Over the "Abyss" without lies: Mark Edelstein skydived for love
At the entrance to the Cinema Park Mosfilm, the lead singer of the Belarusian band Hollyflame excitedly asks: "Do you want me to steal the moon and give you the sun?" Young stars Mark Edelstein, Tina Stojilkovic and Stepan Belozerov sing along with him. This is not an impromptu concert in the rain, but a promo for the new psychological thriller "The Abyss," which was shown on the big screen for the first time on Thursday. The details are in the Izvestia report.
90 minutes of romance and horror
Colleagues and friends of the film crew came to support the premiere on the red carpet — the film's producer Fedor Bondarchuk, Tina Stoilkovich's fiance actor Fedor Fedotov, director Marius Vaisberg, actress Alika Smekhova, producer Ruben Dishdishian. The guests discussed not only the love triangle at the center of the film's plot, but also rumors that the actors had indeed performed some of the dangerous scenes on their own.
Hollyflame band performance
The film runs for only an hour and a half — a rare timescale for modern cinema — but during this time the viewer rushes headlong into the abyss with the characters, in order to try to get out of the web of their own relationships with them.
— Emotionally, it was the human story that clung to me the most, — the film's director Alexey Ionov shared with Izvestia. — I read the script literally in one breath, and then I wanted to figure out exactly how to shoot it. But the starting point for me has always been the human. First of all, the main character, her pain, and unlived emotions.
In the story, newlyweds Dasha and Sasha go on a honeymoon and decide to parachute into the mountains. But their pilot unexpectedly turns out to be the former Dashi — Artem. After the plane crash, three miraculously survive, hovering over the abyss.
The most interesting part begins in the second half of the picture, when the characters literally get stuck on a flimsy branch. From this moment on, a theatrical drama with cinematic action begins.
Actress Tina Stojilkovic at the premiere of the film "The Abyss"
One location, a minimum of movement, and a love triangle in which each character undergoes a serious internal transformation. Even at the beginning of the film, the viewer learns that Dasha once dated Artyom, but his adrenaline addiction scared her. Later, when she met Sasha, she found stability, but it was as if she had lost herself. Director Alexey Ionov explains: in many ways, both young men are reflections of Dasha herself. One embodies her past, the other her present. And both simultaneously become a salvation and a threat for the heroine.
— When I saw that the director was Alexey Ionov, I was overjoyed and immediately started reading the script. I read it in an hour! — said Tina Stojilkovic.
For Stepan Belozerov, this role has become one of the most emotionally difficult in his career. The actor admitted to Izvestia that he could not cope with his character for a long time, it was difficult to memorize the text, and after filming he could not quickly get out of the hero's state.
— It was very difficult for me. There was always a terrible dissonance, endless failures occurred in my head. Artyom annoyed me, infuriated me with his energy. Although I felt emotionally attached to him, I liked him and exasperated him at the same time. It's like looking in a crooked mirror and seeing your shadow side, which you didn't even know existed," Belozerov told Izvestia.
Actor Stepan Belozerov
Working on the image not only split the actor psychologically, but also subjected him to serious physical challenges. On one of the shooting days, Stepan lost consciousness while hanging in his parachute bindings.
The appearance of Mark Edelstein in the image of a responsible and outwardly collected Sasha will also be unexpected for the viewer. In the story, it is he who picks up Tina Stojilkovic's heroine, who was broken by previous relationships, and offers her a safe, stable life. For an actor who the public is used to seeing in the roles of impulsive and chaotic young people, it became almost an acting experiment.
Actor Mark Edelstein
— Before the Abyss, my characters avoided responsibility. This is generally a trait not so much of a generation as of youth. When you're young, you feel like you have time to do crazy things that you'll regret in the morning and then forget. But here the story is the opposite. My hero Sasha takes responsibility, and that's what ruins his life," Mark told Izvestia.
Jumping, icy water and nine hours in suspensions
On the set of The Abyss, the band literally balanced between engineering, extreme sports and the weather. The filmmakers admit that this project turned out to be one of the most technically challenging in their career.
A frame from the movie "The Abyss"
Several unique sets were created for filming at once. A 12-meter rock with a hydraulic tree appeared in the pavilion, which moved during filming, as well as roof decorations and a real An-2 mounted on a special gimble platform. The plane could rock, roll, and simulate turbulence almost like in a real flight.
At the same time, safe does not mean easy. Before filming, the actors underwent serious training: first they trained on a climbing wall, and then they mastered the work on the set itself. According to Tina Stojilkovic, they hung for nine hours on safety nets and suspensions. It is physically very difficult to stay in the suspension system for a long time, because special soft supports and hidden support elements were thought out for the artists.
The actors performed some of the jumps themselves. Mark and Stepan actually skydived under the supervision of instructors and security services. Moreover, according to Alexey Ionov, the team insisted on doubles, but it was important for the guys to experience everything for themselves.
A shot from the filming of the movie "The Abyss"
Parachute consultants, professional stand-in athletes and aerial operators worked at the site. Each jump required almost two hours of preparation, so they managed to do only six or seven takes per shift. But the most difficult test for the team was the expedition unit in Dagestan. It was there that the most dangerous scenes were filmed: a fall on a plateau, a flip of a raft on a stormy river, dragging the heroes along the ground after landing and falling into icy water with a parachute.
"The Abyss" turns out to be a rare experiment in Russian genre cinema — a chamber psychological drama disguised as an extreme thriller. Here, the action works not as an attraction for the sake of an attraction, but as a way to expose the characters to the limit. On May 28, NMG Film Distribution releases the film on wide screens.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
