Nikita Mikhalkov has finished shooting Nizhniy Novgorod episodes of his new film "The Barber of Siberia" in an atmosphere of total secrecy. These episodes will last only about 7 minutes. But "Russian Fellini" is known for his thoroughness: shooting was in full swing for three weeks. There must be a short scene in the film, in which a mouse runs about in front of a steam-engine woodcutting machine. Animals were made to run more than twenty times and dozens of mice had been replaced before Mikhalkov got what he wanted.
Some scenes were recorded straight off. The character played by Julia Ormond came out of a peasant's house and at the same time a colt should have appeared somewhere at the background. Suddenly he turned up right next to the actress…
Mikhalkov had an awfully bad luck with the weather. In Krasnoyarsk region, where the first episodes were shot , the production unit was taken deep into taiga. As soon as shooting began, it started raining. Mikhalkov is a superstitious man: he said that evidently journalists that had appeared out of nowhere had put an evil eye on it. And in Nizhniy instead of gloomy slushy days, as it was proposed by the script, there was a dry beautiful autumn, as ill luck would have it. Rain often had to be waited for a whole day.
It was there that the "Barber of Siberia" was shot in total secrecy. Students from local military college, taking part in crowd scenes, and guards from Russian Club Company kept under close watch the place of shooting. Master did not hold any press conference. Actors were forbidden to meet journalists.

***

Local people taking part in crowd scenes impressed everybody with their patience. In spite of cold weather, they waited for the "Action!" command for hours, till evening came. For Art's sake. In the beginning assistant directors were shocked by the fact that many villagers would bring them 5000 rubles each, so that they could take part in the film. It was announced that there would be 5000 rubles pay for participating in crowd scenes. Villagers thought they would have to pay the money to take part in the film.
Local people were very kind to the production unit and often treated them to meatballs with potatoes or pickled cucumbers. That kind of "humanitarian aid" came in handy.
The "ordinary" part of the production unit was fed mainly with imported instant soups and by the end of shooting everybody was fed up with them. Like everybody else Hollywood star Julia Ormond waited patiently for "necessary" weather, wrapping herself up in her plaid and tapping with her boots. (By the way, the character played by Ms. Ormond has a beautiful dress with handmade beaded embroidery. It is said to cost 1,500 dollars.)
She would come to work earlier than Mikhalkov and would be ready to start by his arrival. But no matter how the day would turn out, Ms. Ormond would leave the set at 9 p.m.sharp. According to her contract she had to work no more than 12 hours a day. Moreover, she insisted on actors having a day off and Mikhalkov agreed. But it did not refer to Russians actors.
Julia liked the Russian director "Nikita". She even said she would be glad to work with him in the future, too.
Director communicated with foreign actors with the help of an interpreter. Sometimes, although, he spoke to the western star Ormond this way: "There is a church over there, you have to look at it, God is there…"
All the time a guard from Russian Club Company was near the actress. It was the same person who was in charge of Richard Gere's security during his visit in Nizhniy last year. According to him, Ms. Ormond had a very democratic attitude and gave autographs with pleasure. Moreover, it turned out that she was very sorry for the collapse of communist system. She favors ideas of equality and fraternity. It is not surprising that she lives in an ordinary neighborhood in London. Oleg Menshikov spent some days in Nizhniy. He did not take part in shooting there - he just wanted to get acquainted with his partner.
The acquaintance proceeded in the best of ways. Menshikov did not like the Volzhsky Otkos Hotel where the Hollywood actors stayed. He chose the former "party" hotel. He did a lot of walking around the town and visited local shops. He even bought Armani eau-de-Cologne. And he avoided journalists, as usual.

***

In order to depict life in Russia at the end of the 19th century more plausibly, Mikhalkov and screenwriter Rustam Ibrahimbekov introduced an exotic character: an Abyssinian prince. Preparing for the film, they read a story in last century's newspapers about an Abyssinian prince who traveled around Russia and was lost in its boundless expanses.
The prince's part is played by Ethiopian Said, a Patrice Lumumba University student. In the film Said loses at cards and is sent to a penal colony. As a person having lived in Russia for a long time, he was not frightened by cold weather: upon arriving in Nizhniy he went to a bar straight away and had a drink. Italian and French cameramen, who did not follow his example, got sore throat.
There was only one party on board The Paratov & Co. Navigation Company ship, where the production unit stayed in general. That was on Master's 51st birthday. "Komdiv" vodka was just the right thing. Mikhalkov was given a lot of flowers and souvenirs typical of Nizhniy. Co-producer Vladimir Sedov dared to hand him his literary work. Director's wife and children arrived from Moscow to celebrate his birthday together.
According to eyewitnesses the hero of the day retreated saying, "If I stayed till the end, my horse would not recognize me tomorrow". One must bear in mind the fact that Mikhalkov directed most of the shooting prancing on a nice racer.
The unfailing talisman of the famous director - his assistant Tassya could have been seen at the shooting scene, too. She is over 70. She has some Asian blood in her. She considers Mikhalkov a great director and calls him "my marshal". She has been working with Nikita Sergeyevitch for ages. She told journalists she had not intended to come to Nizhniy. But Mikhalkov called and summoned her. Tassya suffers from radiculitis but she could not refuse her "marshal". She flew to Krasnoyarsk and then here, to the Volga river.

***

After a short break in winter Mikhalkov will continue shooting "The Barber of Siberia" in Moscow.