Bulgakov the master and Margarita interesting facts. Interesting facts about the novel The Master and Margarita

In some Bulgakov manuscripts the beginning of work on the novel “The Master and Margarita” is indicated by the author as 1928, in others as 1929. Initially, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov tried on different titles for the novel. Among the tried options were “Juggler with a Hoof”, “Tour”, “Black Magician” and some others.

When on March 18, 1930, Bulgakov’s play “The Cabal of the Holy One” was banned from production, the author personally destroyed the first edition of the novel “The Master and Margarita” in a fire and reported this to the government. A year later, the writer returned to work on the novel. He created new drafts in which he provided Woland with an unrestrained retinue. In the new sketches, Margarita and her then-unnamed lover appeared, later called the Master.

Work on the second edition continued until 1936. The work had a draft working title “ Fantasy novel" The writer also considered other book titles, such as “The Engineer’s Hoof,” “Satan,” and “The Great Chancellor,” as spare ones. The third edition began in the second half of 1936 famous work was called "Prince of Darkness". The final version of the title of the novel “The Master and Margarita” appeared in 1937.

In 1938, the sister of Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova, the writer’s wife, O. S. Bokshanskaya, for the first time published the full text of the extraordinary work. Bulgakov created his immortal literary creation for more than ten years. Until his death, he continued to make edits to the novel.

There is plenty of evidence of the unique internal chronology of Bulgakov's novel. For example, it clearly states that on May 1st the weather was unusually hot. The events of the novel on the eve of the last flight are described below. And then a powerful thunderstorm, accompanied by downpour, suddenly broke out in the sky above the capital. According to the press of those ancient years, on May 1, 1929, the temperature in Moscow became unusually warm - up to 30 degrees above zero. Following this, a cold snap with rain and thunderstorms came to the capital just as sharply.

The main character of the novel, the Master, is certainly endowed with some of the traits of Bulgakov himself. This indirectly confirms the age of the Master indicated in the novel. It says he is about thirty-eight years old. On May 15, 1929, Bulgakov turned thirty-eight years old. And this year he began the first version of the novel.

The novel is in no way a direct retelling of the Gospel. This is evidenced by very significant differences in the most important details both narratives. Yeshua, who was subjected to the death penalty in The Master and Margarita, pronounces the name of Pontius Pilate. In the Gospel, the crucified Jesus Christ pronounces the name of God. This gave reason to Deacon Andrei Kuraev to declare the Yershalaim story described by Bulgakov blasphemous in relation to Christian religion. However, the deacon made a reservation that he did not consider the novel “The Master and Margarita” itself to be sacrilegious.

In the first versions of the novel, Woland had the name Astaroth. Perhaps due to the comparison of this name with a specific demonic creature, the writer abandoned it, replacing it with Woland. There has never been a Variety Theater in Moscow. But after the novel became widely known, several theaters claimed the rights to this name.

The words that Woland says in the penultimate edition of the novel: “He has a courageous face, he does his job correctly, and in general, everything is over here. It is time!" were addressed to acting person, which was no longer in the final version of the work.

According to the recollections of the writer’s widow, the last thing he said about the novel during his lifetime were the words: “So that they know... So that they know.” Writing the novel was accompanied by mysticism. The very idea of ​​​​creating such a work came to Bulgakov after one gift given to him. It was a book by A.V. Chayanov “Venediktov or memorable events of my life”, which describes the hero’s clash with demonic forces. The writer was shocked by the coincidence of the main character's surname with his surname.

The novel was created by the writer in Moscow in the thirties, when all the religious and moral foundations of society were violated. The writer burned the first version of the work, since the echoes of gospel motifs it contained would not have been published by any publication.

Bulgakov began to revive the novel to life after a telephone conversation with Joseph Stalin, that is, when he came into close contact with devilish forces. Paradoxically, the most severe repressions of 1937 did not affect the writer’s family.

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov did not manage to either complete the novel during his lifetime or publish it. The work was first published only in 1966, 26 years after the death of its author.

“The Master and Margarita” was published in an abridged magazine version thanks to Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova, the writer’s widow. Despite the harsh Stalinism of those years, she managed to preserve the priceless manuscript.

Why are the actors in last moment refused to film, and 13 deaths after the premiere.

The director of "Legend No. 17" and "Crew" Nikolai Lebedev will make a film based on the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. The work has been filmed and staged in the theater more than once, but every time some kind of devilry happens on the set. And all the incidents with the actors who starred in the film are attributed to the action of a “demonic romance.”

"Nothing will work out"

In 2005, the series “The Master and Margarita” directed by Vladimir Bortko was released. He himself has said more than once that there is nothing mystical in the novel. But soon I remembered one story.

A few years ago, when I was preparing for filming, a strange incident happened to me at Patriarch’s Ponds. A man passing by suddenly turned to me: “You won’t succeed anyway!” - and moved on,” the director said in his interviews.

Bortko considers this a pure coincidence. Moreover, he did not listen to the pessimistic “forecast”.

Woland in the Bortko series was given to Oleg Basilashvili to play. Later, viewers will say hundreds of times that this is how they imagined the devil. For the actor himself, this role resulted, as TV Program writes, in the loss of his voice.

Basilashvili was delivering Woland’s monologue when he suddenly wheezed. A few moments later he completely lost his voice. Doctors said he had a hemorrhage on his right vocal cord.

The actor rehearsed the day before, there were no problems with the ligaments. The doctors prescribed him complete rest, injections and complete silence for a while.

Berlioz and surgery

Alexander Adabashyan, who played Mikhail Berlioz, was hospitalized with a heart attack shortly after filming. However, the actor himself did not connect his participation in the series, health problems and mysticism.

Adabashyan joked more than once in an interview about how members of the film crew used the “devilish train” of the work. For example, they said that the evil spirits themselves forced them to drink too much the day before filming.

Koroviev and Azazello

Alexander Filippenko played in two film adaptations of “The Master and Margarita” at once - by Vladimir Bortko and Yuri Kara. In Kara he played Koroviev.

Many years have passed since then. The actor walked with friends through the Patriarch's, showed them the scene of "The Master and Margarita". Filippenko himself says that at that moment he met with Bortko.

You've already played Koroviev. Will you play Azazello for me? - asked Bortko. The actor agreed, considering it a sign of fate.

Refused at the last minute

Woland in the series was supposed to be Oleg Yankovsky. However, at the last moment he refused to film, saying that he did not consider this role to be strong. And then he admitted that, in his opinion, the devil, like God, cannot be played.

Alexander Kalyagin refused the role of Berlioz, Vladimir Mashkov never became a Master. Alexander Pankratov-Cherny refused the role of Varenukha. But Bortko decided not to part with the actor, offering him the option of Stepan Likhodeev as a replacement. That's what we agreed on.

13 deaths in five years

Some call it a terrible coincidence, others call it mysticism, but the fact remains: in the year of the premiere and in the five years after the release of the first episode, 13 actors who participated in the filming died.

Actor Alexander Chaban died at the age of 47. His body was found on October 2, 2005 in his apartment. He played an investigator looking for Woland.

Almost a year later, in September 2006, Pavel Komarov, who played the thief who stole the clothes of the bathing poet Ivan Bezdomny on the pier, died. He was not even 40 years old.

Stanislav Landgraf (critic Latunsky), Kirill Lavrov (Pontius Pilate), Evgeny Merkuryev (accountant), Alexander Abdulov (Korovyov), Andrey Tolubeev (voiced by Aloisy Mogarych), Yuri Oskin (doorman Nikolai), Galina Barkova (fruit seller), Vladislav Galkin (Ivan Bezdomny), Valentina Egorenkova (nurse in the mental hospital), Stanislav Sokolov (secretary of Pontius Pilate), Mikhail Surov (extras). 13 people.

With the death of each actor, rumors about the curse of “The Master and Margarita” were circulated in the press again and again.

A pipe burst

Yuri Kara's film "The Master and Margarita" has been waiting in the wings for 14 years. It was filmed back in 1994, and presented only in 2008 at the film festival of the CIS and Baltic countries "New Cinema. XXI Century". It was released at the box office only in 2011.

Although at press conferences the actors shouted out loud that there was no mysticism, members of the film crew still remembered some episodes.

So, Yuri Kara said that the devilry began literally with the filming of the first scene in the Moscow Hermitage Garden.

They started filming the film in the Hermitage Garden from the stage at a variety show, all TV channels gave reports about it. Suddenly Levitin (director of the Hermitage Theater Mikhail Levitin) came to the set and asked to stop filming, RIA Novosti quotes Kara as saying.

It later turned out that a hot heating pipe had burst in the place where the footage was stored. When Levitin was informed about this, he did not believe it at first. And as soon as he put the phone down, a pipe burst in his office.

They even called a priest to the set, who sprinkled holy water on the camera and film crew.

Cameramen refused to film

In total, during the work on Kara’s film, six cameramen changed: they either left or simply disappeared. So, when they filmed ancient Judea in Crimea, it suddenly began to snow, which had not happened in October for a long time. In addition, for unknown reasons, the cameraman did not come to the shooting. And the film itself, as it turned out, was forgotten in Moscow.

When Kara went to the capital to get film and a cameraman, in front of Bulgakov’s house, already in Moscow, his new Volga broke down. Let us note that after some time a man named Koroviev crashed into his car.

The film was eventually directed by Evgeny Grebnev. He died shortly after filming: at 35, the day before his birthday.

Actors Bronislav Brondukov and Spartak Mishulin (Varenukha and Archibald Archibaldovich), Viktor Pavlov (Behemoth) and Mikhail Ulyanov (Pontius Pilate) and composer Alfred Schnittke also did not live to see the premiere.

Israel and "terrorist filmmakers"

A forgotten film, an accident, some kind of devilry... the film crew decided to move the filming to Israel. Yuri Kara was sure that nothing would happen in the Promised Land.

The film crew wanted to reflect a line from the book "The Darkness Came from Mediterranean Sea, covered the city hated by the procurator." For this, darkness itself was necessary.

By that time computer graphics there weren’t any, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky - how dark it was here. The pyrotechnician agreed to “do” it, but, as the media wrote, for $200 thousand. They found the money, organized the darkness, but then...

15 Israeli combat helicopters descended from the sky. Special forces with machine guns jumped out from there and attacked the film crew. They decided that we were Arab terrorists. Our producers were shocked because everyone had been warned about the filming. By the time we figured it out, the cloud had gone away,” the director later said.

Woland Victor Avilov and clinical death

The famous actor Viktor Avilov, whom many viewers remember from his roles as the Count of Monte Cristo in The Prisoner of Chateau d'If and Mordaunt in The Musketeers 20 Years Later, also played Woland. But in the theater.

On tour in 1995, less than an hour before the start of The Master and Margarita, the actor experienced clinical death: Avilov’s heart stopped twice. However, after this he began to recover, and his health seemed to be returning to normal.

But in the early 2000s, he again began to suffer from ulcers and back pain. Returning from a tour in Israel in June 2004, he decided to get examined. Doctors said he had an inoperable tumor. Foreign doctors refused to treat me over and over again. Last hope they gave it to him in Novosibirsk. The actor lived for two more months, after which he died in Akademgorodok at the age of 51.

This May will mark 76 years since Mikhail Bulgakov completed work on his masterpiece and, perhaps, one of the main novels of his era. Whatever you say, “The Master and Margarita” is loved by everyone - including high school students who like it at the same time silver Age and large soft toys; both students and adults. And no wonder. The novel, being both a symbol and the scourge of a new country, is literally entwined with mystical coincidences and amazing stories.

Let's start, perhaps, with the fact that Mikhail Afanasyevich was personally convinced that the manuscripts were not in ruins. He began working on the novel in 1928, during which time the drafts bore different titles - “The Engineer’s Hoof”, “The Tour”, “The Black Magician”. In parallel, Bulgakov continued to work on other works. And when in 1930 the writer received notice of the ban on “The Cabal of Saints,” he personally sent the drafts of the novel to the fire.

But a year later Bulgakov realized: manuscripts do not burn. And the work began to boil with new strength: Margarita was born and, as a result, the nameless Master, Woland “grew up” with a retinue... By the way, Bulgakov initially called Woland Astaroth. This is a direct reference to Western demonology - this is, according to the Lemegeton, the name of one of the most powerful demons in the hierarchy of Hell. But when it became clear that the “devilishness” in the novel would have to be masked, Astaroth was removed, replaced by the relatively neutral Woland.

Several interesting facts from a chronological point of view. Meteorologists conducted a small study and found that on May 1, 1929, the capital suddenly warmed up to +30 Celsius, and a few days later a storm began. The weather is the same in the novel itself: on the evening of May 1 it is unusually warm, and a few days later, when the last flight begins, a thunderstorm breaks out over the city. Bulgakov also gave himself a surprise birthday present: the novel says that the Master is 38 years old. This is a reference to the biography of the author himself: the hero was “born” on May 15, that is, on the birthday of Mikhail Afanasyevich.

74 years ago Mikhail Bulgakov introduced last change to your great novel“The Master and Margarita,” the interpretation of which researchers are still struggling with. In honor of this event, we offer seven keys to understanding this immortal work.

1. Literary hoax
Why famous novel Bulgakov is called “The Master and Margarita”, and what is this book really about? It is known that the idea of ​​creation was born to the author after his fascination with German mysticism of the 19th century: legends about the devil, Jewish and Christian demonology, treatises about God - all this is present in the work. Most important sources, which the author consulted were the works “The History of Relations between Man and the Devil” by Mikhail Orlov and Amfiteatrov’s book “The Devil in Everyday Life, Legend and in the Literature of the Middle Ages.” As you know, The Master and Margarita had several editions. They say that the first one, on which the author worked in 1928-29, had nothing to do with either the Master or Margarita, and was called “The Black Magician”, “Juggler with a Hoof”. That is, central figure and the essence of the novel was precisely the Devil, such a Russian version of Faust. Bulgakov personally burned the first manuscript after his play “Kabbalah the Holy One” was banned. The writer informed the government about this: “And I personally, with my own hands, threw a draft of a novel about the devil into the stove...”! The second edition was also dedicated to the fallen angel, and was called “Satan” or “Great Chancellor”. Margarita and the master had already appeared here, and Woland had acquired his own retinue. But only the third manuscript received its current name, which, in fact, the author never finished.

2. The Many Faces of Woland
The Prince of Darkness is perhaps the most popular character"The Master and Margarita". On a superficial reading, the reader gets the impression that Woland is “justice itself,” a judge who fights human vices and patronizes love and creativity. Some even think that Bulgakov portrayed Stalin in this image! Wolanda is many-sided and complex, as befits the Tempter. He is viewed as a classic Satan, which is what the author intended in early versions of the book, as a new Messiah, a reimagined Christ, whose coming is described in the novel.
In fact, Woland is not just a devil - he has many prototypes. This is the supreme pagan god– Wotan among the ancient Germans, or Odin among the Scandinavians, whom Christian tradition turned into the devil; this is the great “magician” and freemason Count Cagliostro, who remembered the events of a thousand years of the past, predicted the future, and had a portrait resemblance to Woland. And this is the “dark horse” Woland from Goethe’s “Faust,” who is mentioned in the work only once, in an episode that was missed in the Russian translation. By the way, in Germany the devil was called “Vahland.” Remember the episode from the novel when the employees cannot remember the name of the magician: “...Perhaps Faland?”

3. Satan's Retinue
Just as a person cannot exist without a shadow, so Woland is not Woland without his retinue. Azazello, Behemoth and Koroviev-Fagot are instruments of diabolical justice, the most striking heroes of the novel, who have a far from clear past behind them.
Let's take, for example, Azazello - “the demon of the waterless desert, the demon killer.” Bulgakov borrowed this image from the Old Testament books, where this is the name fallen angel, who taught people to make weapons and jewelry. Thanks to him, women have mastered the “lascivious art” of painting their faces. Therefore, it is Azazello who gives the cream to Margarita and pushes her onto the “dark path”. In the novel he - right hand Wolanda performing “dirty work”. He kills Baron Meigel and poisons the lovers. Its essence is incorporeal, absolute evil in its purest form.
Koroviev-Fagot – only person Woland's retinue. It is not entirely clear who became its prototype, but researchers trace its roots to the Aztec god Vitzliputzli, whose name is mentioned in Berlioz’s conversation with the Bezdomny. This is the god of war, to whom sacrifices were made, and according to the legends about Doctor Faustus, he is the spirit of hell and the first assistant of Satan. His name, carelessly pronounced by the chairman of MASSOLIT, is a signal for the appearance of Woland.
Behemoth, a werecat and Woland's favorite jester, essentially comes from the legends about the devil of gluttony and the mythological beast of the Old Testament. In the study by I. Ya. Porfiryev “Apocryphal tales about Old Testament persons and events,” which was clearly familiar to Bulgakov, it was mentioned sea ​​monster Behemoth, together with Leviathan, lives in the invisible desert “to the east of the garden where the chosen and the righteous lived.” The author also gleaned information about Hippopotamus from the story of a certain Anne Desanges, who lived in the 17th century. and possessed by seven devils, among which is mentioned Behemoth, a demon from the rank of Thrones. This demon was depicted as a monster with an elephant's head, trunk and tusks. His hands were human, and his huge belly short tail and thick hind legs - like those of a hippopotamus, which reminded him of his name.

4. Black Queen Margot
Margarita is often considered a model of femininity, a kind of Pushkin Tatiana of the 20th century. But the prototype of “Queen Margot” was clearly not shy girl from Russian outback. In addition to the obvious similarity of the heroine with last wife writer, the novel emphasizes Margarita’s connection with two French queens. One of them is the same “Queen Margot,” the wife of Henry IV, whose wedding turned into the bloody Night of St. Bartholomew. This event is mentioned on the way to the Great Ball at Satan's. The fat man, who recognized Margarita, calls her “bright Queen Margot” and babbles, “some nonsense about the bloody wedding of his friend in Paris, Hessar.” Gessar is the Parisian publisher of Marguerite Valois's correspondence, whom Bulgakov made a participant in St. Bartholomew's Night. In the image of Margarita, researchers also find similarities with another queen - Margarita of Navarre, one of the first French women writers. Both historical Margaritas patronized writers and poets; Bulgakov’s Margarita loves her brilliant writer- Masters.

5. Moscow – Yershalaim
One of the most interesting riddles“The Master and Margarita” is the time when events take place. There is not a single absolute date in the novel from which one can count. The action is attributed to Holy Week from the first to the seventh of May 1929. This dating provides a parallel with the world of the “Pilate Chapters”, which took place in Yershalaim in the 29th or 30th year during the week that later became Holy Week. “...over Moscow in 1929 and Yershalaim on the 29th there is the same apocalyptic weather, the same darkness is approaching the city of sin like a thunderstorm wall, the same Easter full moon floods the alleys of the Old Testament Yershalaim and the New Testament Moscow.” In the first part of the novel, both of these stories develop in parallel, in the second, they become more and more intertwined, eventually merging together, gaining integrity, and moving from our world to the other world. Yershalaim “transitions” to the streets of Moscow.

6. Kabbalistic roots
There is an opinion that when writing the novel, Bulgakov was not so much under the influence of Kabbalistic teachings. The concepts of Jewish mysticism are put into Woland’s mouth:
1. “Never ask for anything. Never and nothing, especially among those who are stronger than you. They will offer and give everything themselves.” As you know, Kabbalah interprets the Torah as a prohibition to accept anything not from the creator, which contradicts Christianity, in which, on the contrary, “asking for someone else’s mercy” is not forbidden. Hasidim (representatives mystical movement Judaism based on Kabbalah) interpret the statement that God created man in his own image, therefore man must become like the Creator in creation. That is, it should work.
2. The concept of “light”. Light accompanies Woland throughout the novel. When Satan and his retinue disappear, the lunar road also disappears. At first glance, the “teaching of light” goes back to the Sermon on the Mount: “You are the light of the world.” On the other hand, this context strikingly coincides with the core idea of ​​​​Kabbalah about “Or Chaim” - “the light of life”, which claims that the Torah itself is “light”. Achieving it depends on the desire of the person himself, which, you see, corresponds to the idea of ​​the novel, where the independent choice of a person comes to the fore.

7. The last manuscript
The last edition of the novel, which subsequently reached the reader, was begun in 1937. The author continued to work with her until his death. Why couldn't he finish the book he wrote for 12 years? Perhaps he believed that he was not sufficiently informed about the issue he was taking on, and that his understanding of Jewish demonology and early Christian texts was too amateurish? Be that as it may, the novel practically “sucked out” the life of the author. The last correction he made on February 13, 1940 was Margarita’s phrase: “So this means that the writers are going after the coffin?” A month later he died. Last words Bulgakov, addressed to the novel were: “So that they know, so that they know...”.

"The Master and Margarita" is a cult novel of the 21st century. A huge number of people read the pages of this book to their holes. With the same rapture, people watched the film adaptations of this work, including the television series by Vladimir Bortko, released in 2005.
However, it is believed that the novel “The Master and Margarita” mystically resists the transfer of its characters to the screens. They even say that this work is cursed. After all, for example, since the filming of the series, 18 actors who played various roles in this film adaptation have already died.

Let's remember how the filming of Bortko's acclaimed film took place, remember those who left, and also find out what happened to those who have safely lived to this day.

Vladimir Bortko received an offer to film “The Master and Margarita” back in 1987, just at the time when he had just finished work on another Bulgakov work, the film “ dog's heart" But then the director decided to refuse filming, ceding this right to his friend Elem Klimov, whose plans were a joint project with Italians and Americans, with Claudia Cardinale in the role of Margherita and paired with Fellini, who would have directed the “ancient” scenes. But this idea of ​​his was never realized.

13 years later, Bortko again took up the film adaptation of “The Master and Margarita” and even managed to approve cast: Galina Tyunina, Dmitry Pevtsov, Sergei Makovetsky and Viktor Sukhorukov. But his plans were again not destined to come true in 2000: Bulgakov’s heir, who owned the film adaptation rights, resold them to American producers. I had to cancel the series project and begin negotiations to buy out the rights to the novel, which lasted for several years.

Filming resumed when the state television channel Rossiya bought the rights. Vladimir Bortko was constantly plagued by problems with the actors and technical difficulties during the filming, even despite the fact that a priest was invited to consecrate the studio. But the film, whose budget was more than $5 million, was still shot in record time. short time. Bortko, according to him, set himself the task of conveying the content of Bulgakov’s cult novel as fully and adequately as possible.

It's hard to believe, but the brilliant cast of the series - Oleg Basilashvili, Alexander Abdulov, Valentin Gaft, Alexander Galibin, Sergei Bezrukov, Alexander Filippenko and others - is a backup option. As the production designer of the film, Vladimir Svetozarov, said, almost all the actors approved for the main roles abandoned filming at the last moment. Oleg Yankovsky was supposed to play Woland, and Alexander Kalyagin - Berlioz. The latter suddenly suffered two heart attacks in a row and said a firm no. Vladimir Mashkov auditioned for the role of the Master, but a sudden car accident forced him to refuse.

This is how Oleg Yankovsky, who was initially cast in the role of Woland, justified his refusal:

“I don’t know how to play Woland. What suit should he wear? Although his attire is described in detail in the book, this is literature. And when on screen: why is he like this and not different? And, oddly enough, this is a weak role. Everything happens not with Woland, but around him, and I don’t want to just widen my eyes to make it look convincing. A main reason: I believe that the devil, like the Lord God, cannot be played. Jesus Christ - maybe he was real person. And you can't touch this. Not to Bulgakov’s entire novel - to Woland.”

After Yankovsky’s refusal, Bortko turned his attention abroad in search of an actor for the role of Woland. Yes, negotiations were held with Western stars. Woland could have been played by Gary Oldman or Jean Reno. But it didn’t work out. And then Bortko turned to Basilashvili.

Bortko himself did not believe in mysticism, but after a while... he called the priest directly to the site. Father consecrated film crew along with the equipment. After that the process began. And a little later another one became known strange story: before the start of filming on the Patriarch's Ponds, an unknown passer-by approached Bortko and said: “You won’t succeed!” And he moved on.

The series was filmed all over the world. The model of ancient Jerusalem was filmed in Israel, and Bulgakov's Yershalaim was filmed in Bulgaria, at the Boyana film studio, where the luxurious scenery of the ancient city, built by the Americans for the film Spartacus, remained. Golgotha ​​was found in Sudak.

As for Moscow of the 30s, the Patriarch's Ponds were filmed at the Patriarch's, the Alexander Garden - in Alexandrovsky, but Moscow as a whole, according to Vladimir Bortko and cameraman Valery Mulgaut, has changed so much since the 30s that it was filmed in St. -Petersburg. There are practically no streets with houses from that time left in Moscow.

According to director Vladimir Bortko, there was still mysticism during filming. But mostly with a plus sign. On film set The weather was always the one that was necessary for filming at that moment. All the actors, no matter what they were sick with, recovered just before filming began. In this regard, the work went exactly according to schedule.

But Oleg Basilashvili lost his voice right on the set during Woland’s monologue. Suddenly the actor’s throat convulsed, he began to wheeze, and then was unable to speak at all. Doctors diagnosed a hemorrhage in the right vocal cord. For a long time, doctors poured medicine directly into his larynx and gave him injections.

In the novel, Margarita appears at Satan’s ball naked and wearing shoes “made of pale rose petals,” and director Bortko dressed and shod Anna Kovalchuk in a completely different way from Bulgakov.

Anna Kovalchuk had a hard time working on the image of Margarita. When she was dressed in a corset weighing 16 kg for the filming of the ball scene, the actress could only lie or stand in this medieval attire. The iron crown left wounds on the forehead, and the metal shoes chafed his feet.

The most terrible moment of filming, as Kovalchuk says, was her arrival at the Sabbath. The scene of the queen's arrival was filmed again in St. Petersburg, in the park of the Forestry Academy, and Margarita was supposed to splash down on the surface of the local pond. But the filming location was infested with rats, and a more determined understudy had to jump into the pond.

During filming, one curious incident happened to the actress: the actors rehearsed for a long time with the director in a room at the Ukraina Hotel, and when Kovalchuk went outside, because revealing outfit She was mistaken for a girl of easy virtue and taken to the police station. The actress had to prove who she was for a long time, but they didn’t believe her. Then I had to call my fellow actors for help.

Four people worked on the image of one of the most charismatic characters, Cat Behemoth. Most time it was Vano Miranyan, actor and president of the Disabled People's Fund vertically challenged. He starred in a cat suit with a head stuffed with various equipment that was responsible for the movements of the whiskers, ears, eyes and mouth. Actor Semyon Furman spoke for him. The cat in human form was played by actor Alexander Bashirov. And finally, in the role of just a cat there was just a cat from Yuri Kuklachev’s circus.

Alexander Adabashyan, who played the role of Berlioz, said that some actors jokingly used the curse hanging over the novel as a kind of mitigating factor: “I don’t drink at all, but here in the morning there’s a bottle of vodka in front of my bed. How can I stay here? or “I set the alarm for 7, but it rang at 10. What a damn thing!”

Although the actor himself suffered a heart attack after filming, he is still not inclined to somehow connect these events.

Actor Alexander Filippenko says that nothing particularly mystical happened to him. Except for the fact that he met Bortko at the Patriarch's. He approached him and said: “You don’t know me, but I know you. You’ve already played Koroviev (in Kara’s 1994 film “The Master and Margarita”), but don’t you want to play Azazello for me?”

Alexander Filippenko played both Koroviev and Azazello in the movies (pictured)

The most complex special effect of the series is the cat Behemoth. The Americans valued the work on the cat at $1.5 million. And the entire budget of the film was 5 million. Domestic computer scientists made not only Hippopotamus, but also many other special effects.

Anna Kovalchuk and Ksenia Nazarova, who played housekeeper Natasha, hovered under the ceiling of the Lenfilmov pavilion. Then, on a computer, all the suspension belts were removed from the bodies, the cables were erased, the girls’ bodies were made translucent, and footage of Moscow at night was inserted.

Flights of Margarita: the actress was suspended using a corset made using special technologies

Using the same graphics, Koroviev materialized out of thin air. Alexander Abdulov rode on a carousel-platform, which was then erased on the computer, and the actor seemed to fly into the frame out of nowhere.

IN final episode The Master and Margarita are carried away from the mortal world by the black horses of hell. All of them were played by the seven-year-old horse Khalif, reproduced on a computer.

The Master and Margarita die physically at the end of the television series in order to find peace in another world. But in reality, 18 actors who participated in the series in 2005 have passed away today. Usually, when a public person dies, they always look for a secret, but when there are many dead? IN last years Rumors about the curse of Bulgakov's novel are intensifying.

The first victim of the “curse” on October 2, 2005 was actor Alexander Chaban, who played the investigator who was searching for Woland. He disappeared shortly before the premiere. Found dead in his apartment. The circumstances of death are unknown. He was 47 years old. On September 28, 2006, actor Pavel Komarov, who played the thief on the pier, died. It was he who stole the clothes of the bathing poet Ivan Bezdomny. Komarov was the leading actor of the Tsaritsyn Youth Theater, founded music group"Risk group." On December 27, 2006, 67-year-old Stanislav Landgraf, who played the critic Latunsky, died.

The series became one of latest works For people's artist USSR Kirill Lavrov, who played Pontius Pilate (pictured). On April 27, 2007, he died of leukemia.

On April 27, 2007, Evgeniy Merkuryev (accountant) fell through the ice while fishing and died. In the series, the accountant and Pilate did not intersect. But Merkuryev and Lavrov left life on the same day.

Another famous actor, whose death is associated with Bulgakov’s curse, is Alexander Abdulov, who played Fagot (Koroviev) in the series, one of Woland’s demonic servants. On January 3, 2008, at the age of 54, the actor died of lung cancer.

On April 7, 2008, Andrei Tolubeev, who voiced Aloysius Mogarych, died. Like his senior comrade at the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Drama Theater Kirill Lavrov, Tolubeev was killed by oncology. Diagnosis: pancreatic cancer.

February 25, 2010 at strange circumstances Vladislav Galkin died in his apartment. In the series he played the poet Ivan Ponyrev. At the time of his death he was only 38 years old.

2 years after Galkin, Ilya Oleinikov passed away. The actor who played the financial director of Variety, Rimsky, died due to lung cancer. He was only 65.

The following year, Valery Zolotukhin died from an inoperable brain tumor. He played Nikanor Bosogo in the television series.

In recent years, some other actors from the series “The Master and Margarita”, who were not as famous as the above, have also died. These are Yuri Oskin (doorman), Galina Barkova (saleswoman), Valentina Egorenkova (nurse in a mental hospital), Stanislav Sokolov (Pilate's secretary), Dmitry Poddubny (NKVD spy) and others. Although the number of deaths is indeed large, it is worth considering that most of the other performers of the roles in this and previous film adaptations are still alive and well.

Anna Kovalchuk and Alexander Galibin remained alive and well. But after filming, he got into an accident, and she got divorced, writes Bigpicture.ru.

As for the survivors, they do not believe in mysticism, although they admit that something strange happened to them. For example, Anna Kovalchuk, who played Margarita, says that the novel for a long time didn't want to let her go. In addition to her role in the series, she also starred in the 3D musical “The Master and Margarita.” In general, the actress notes that she loves the number 13 and black cats.

People have different attitudes towards curses associated with the novel “The Master and Margarita”. Thus, the number of deceased actors who participated in the filming of the series “Streets of Broken Lanterns” is much larger, but no one talks about the curse. In general, everyone has the right to decide for themselves whether to believe in the curse of the novel “The Master and Margarita.”