Many talented writers were concerned with the topic of the Great Patriotic War for decades after the end of the horror that they experienced. One of the most moving books about the war is Boris Vasiliev’s story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet,” on which the film of the same name was based. It tells the story of an unfulfilled, irreplaceable and lost generation, carried away by the war. The picture shakes even the most persistent viewer to the core.
The film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” was filmed in 1972 by director Stanislav Rostotsky. It returns the viewer to the harsh and tragic times of the war. The film genre is called lyrical tragedy. And this is very accurate. A woman in war is a soldier, but she is also a mother, a wife, and a beloved.
The film starred: Andrei Martynov, Irina Dolganova, Elena Drapeko, Ekaterina Markova, Olga Ostroumova, Irina Shevchuk, Lyudmila Zaitseva, Alla Meshcheryakova, Nina Emelyanova, Alexey Chernov
Director: Stanislav Rostotsky
Writers: Stanislav Rostotsky, Boris Vasiliev
Operator: Vyacheslav Shumsky
Composer: Kirill Molchanov
Artist: Sergey Serebrenikov
The film premiered: November 4, 1972
Rostotsky himself was born in 1922 and knows firsthand about the sorrows of war. Participation in the Great Patriotic War left an imprint on his soul forever, which he reflected in his painting. He has produced many legendary films, such as “White Bim Black Ear”, “We’ll Live Till Monday”, “It Was About Penkov”, etc. He himself went through the war, and a woman, a nurse, saved his life by pulling him, wounded, from the battlefield. She carried the wounded soldier several kilometers in her arms. Paying tribute to his savior, Rostotsky made a film about women in war. In 2001, the director passed away. He was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery, just a year short of the thirtieth anniversary of his film.
The theme of the film: “Oh, women, women, you unfortunate people! For men, this war is like a hare’s smoke, but for you, it’s like that...” The idea of the film: “But I thought to myself: this is not the main thing. And the main thing is that Sonya could have given birth to children, and they would have given birth to grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but now this thread will not exist. A small thread in the endless yarn of humanity, cut by a knife.”
Rostotsky was for actresses as Sergeant Major Vaskov was for the heroines of the film. The filming took place in difficult climatic conditions and they went through all the hardships together. So, in the scene of walking through the swamp with the girls every morning into the slush with the saying “the woman sowed peas - wow!” the director walked, slightly creaking with the prosthesis he had left after being wounded.
The director managed to create a well-coordinated acting ensemble, consisting mainly of debutants, and reveal the characters of the main characters in some detail. Particularly vivid and dramatic was the scene of the death of the heroine Olga Ostroumova, who in the last minutes of her life sang the verses of an old romance... Andrei Martynov was also memorable in the role of the “girl commander” Sergeant Major Vaskov.
On the right there is a lake, on the left there is a lake, on the isthmus there is a dense forest, in the forest there are sixteen Nazi saboteurs, and Sergeant Major Vaskov must detain them with the forces of five female anti-aircraft gunners armed with three-line guns.
Vaskov sets the task: “Comrade fighters! The enemy, armed to the teeth, is moving in our direction. We have no neighbors either to the right or to the left, and we have nowhere to wait for help, so I order: to all fighters and to myself personally: keep the front! Hold! Even when you don’t have the strength, you still hold on. There is no land for the Germans on this side! Because we have Russia behind us... Motherland, to put it simply.”
There were many front-line soldiers in the film group, so before the actresses were approved for the role, a casting was held with a vote for each girl.
The five anti-aircraft gunner girls who followed Vaskov into the forest are five accurate portraits of the era.
Iron Rita Osyanina (I. Shevchuk), the widow of a young commander. After the release of the film, the actors traveled with him all over the world. The abundance of foreign voyages aroused increased interest in state security officials in actresses.
“There was a moment immediately after the film’s release when I, 20 years old, was recruited by the KGB,” says Irina Shevchuk. - They promised me mountains of gold, they hinted that I needed to somehow get an apartment, etc. I answered honestly: I don’t think that my homeland is in danger of trouble. And if something happens, I’ll somehow decide who to find and who to say what.
The daring beauty Zhenya Komelkova (O. Ostroumova) is from a “komsostavskaya” family. Before Olga Ostroumova, many actresses auditioned for the role of Zhenya Kamelkova. But Rostotsky chose her. It is noteworthy that Ostroumova was the only one for whom “The Dawns Here Are Quiet...” was not a debut. Before this, she had already starred in the film “We’ll Live Until Monday” with the same director.
Actress Olga Ostroumova, who played Zhenya Kamelkova, was almost removed from the role - problems arose with the makeup.
They painted me red and gave me chemicals,” says Olga Ostroumova. “Everything was curled up like a little demon, which doesn’t suit me.” The first shots turned out ridiculous. The bosses began to put pressure on director Rostotsky and demanded that I be removed from the role. To which Stanislav Iosifovich replied: “Stop making her up and leave her alone.” And they left me alone for a week - I got a tan, the chemo started to wear off, and somehow everything corrected itself.
Despite the tight shooting schedule and the director’s exactingness, youth took its toll, and the young actresses and crew members organized cheerful gatherings and dances that sometimes lasted until 3 o’clock in the morning.
There were two hours left for sleep, and then again for filming,” says film designer Evgeniy Shtapenko. - We saw the sunrise; the places there were amazingly beautiful.
The silent forester's daughter Liza Brichkina (E. Drapeko); And Elena Drapeko was removed from the role of Lisa Brichkina. For a while.
In the script, Liza Brichkina is a rosy-cheeked, lively girl. “Blood with milk, tits in wheels,” Elena Drapeko laughs. - And I was then a second-year student, a little reed, a little out of this world. I studied ballet, played the piano and violin. What peasant acumen do I have? When they watched the first filming material, I was removed from the role.
But then Rostotsky’s wife Nina Menshikova, having seen the footage at Gorky’s studio, called Rostotsky in Petrozavodsk and said that he was wrong. Rostotsky looked at the material again, assembled a film crew, and they decided to keep me in the role. They etched my eyebrows and drew about 200 red freckles. And they asked to change their dialect.
Quiet Sonya Gurvich (I. Dolganova), an excellent student at the university with a volume of Blok in a soldier’s bag;
The harsh filming regime and extremely realistic makeup in the death scenes caused fainting on the set. The first difficult moment was the scene of the death of Sonya Gurvich (played by actress Irina Dolganova).
Rostotsky made us believe in the reality of death,” says Ekaterina Markova (Galya Chetvertak). - When they started putting makeup on Ira Dolganova, they took us away so that we wouldn’t see this process. Then we went to the filming location - the crevice where Sonya Gurvich was supposed to lie. And they saw something that made them faint: a completely lifeless face, white with yellowish tint, and terrible circles under the eyes. And there is already a camera there, filming our first reaction. And the scene when we find Sonya turned out to be very realistic in the film, just one on one.
When they smeared bull’s blood on my chest in the scene of Sonya’s death and flies began to flock to me, Olga Ostroumova and Ekaterina Markova became ill with their hearts, says Irina Dolganova. - An ambulance had to be called to the set.
Orphanage Galya Chetvertak (E. Markova). “I was almost really sent to the next world in this film,” recalls Ekaterina Markova, who plays the role of Galka Chetvertak. – Remember the scene when I, frightened, ran out of the bushes shouting “Mom!” and getting shot in the back? Rostotsky decided to shoot a close-up of the back so that the bullet holes and blood were visible. To do this, they made a thin board, drilled it, “mounted” vials of artificial blood and attached them to my back. At the moment of the shot, the electrical circuit should have been closed, the tunic should have burst from the inside and “blood” should have flowed out. But the pyrotechnicians miscalculated. The “shot” turned out to be much more powerful than planned. My tunic was torn to shreds! Only the board saved me from injury.
The task will be completed at a high cost. Only Sergeant Major Vaskov will survive. “This is happening in 1942,” said writer Boris Vasiliev, “and I know the Germans of 1942 well, my main clashes with them took place. Now special forces can be like that. At least eighty meters, well armed, knowing all the techniques of close combat. You can't dodge them. And when I confronted them with the girls, I thought sadly that the girls were doomed. Because if I write that at least one of them survived, it would be a terrible lie.
Only Vaskov can survive there. Who is fighting in his native places. He can smell it, he grew up here. They can’t win against this country when we’re protected by the landscape, the swamps, the boulders.”
Filming on location began in May 1971 in Karelia. The film crew lived in the Severnaya Hotel in Petrozavodsk. Only there were no interruptions in hot water.
Rostotsky meticulously selected actresses for the roles of female anti-aircraft gunners. During the three months of the preparatory period, several hundred yesterday's graduates and current students of creative universities passed before the director.
Ekaterina Markova fell in love with the audience as Gali Chetvertak. Few people know that this actress is currently successfully working on creating detective novels.
Sonya Gurvich was superbly played by Irina Dolganova, to whom the mayor of Nizhny Novgorod, admiring her work, presented the Volga.
Elena Drapeko was approved for the role of Lisa Brichkina.
Elena Drapeko was studying at the Leningrad Theater Institute when Rostotsky’s assistants noticed her. Elena was cast in the role of Lisa Brichkina, the one who dies first, dies a terrible, desperate death - drowns in a swamp, going with a report to the unit. Filming in the swamp was difficult from a technical point of view. Movie cameras were installed on rafts and filmed from them.
“I actually played myself,” says Drapeko. - Although, of course, I had to work, because I didn’t live in any village, but was a girl from a quite intelligent family, I played the violin. But my “roots” coincided with Liza Brichkina: on my father’s side, my ancestors were crests, they were from peasants, so this is apparently present in the genes.” At some point, she had troubles with Rostotsky, and he even wanted to fire her from the painting. In the end, the conflict was resolved. In real life, Drapeko was, according to Fedot (Andrei Martynov), who was in love with her, a dazzling “plum apple”, a beauty, the daughter of an officer, and she got to play the red-haired village Lisa.
During each shooting, makeup was applied to the actress’s face, which “highlighted” her cheekbones and “revealed” her freckles. And although the actress herself believed that she had a fairly heroic character, she had to be very romantic on camera. But today the fighter Brichkin-Drapeko sits in the State Duma
When Lisa drowned in the swamp, the audience cried. How was this tragic scene filmed?
I played the episode of death in the swamp without an understudy. At first, Rostotsky tried to film something from a distance, not with me. The result is what we call “linden”. The viewer simply wouldn't believe us. We decided to film it “live”, in a real swamp, to make it scary. They laid dynamite, exploded, and created a crater. Liquid mud flowed into this funnel, which in the North is called drygva. It was into this funnel that I jumped. The director and I had an agreement that when I go under the water shouting “Ah-ah!..”, I sit there until there is enough air in my lungs. Then I had to show my hands out of the water, and they pulled me out.
Second take. I hid under the jerky. The volume of my lungs turned out to be quite large. Moreover, I understood that the swamp should close over me, settle down, calm down... With every movement, I deepened and deepened the bottom with my boots. And when I raised my hands up, they were not seen from the platform. I was completely, as they say, completely hidden by the swamp. People on the set began to worry. One of the camera assistants, who was counting the spent meters of film and time, noticed that I should somehow prove myself, but for some reason I haven’t shown up for a long time.
He shouted: “It looks like we really drowned her!..” They threw wooden shields over the swamp, and on these shields the guys crawled to the crater, found me and pulled me out like a turnip from a garden bed. There is permafrost in Karelia. A swamp is a swamp, but the water only warmed up twenty centimeters, and then the ice began to crumble. The feeling, let me tell you, is not a pleasant one. Every time, after the next take, I was washed and dried. From the cold to hot water. A little rest, and - a new take. Now, as far as I know, tourists are taken by excursion bus from Petrozavodsk to the swamp where Liza Brichkina drowned. True, for some reason there are already several such swamps...
Actress Irina Shevchuk recalled: “And I had a very difficult scene where I die. Before filming, I heard a lot from doctors about how people behave when they are wounded in the stomach. And she got into the role so much that after the first take she lost consciousness!” The actress felt the heroine’s death throes so realistically that after filming she had to be “revived.” This is how Irina Shevchuk became famous thanks to the role of Rita Osyanina. Today Shevchuk is the director of the Open Film Festival of the CIS and Baltic countries “Kinoshok”
On October 5, the group returned to Moscow. However, filming in the pavilion began only a week and a half later: Martynov, Ostroumova and Markova with the Youth Theater went on tour to Bulgaria.
When all the anti-aircraft gunners were assembled, we began filming the episode in the bathhouse. For five hours Rostotsky tried to persuade the girls to appear naked, but they refused, as they were brought up in strictness.
We really doubted this scene and tried our best to refuse: take stunt doubles, film them in a steam bath, and we won’t act naked! - says Olga Ostroumova. Rostotsky convinced that this was very necessary for the film: “You are always in boots, in gymnasts, with guns at the ready, and the audience will forget that you are women, beautiful, gentle, expectant mothers... I need to show that they don’t just kill people, and women, beautiful and young, who must give birth, continue the race.” ...There were no more disputes. We went for the idea.
At the film studio, they were selecting a female camera crew, looking for female illuminators, and there was one condition: on the set, only men were director Rostotsky and cameraman Shumsky - and then behind the film enclosing the bathhouse. But, as everyone remembers, there was no sex in the Soviet Union, therefore, local projectionists often cut out these famous shots.
Elena Drapeko recalls:
The meeting about this scene lasted four hours. We were persuaded. A pavilion called “Bathhouse” was built, and a special filming regime was introduced, since we set a condition: not a single man should be in the studio during this scene. It is impossible to imagine a more chaste procedure. An exception was made only for director Rostotsky and cameraman Shumsky. Both were fifty - ancient old men to us. In addition, they were covered with a film in which two holes were cut: for one of the director’s eyes and for the camera lens. We rehearsed in swimsuits.
The girls all rehearsed in swimsuits, and only took off their clothes for filming. All these washcloths, gangs, steam... Then they took off their swimsuits. Motor. Camera. Let's start. And behind the pavilion there was a special installation that was supposed to supply steam to us so that everything would really look like a real bathhouse. And near this installation there was a certain Uncle Vasya, “not discussed”, who was supposed to monitor its work. He stood behind a plywood partition, and therefore we did not see him at the rehearsal. But when they launched the camera, steam began to flow, and suddenly there was a wild howl, like from a high-explosive bomb: “Oooh!..” Roar! Roar! And this Uncle Vasya flies into the pavilion in a padded jacket and boots, and we are naked on the shelves, soaped... And this happened because Uncle Vasya “looked into the frame”... He had never seen so many naked women.
The scene was filmed after all. She performed as a soloist on screen - for sixteen seconds! - Olga Ostroumova.
There were a lot of problems with the bath episode later. After the first viewing of the film, the authorities demanded that the explicit scene be cut out. But Rostotsky somehow miraculously managed to defend it.
In “Dawns...” there was another scene where girl anti-aircraft gunners sunbathe naked on a tarpaulin. The director had to remove it.
The director wanted to invite a famous performer to play the role of Sergeant Major Vaskov. The candidacy of Georgy Yumatov was considered. Then a young artist from the capital’s Theater for Young Spectators appeared, Andrei Martynov. He was approved for the role.
At first, the director doubted the choice of actor, but Martynov was approved by secret vote by the entire film crew, including lighting and stage workers. Martynov even grew a mustache for filming. They agreed with the director that Vaskov would have a peculiar dialect in the film - a local dialect, and since Andrei comes from Ivanovo, it was enough for him to simply speak the local language. The role of Sergeant Major Vaskov in the film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet...” became a stellar debut for him - the 26-year-old actor played the middle-aged Sergeant Major surprisingly naturally.
Andrei Martynov discovered remarkable human depth in his foreman Vaskov. “But if you saw how work on “Dawns” began with him,” said Rostotsky. - Martynov couldn’t do anything. With such a “masculine” appearance, he is extremely feminine. He could neither run, nor shoot, nor chop wood, nor row, nothing.
That is, he could not perform the physical actions required in the film. Because of this, he could not play anything. But I worked and learned something. And at some point I felt that things were going well.”
When the foreman screams with a heart-rending cry: “Kick!!!” disarmed the Germans, applause broke out more than once in domestic cinemas...
Writer Boris Vasiliev came to filming only once. And he was very dissatisfied. He said that he was a fan of Lyubimov’s play, but did not agree with the concept of the film.
The scene of the death of Rita Osyanina caused a heated argument between Rostotsky and Vasiliev. In the book, Vaskov says: “What will I tell your children when they ask why you killed our mothers?” And Rita answered: “We did not fight for the White Sea-Baltic Canal named after Comrade Stalin, but we fought for the Motherland.” So, Rostotsky flatly refused to insert this phrase into the film, because this is a view from today: “How brave you are, Borya, my fathers, you suddenly said about this. But Rita Osyanina, volunteer, Komsomol member '42. It couldn’t even occur to her.” Boris Vasiliev objected. And with that we parted ways...
Rostotsky was very offended by the words of the writer Astafiev, who said that in cinema there is no truth about the war, the heroines, when they are killed with bullets in the stomach, sing the romance “He told me: be you mine.” This, of course, is about Zhenya Komelkova. “But this is distorted,” the director was indignant. - Nobody kills her at this moment with bullets in the stomach, she is wounded in the leg and she, overcoming the pain, does not sing at all, but shouts out the words of the romance, which then, after “Dowry” was on everyone’s lips, and drags her into the forest Germans. This is quite in character with the reckless, heroic Zhenya. It’s very disappointing to read this.”
Rostotsky himself is a front-line soldier; he lost his leg at the front. When he mounted the picture, he cried because he felt sorry for the girls.
Chairman of Goskino Alexei Vladimirovich Romanov told Rostotsky: “Do you really think that we will ever release this film to the screen?” The director was confused, did not know what he was accused of. For three months the painting lay motionless. Then it turned out that amendments needed to be made. And suddenly, one fine day, something changed, and it turned out that “The Dawns...” were quite worthy of the wide screen.
Moreover, the film was sent to the Venice Film Festival. The actresses remembered this film festival for the rest of their lives.
At the preview for journalists, Rostotsky experienced terrible moments. Before this, a two-part Turkish film was shown, the audience was already going crazy, and then they were also shown some kind of two-part film about girls in gymnasts. They laughed all the time. Twenty minutes later, according to Rostotsky, he wanted to take a Kalashnikov assault rifle and shoot everyone. The upset director was led out of the hall arm in arm.
The next day there was a viewing at 11 pm. “Dawns...” lasts 3 hours 12 minutes. “I understood perfectly well that the film would fail: two and a half thousand people, a tuxedo festival, the film is in Russian with Italian subtitles, there is no translation,” Stanislav Rostotsky shared his impressions. “I was walking in my tuxedo, which I had put on for the second time in my life, and they were holding me by the arms because I was just falling. I decided that I would count how many people would leave the picture. But somehow they didn’t leave. And then suddenly there was applause in one place. The most dear to me. Because it was not an applause for me, not for the actors, not for the screenwriting... This hostile audience in Italy suddenly began to sympathize with the girl Zhenya Komelkova and her action. That was the most important thing for me."
In 1974, the film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet...” was nominated for an Oscar, but lost the main prize to Buñuel’s “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.” Nevertheless, “The Dawns...” was purchased all over the world. Actors, when traveling somewhere abroad, sometimes saw themselves speaking a foreign language.
“I was completely dumbfounded when I heard myself speak Chinese,” laughs Andrei Martynov. - I was told that more than a billion people watched the film in China. Deng Xiaoping himself called “The Dawns Here Are Quiet...” a truly Chinese painting.”
The first screening of the film abroad in Venice and Sorrento created a real sensation. There was a line at the Rossiya cinema for a month. The film became a laureate of several international film festivals, and was recognized by the American Academy of Film Arts as one of the five best world films of the year. The film received a prize at the Venice Film Festival, and a year after its release it was nominated for an Oscar.
After watching “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet...” it would seem that a quite clear idea of the war is created, but we cannot understand all the torments of fascist hell, all the drama of the war, its cruelty, senseless deaths, the pain of separated mothers from their children, brothers and sisters, wives with husbands.
This film became the film debut for all the leading actors, with the exception of Olga Ostroumova. It enjoyed great success at the box office, becoming the leader of the Soviet box office in 1973, attracting 66 million viewers.
The film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” was highly praised by critics and government officials. He was awarded the USSR State Prize (1975, screenwriter B. Vasiliev, director S. Rostotsky, cameraman V. Shumsky, actor A. Martynov), the Lenin Komsomol Prize (1974, director S. Rostotsky, cameraman V. Shumsky, actor A. Martynov ), first prize at the 1973 All-Union Film Festival in Alma-Ata, a memorable prize at the 1972 Venice Film Festival, was nominated for an Oscar in the category “best foreign language film” (1972), and was recognized as the best film of 1972 in a poll by the magazine “Soviet Screen” "
Akimych narrator doll children-students teachers loving mothers with strollers unknown. “...Kursk has been famous for its hills and cathedrals since ancient times.” Heroes of the story "Doll". Vocabulary work. Evaluation of E. Nosov's creativity. Literature lesson in 7th grade based on the story “Doll” by Evgeny Nosov. Evgeny Ivanovich Nosov belongs to a generation that came to literature scorched by the fire of war. In what class was E. Nosov studying when the Great Patriotic War began? The story “Doll” (“Akimych”) Why did the writer change the title of the story? From the writer's autobiography. Evgeny Ivanovich Nosov 1925-2002.
“Mayakovsky poet and poetry” - Find neologism words. 2. The history of the creation of the poem. The role of the poet is to “burn the hearts of people with a verb.” 2. M. Yu. Lermontov. 5.What synonyms can be found for the word “shine”? The poet is always a debtor to the universe, paying interest and penalties on the mountain... In what lines of the poem does the poet formulate his calling? The light of V.V. Mayakovsky's poetry is a moral guide for us. This is my slogan - and the sun! How to characterize the event that the poet depicts? 4.What is the lexical meaning of the word “shine”?
“Quiz on Nekrasov” - A) In Yaroslavl B) In Moscow C) in Kazan D) in St. Petersburg. 2. The poet’s father was... Completed by 7th grade students of the Mezhdurechenskaya Secondary School. A) on the Lena B) on the Neva C) on the Volga D) in the Urals. A) an artist B) a military man C) an employee D) a writer. 3. Which gymnasium did Nekrasov study at? Quiz “Biography of N. A. Nekrasov.” 1. On which river did N.A. spend his childhood? Nekrasova?
“Biography of Chukovsky” - After the war, Chukovsky often met with children in Peredelkino, where he built a country house. Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky (real name Nikolai Vasilyevich Korneychukov) was born on March 31, 1882 in St. Petersburg in the family of Emmanuel Solomonovich Levenson and Poltava peasant woman Ekaterina Osipovna Korneychukova. Chukovsky and Pasternak at the First Congress of the Writers' Union in 1934. The author of the famous “Doctor Aibolit” died of viral hepatitis on a quiet autumn day.
“Bite of L.N. Andreev” - Literature lesson in 7th grade. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev was born on August 9 (21), 1871 in the city of Orel. Albert Schweitzer. Compiled by: teacher of Russian language and literature MOU Popasnovskaya OOSH Kulundinsky district Shamkina Tatyana Aleksandrovna. Andreev Leonid Nikolaevich 1871 - 1919. Lesson topic. Compassion and heartlessness as criteria of human morality. ...To understand whether animals have a soul, you must have a soul yourself.
"Books about Harry Potter" - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Glossary of incomprehensible words: The Ministry of Magic suffers defeat after defeat in battles with Voldemort. Harry Potter And The Chamber of secrets. Muggle is a person who does not have magical abilities, i.e. "not a magician." There is no one to wait for help - Harry is more alone than ever. Biography of the Writer: Cheglakov Stepan: The book “Harry Potter” is unique. The series includes: But even in war, life goes on.
Film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet...”: How do the girls die? Five girls went on a mission and every single one of them died.
The story by Boris Vasiliev and the film based on it, “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet...” leave an indelible impression. The viewer almost feels like a participant in the events, empathizing with the heroines and living with them until their last moment.
"Five girls, just five"
There are five of them. Young, hastily trained and inexperienced. Only Rita Osyanina and Zhenya Komelkova had a chance to see the enemy in person - they were the ones who would hold out the longest.
Lisa Brichkina , a girl who had practically no childhood fell in love with a foreman.
Fedot Vaskov also singled her out from the rest.
But Lisa was not destined to know the happy life of a girl - she went for help, and, not having time to reach her people, drowned in the quagmire.
Sonya Gurvich - “little sparrow,” as the foreman called a girl he did not understand. Smart and dreamy, she loved poetry and recited Blok by heart. Sonya dies from a fascist’s knife when she runs for Vaskov’s pouch.
Galya Chetvertak – the youngest and most spontaneous. She is filled with childlike joy at being entrusted with a responsible task. However, she was unable to cope with her own fear, gave herself away and was shot point-blank by a fascist line. An orphanage girl, Galya, died screaming “Mom.”
Zhenya Komelkova - the most striking character. Lively, artistic and emotional, she always attracts attention. She even got into the women's detachment because of an affair with a married commander. Knowing that she will probably die, she leads the Nazis away from the wounded Rita and Sergeant Major Vaskov.
Husband Rita Osyanina died on the second day of the war. She should have raised her son, but she chose revenge for the death of her loved one. Decisive and courageous, Rita violated the order of Sergeant Major Vaskov and did not leave her position. Seriously wounded, she dies from her own bullet.
Yes, war does not have a woman's face. Woman is the personification of life. And it’s a pity that Rita’s son will grow up without a mother, and the children of the other girls are not destined to be born at all.
Boris Vasiliev's story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet...” was published in 1969. According to the author himself, the plot was based on real events. Vasilyev was inspired by the story of how seven soldiers stopped a German sabotage group, preventing it from blowing up a strategically important section of the Kirov railway. Only the sergeant was destined to survive. After writing a few pages of his new work, Vasiliev realized that the plot was not new. The story will simply not be noticed or appreciated. Then the author decided that the main characters should be young girls. It was not customary to write about women in the war in those years. Vasiliev's innovation allowed him to create a work that stood out sharply among his peers.
Boris Vasiliev's story has been filmed several times. One of the most original film adaptations was the Russian-Chinese project of 2005. In 2009, the film “Valor” was released in India based on the plot of the work of the Soviet writer.
The story takes place in May 1942. The main character Fedot Evgrafych Vaskov is serving at the 171st crossing somewhere in the Karelian outback. Vaskov is not satisfied with the behavior of his subordinates. Forced to remain idle, soldiers start drunken brawls out of boredom and enter into illicit relationships with local women. Fedot Evgrafych repeatedly appealed to his superiors with a request to send him non-drinking anti-aircraft gunners. In the end, a department of girls comes into Vaskov's hands.
It takes a long time for a trusting relationship to be established between the patrol commandant and the new anti-aircraft gunners. “Mossy Stump” is not capable of causing anything but irony in girls. Vaskov, not knowing how to behave with subordinates of the opposite sex, prefers rude and indifferent communication.
Soon after the squad of anti-aircraft gunners arrives, one of the girls notices two fascist saboteurs in the forest. Vaskov goes on a combat mission, taking with him a small group of fighters, which included Sonya Gurvich, Rita Osyanina, Galya Chetvertak, Lisa Brichkina and Zhenya Komelkova.
Fedot Evgrafych managed to stop the saboteurs. He returned alive from a combat mission alone.
Characteristics
Fedot Vaskov
Sergeant Major Vaskov is 32 years old. Several years ago his wife left him. The son whom Fedot Evgrafych was going to raise on his own died. The life of the main character gradually lost its meaning. He feels lonely and useless.
Vaskov's illiteracy prevents him from expressing his emotions correctly and beautifully. But even the foreman’s awkward and comical speech cannot hide his high spiritual qualities. He becomes truly attached to each of the girls in his squad, treating them like a caring, loving father. In front of the survivors Rita and Zhenya, Vaskov no longer hides his feelings.
Sonya Gurvich
The large and friendly Jewish family of Gurvich lived in Minsk. Sonya's father was a local doctor. Having entered Moscow University, Sonya met her love. However, young people were never able to obtain higher education and start a family. Sonya's lover went to the front as a volunteer. The girl also followed his example.
Gurvich is distinguished by brilliant erudition. Sonya was always an excellent student and spoke German fluently. The latter circumstance was the main reason why Vaskov took Sonya on the mission. He needed a translator to communicate with captured saboteurs. But Sonya did not fulfill the mission determined by the foreman: she was killed by the Germans.
Rita Osyanina
Rita became a widow early, having lost her husband on the second day of the war. Leaving her son Albert with her parents, Rita sets out to avenge her husband. Osyanina, who has become the head of the anti-aircraft gunners’ department, asks her superiors to transfer her to the 171st crossing point, which is located near the small town where her relatives live. Now Rita has the opportunity to often be at home and bring groceries to her son.
Having been seriously wounded in her last battle, the young widow thinks only of the son her mother will have to raise. Osyanina makes Fedot Evgrafych promise to take care of Albert. Fearing being captured alive, Rita decides to shoot herself.
Galya Chetvertak
Chetvertak grew up in an orphanage, after which she entered a library technical school. Galya always seemed to float with the flow, not knowing exactly where and why she was going. The girl does not experience the hatred for the enemy that overcomes Rita Osyanina. She is not able to hate even her immediate offenders, preferring children's tears to adult aggression.
Galya constantly feels awkward, out of place. She has difficulty adapting to her environment. Friends in arms accuse Galya of cowardice. But the girl is not just afraid. She has a strong aversion to destruction and death. Galya unknowingly pushes herself to death in order to get rid of the horrors of war once and for all.
Lisa Brichkina
The forester's daughter Liza Brichkina became the only anti-aircraft gunner who fell in love with Sergeant Major Vaskov at first sight. A simple girl, who was unable to graduate from school due to her mother’s serious illness, noticed a kindred spirit in Fedot Evgrafych. The author speaks of his heroine as a person who spent most of her life waiting for happiness. However, the expectations were not met.
Liza Brichkina drowned while crossing the swamp, having gone on the orders of Sergeant Major Vaskov for reinforcements.
Zhenya Komelkova
The Komelkov family was shot by the Germans right in front of Zhenya a year before the events described. Despite the bereavement, the girl did not lose her liveliness of character. The thirst for life and love pushes Zhenya into the arms of the married Colonel Luzhin. Komelkova does not want to destroy the family. She is only afraid of not having time to receive its sweetest fruits from life.
Zhenya was never afraid of anything and was confident in herself. Even in the last battle, she does not believe that the next moment could be her last. It is simply impossible to die at 19 years old, being young and healthy.
The main idea of the story
Extraordinary circumstances do not change people. They only help reveal existing character traits. Each of the girls in Vaskov’s small squad continues to be themselves, adhere to their ideals and outlook on life.
Analysis of the work
Summary “And the dawns here are quiet...” (Vasiliev) can only reveal the essence of this work, profound in its tragedy. The author strives to show not just the death of several girls. In each of them the whole world perishes. Sergeant Major Vaskov observes not only the fading of young lives, he sees in these deaths the death of the future. None of the anti-aircraft gunners will be able to become either a wife or a mother. Their children were not yet born, which means they will not give birth to future generations.
The popularity of Vasiliev's story is due to the contrast used in it. Young anti-aircraft gunners would hardly attract the attention of readers. The appearance of girls gives rise to hope for an interesting plot in which love will certainly be present. Recalling the well-known aphorism that war does not have a feminine face, the author contrasts the tenderness, playfulness and softness of young female anti-aircraft gunners with the cruelty, hatred and inhumanity of the situation in which they found themselves.
