A classic of Soviet cinema. "Only old people go into battle"

Probably, all Russians at least once in their life watched the famous film "Only Old Men Go to Battle", which tells about the difficult times of war. Leonid Bykov, the director and actor who played the main role here, received the award of the VII All-Union Film Festival for this wonderful story. It is considered one of the best military epics and tells about the life and exploits of one regiment of fighter pilots.

The main characters were written off from real-life soldiers. The prototype of the beloved Grasshopper, the most memorable character, was twice Hero of the Soviet Union Vitaly Ivanovich Popkov. He, like the character, was a minor, so he could only come to the regiment by fraud. When the lie revealed, he was suspended from flying. But during the attack, he jumped into someone’s plane and heroically knocked out an enemy fighter. To create the scenery when shooting, we used documentaries filmed before the war and during the hostilities. As a result, the film turned out to be very reliable.

Air Marshal Alexander Pokryshkin was amazed at how realistic it was to convey the atmosphere of those days. He struggled with emotions, admiring the realism of the plot. Immediately after the release of "The Old Men" they gained extraordinary popularity.

Recently, films were “painted” thanks to modern technology. Viewers are now presented with a color version of their favorite movie story. Not all old Soviet films fall into colorization. But they simply had to make it color. The fact is that before the start of filming, Leonid Bykov struggled to get a color film. However, in those days it was in short supply, so I had to shoot in black and white. It took about half a million dollars to “paint” the film. But it was worth it. When colorizing, specialists faced unprecedented difficulties. The story has many such details in which it is difficult to guess the color. Therefore, after the "coloring" came to an end, it turned out that shoulder straps were incorrectly drawn. It was impossible to allow a story on television screens with such a mistake, because this is a distinction on the form of Soviet soldiers. I had to redo more than half of the finished work. When the film began to be shown on the central channels in a color version, Bykov’s daughter rebelled. She stated that this was a copyright violation, and was about to sue the television crew. Most people who watched the film, or rather, almost all, believe that the changes benefit the picture, since the color version only improves the realism of the film.

1943, the liberation of Ukraine from the fascist troops. The second squadron of the regiment of fighter pilots is actively involved not only on the battlefield, but also in cultural events. Its composition is famous for excellent singers and musicians. Each of them receives an unusual nickname, which subsequently becomes a call sign. Young inexperienced pilots, who were barely eighteen years old, could only take off and land. The grasshopper got his nickname because he mischievously caught insects. One of the soldiers became "Smuglyanka" by the name of the song he sang. Romeo was famous for his courtship of girls. The maestro, played by Leonid Bykov, was a senior and directed the choir. In the first attack, despite his young age, the Grasshopper knocks out an enemy aircraft and proves his professional suitability. Young children, ready to lie down for their native Soviet Union, were not less courageous, courageous, fearless and courageous than “old men”.

The images of beautiful girls who immediately make an indelible impression are very well written in the picture. They do not forget to take care of themselves, to preen for cute heroes, but at any moment they are ready to engage in battle with the enemy. During the war, people also enjoyed life, sang, danced, fell in love, loved, worried. But at the same time, they defended their homeland, defeated the enemy, walked under bullets and took risks.

The cheerfulness of young children can only be envied. Despite the constant whistling of bullets and near danger, they joked, poisoned jokes, teased and played friends. The song, which was performed by the choir of the second squadron, is still sung by the whole country. She is now associated with Leonid Bykov, with wartime, with fighter pilots and our quick victory.

The film "Only Old Men Are Going to Battle" leaves no one indifferent. The plot of this film story touches the most hidden strings of the soul. After watching, there remains a feeling of pride in their people, compassion for the soldiers, grief for the dead soldiers. The film is saturated with positive emotions and patriotism. Each character is an individual, for each - a lump in the throat and chest pain. These fighters are an example for imitation of modern young people, they all are sheer patriotism, which today’s youth lack so much.