Yekaterina Andreeva, in the studio: The shooting of a new series based on one of the best Boris Akunin’s novels, “The State Councilor”, comes to its end. The cast lists Oleg Menshikov, Nikita Mikhalkov and other first-rate stars. The screenplay is written by Akunin himself. And, it is rumored, he wrote quite a different ending for the series. Olga Mezhennaya reports from the set.

Olga Mezhennaya: “Fandorin In Motion”, as someone of those, who stay out of the frame and don’t take part in work, quietly and jokingly calls “The State Councilor”. The director of “The State Councilor” and “In Motion”, Filipp Yankovsky, is not annoyed by a stranger’s joke. His and Oleg Menshikov’s Erast Fandorin moves a lot in the frame indeed.

Filipp Yankovsky: Fandorin’s business makes him move.

Olga Mezhennaya: Filipp Yankovsky shoots not a detective, adventurous and “by Akunin”, but first of all an impetuous story, states Oksana Fandera. She acted in the first Yankovsky Jr.’s film, and she acts in the second one too.

Oksana Fandera: Filipp belongs to this generation. He perfectly feels the time and the rhythm. It should be an impetuous story, because if it slows down, it will be boring first of all.

Olga Mezhennaya: The final scene doesn’t mean that the film is shot. Another two or three sessions remain – shooting in the Kremlin, in a mansion in the Gogolevsky Boulevard, and in the pavilion. The same year of 1891. Political terror. Court intrigues. Fandorin is a detective genius and a foe of terror and intrigues. Pozharsky is a duke and a foe of Fandorin. Tabakov acts as a good governor, and Strizhenov as a bad one. Esther is Fandorin’s sweetheart. Fandera and Khabensky play terrorists.

Konstantin Khabensky: It’s a wonderful novel, in my opinion. Such a cinematographic novel. The one, that is called “action”. And it has some psychological meditation and torments.

Olga Mezhennaya: The meeting of Fandorin and Pozharsky in the baths. Or, rather, in the baths’ checkroom. Something’s wrong with the firing behind the door. One of the assistant directors now is too fast with a shot, now is too slow. Yankovsky and Mikhalkov are calm. Menshikov doesn’t leave the set, talks and gesticulates.
Green and Needle – a lyrical scene. The film ends at the most crucial moment. But it’s all right – these are the last shooting days.

Camera-man: Well done! Shot!

Olga Mezhennaya: They applaud on the set usually when it was an excellent take and necessarily when the take was shot at once. But when they applaud to all and long, the camera-man addresses the camera by name (usually a female one) and thanks it for a good work, the director hugs the first and the second camera-men, the actors, makers-up, costumiers and everyone kisses each other – it means the shooting is over. And everybody knows that they part not with Fandorin, and not with the film (it needs to be cut and showed), but they part with each other – for some time. But this is a tradition.

The source of the photos – the official site of Channel 1