Soviet detective feature film "The Blue Lion"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Armenian cinema arose fragmentarily. Due to the fact that the state was part of the USSR, was a part of its artistic history, almost all the works of prominent artists were included in the historical annals of national and Soviet cinema. Among them is the film "The Blue Lion", which is an adaptation of Y. Perov's story "Saint Mauritius", written in collaboration with V. Stepanov and included in the collection "Indirect Evidence".

Storyline Summary

The detective feature film was shot by the outstanding cinematographer Henrikh Rubenovich Markaryan, known to the public for his films “Guys of the Musical Team”, “Hard Rock”, “Pharmacy at the Crossroads”, “Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee”, the short film “Four in One Skin”. The painting "The Blue Lion" was one of the last creative works of the filmmaker, in which he acted as a director and scriptwriter.

The story is based on a failed robbery attempt by two thieves who specialize intheft of art and antiques. Criminals raid the home of a collector-professor in the hope of getting a rare stamp called "Saint Mauritius", the value of which is fabulous. However, the attackers fail to carry out their plans, as the owner is in the house. To get away from punishment, they have to take him hostage.

Criticism

The main feature of the structure of the narrative of the film "The Blue Lion" is that the director focuses the attention of the audience on the causes of the crime to a greater extent than on the process of its disclosure and punishment of the perpetrators. The more the atmosphere heats up and the rhythm of the development of events accelerates, the more Henrikh Markarian pays attention to the personal beginning, analysis of the characteristics and inner world of the main characters.

The action takes place in a chamber, limited setting, teeming with everyday details and minor conflicts between the central characters.

From an aesthetic point of view, the film did not revolutionize the film language, but it has a special style that conveys, according to critics, the specific atmosphere of that time period. The painting is an alternative way of artistic expression of its creators about the social reality of the late 70s.

Actors and roles

The main characters of Markarian's work are:

• jeweler - the role of which was played by the Soviet Armenian theater and film actor, teacher, reader Sos Sargsyan;
• Gayane - actress of the Yerevan Youth Theater Anaida Ghukasyan;
• housekeeper - People's Artist of the USSR Varduhi Varderesyan;
• fitter - People's Artist of Armenia Armen Santrosyan;
• artist - Armenian actress Alisa Kaplanjyan;
• professor - actor of the Yerevan State Theater of Musical Comedy named after. A. Paronyan Heinrich Aslanyan;
• divisional - artist of the Yerevan Academic Theater. G. Sundukyan S. Adjabkhanyan.