3]

In the original scenario, Verochka’s husband was one of the main characters in the film, also an employee of a “statistical agency”. According to the scriptwriters, he constantly sorted out his relationship with his wife. His role was played by Alexander Fatyushin (tried Mikhail Svetin ). A lot of material was shot with him, for example, how they argued about whether to give birth to a child, or how they left after working on a scooter. But due to an eye injury Fatyushin could not be removed ^[3] .

As a result, this character was generally practically removed from the film - he only talked with Verochka on the phone, but even voiced “voice in the receiver” by another actor - Oleg Basilashvili. Fatyushin himself appears episodically in the film:

• for a couple of seconds, immediately after the credits, when Novoseltsev is trying to borrow 20 rubles from Olga;
• in the scene of general amazement, when in the lobby of the institution appears “changed his mind” to die Bagels;
• in the scene of tenderness of the staff of the institution with a new look of Kalugina in love ^[7] .

The bronze Pegasus carried by Novoseltsev was previously involved in the film “ Diamond Hand ” by Leonid Gaidai . He is also shown in the films “ Formula of Love ” by Mark Zakharov and “ Old New Year ” by Naum Ardashnikov and Oleg Efremov . Later, the same figurine will appear in the film by Vladimir Menshov “ Shirley-myrli ”, filmed in 1995.

The words of the song “Nature has no bad weather” were written by the director and co-author of the script, Eldar Ryazanov (according to him, in that case he went through a lot of verses of famous poets, but didn’t find anything). He handed them over to the composer of the film, Andrei Petrov, under the guise of a poem by the English poet William Blake , so as not to embarrass him. He did not feel the “forgery”, but when he learned true authorship, many poems of famous poets offered by Ryazanov with further cooperation seemed to him to be verses of Ryazanov himself ^[3] . The song became a laureate of the " Song-78 " festival. In the concert, she sounds performed by Lyudmila Senchina , since Alisa Freindlich was unable to take part in the filming due to her busy work in the performances of the Lensovet Theater.

During the filming of “The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!” Andrei Myagkov complained that Eldar Ryazanov “didn’t allow” him to perform songs. In this New Year’s film, Sergey Nikitin sang for him, but in “Office Romance”, Myagkov performed the vocal parts on his own ^[3] .

At the beginning of the first series (1 minute 44 seconds), among the nameplates of organizations, you can see “NII CHEGO” at KLOOPE, which is a reference to “NII CHAVO” from the novel “Monday starts on Saturday,” the Strugatsky brothers and “ KLOOP ” - Ilya feuilleton Ilf and Evgeny Petrov , who made fun of the unknown Soviet institutions. There are also “Glavkost”, “Special insulator at the MZSTUFHTS”, “Glavburenie” (a possible allusion to the “Deep Drilling Office” ) and “Glavryba Mosrybstroy” (“ Dog’s Heart ” by Bulgakov).

• Co-workers (play)
• Love affair at work. Nowadays

• "Office Romance" on the site of "Mosfilm"
• “Office Romance” Cyril and Methodius Online Encyclopedia
• "Office Romance" Encyclopedia of domestic cinema
• Office Romance Cinema of Russia Portal
• Office Romance RUSKINO.RU
• Office Romance at the Internet Movie Database