"About Little Red Riding Hood" is a two-part musical tale by Leonid Nechaev, released in 1977, a continuation of the classic European fairy tale about Little Red Riding Hood, written by Inna Vetkina. The film became a cult in its time thanks largely to the work of a great cast.
Features of the film
"About Little Red Riding Hood" is a Soviet two-part film that today evokes nostalgic feelings among viewers living in that era. Favorite actors, interesting plot, wonderful songs of that era, childhood memories. By the way, all the songs to the musical fairy tale were written by the famous Soviet bard and dissident Julius Kim, performing under the pseudonym “Yu. Mikhailov ".
Wikipedia reports few facts about the cinema itself, but on the other hand, Wikiquote has a large list of phrases from there that "went to the people", there are many photos and videos dedicated to this fairy tale on the Internet, and on "Kinopoisk" the film "About the Little Red Riding Hood" confidently holds a rating above seven …
The creator of the film, Belarusian and Russian director Leonid Nechaev, shot only fairy tales all his life. Peter Pen, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Don't Leave, Sold Laughter - these and other wonderful films have become the magnificent legacy of one of the most prominent figures in Soviet cinema. His last work was Thumbelina, a 2007 fairy tale. And in 2010, Leonid Alekseevich, unfortunately, died.
Plot
The script for the fairy tale was written by Inna Vetkina, who more than once took part in the creation of Nechaev's fairy tales. The story begins with the fact that the grandmother of Little Red Riding Hood gets sick again, and the girl is going to visit the old woman again. And then a real confusing thriller begins, with a bandit clan, an outsider rescuing a girl, villains and heroes, random companions and exciting adventures.
Wanting to avenge the death of the Gray Wolf, his mother persuades an old friend of the Thin wolf family to eat the girl responsible for the death of her son. With him, this old forest robber takes the brother of the deceased, the second son of the Wolf-Mother named Tolsty. It was they who spread rumors about the illness of the grandmother, with whom everything is in order, but only there it is possible to lure the girl out of the human settlement into the forest.
Meanwhile, the son of the Gray Wolf chooses a different path for himself. He does not obey his grandmother, believes that it is not worthwhile to quarrel with people and even less eat them, and then runs away from home to interfere with the villainous plans of Tolstoy and Thin. And Little Red Riding Hood collects the pies baked by a caring mother in a basket and sets off along the familiar path into the forest, unaware of a large-scale wolf conspiracy. However, the girl herself is not as simple and naive as the wolves think, and is quite capable of standing up for herself, besides, the kind Wolf Cub helps her.
Main cast
Little Red Riding Hood - Yana Poplavskaya
The role of the main character, Little Red Riding Hood, was written for the girl who played Malvina in Nechaev's previous film, Tatyana Protsenko. But she got sick and could not act. The film crew hardly found a suitable actress, ten-year-old Yana, who later received the USSR State Prize for her role.
Yana was born into a creative family of a journalist and theater actress in 1967. From early childhood she was engaged in rhythmic gymnastics and took part in the performances of her mother's theater. Already at the age of 4 she starred in films. Her work was cut out during the final cut, but the girl with a bright appearance was included in the lists of child actors and began to be invited to the cinema.
To date, Poplavskaya has about 30 works in cinema. In addition to filming, she is engaged in active social activities, is a television and radio host, in 2017 she received a medal from the Ministry of Defense for her participation in the Syrian military operation, and in 2018 she became a confidant of Sergei Sobyanin.
Grandmother - Rina Zelena
The role of Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother was played by the legendary Soviet actress Yekaterina Zelenaya. Rina is the artist's creative pseudonym. She was born in Tashkent back in 1901. Soon her father was transferred to serve in Moscow, where the whole family moved. She graduated from the Moscow Theater School in 1919, began her career as a pop artist, but then focused on theatrical work.
A brilliant dancer, parodist, comedian, mimist, singer, talentedly imitating children's speech - Rina Zelena's performances were sold out. During the Great Patriotic War, she was a member of the front-line artistic brigade, was awarded the Order of the Red Star. In 1981, Zelena's book Scattered Pages was published - a magnificent exploration of the creative environment in which the actress spent her entire life.
Rina Zelenaya made her screen debut in 1931 and since then has not parted with cinema, starring in 54 films, several newsreels, writing several scripts and voicing many cartoons. She was called the "Queen of Laughter". The actress died in 1991 in Moscow.
Thin - Vladimir Basov
The seemingly thin wolf is a hardened bandit. But in the end he becomes attached to Little Red Riding Hood and no longer wants to do anything bad to her. Vladimir Pavlovich Basov, who played this role, is one of the most recognizable faces of Soviet cinema. He was born in 1923, tried to enter VGIK in 1041, but his plans were broken by the war. Basov passed it in the rank of lieutenant, accomplished a real feat, securing the capture of an important German defense point, organized an amateur ensemble, which gave more than 150 concerts for soldiers.
In 1947 he entered the VGIK at the faculty of directing, graduated in 1952, worked at the Mosfilm film studio as an assistant director, and then began acting in films. Vladimir Basov turned out to be a gifted and versatile actor, brilliantly playing both comic and tragic characters. And his distinctive appearance was immediately remembered by movie lovers. He has more than eighty roles in the most famous Soviet films, 19 films, where Basov acted as a director, including the leader of the Soviet box office, the heroic drama School of Courage, 11 scenarios, including Vladimir Pavlovich co-authored the plot of the famous film Shield and the Sword. This amazing and versatile person died in 1987 without seeing the death of the USSR.
Tolstoy: Nikolay Trofimov
The good-natured, plump Fat Wolf of short stature is not at all a villain by nature. He is just an obedient and timid son of an overbearing mother, struggling to become a real predator. But with Little Red Riding Hood, he will definitely not achieve this, delighted with the girl's cheerful carelessness and resourcefulness. Tolstoy was played by the famous actor of the Leningrad Comedy Theater, and then one of the leading artists of the Bolshoi Drama Theater Nikolai Trofimov.
He was born in 1920 in a family of ordinary workers, but from childhood he was drawn to art and at the age of 14 he made his debut on the stage of the Youth Theater in the play "Uncle Tom's Cabin". He has more than 70 film roles, a huge number of theater performances, and dubbing cartoons. Trofimov is the owner of an incredible number of awards, titles and awards, both theatrical and "cinematic" and military. He passed away in 2005, becoming a real legend in theatrical art and in Soviet cinema.
Little Wolf - Dima Iosifov
Little wild friend of Little Red Riding Hood was played by Iosifov Dmitry, a Soviet and then Belarusian and Russian actor. He was born in 1965 into a family of scientific intelligentsia and at the age of ten he became famous throughout the Soviet Union, having excellently played the role of the main character in the film of the same Nechaev "The Adventures of Buratino". The role of the Little Wolf in the film "About Little Red Riding Hood" was his second work.
After graduating from school, he entered VGIK, and then began an acting career, acting mainly in films of the Lenfilm studio. In the late nineties he moved to Moscow and began his career as a director and cameraman. It is he who is one of the directors of the historical series "Ekaterina", which has been released since 2016.
Minor roles
Evgeny Evstigneev, another legend of Soviet cinema, theater and film actor, experienced teacher, laureate of the State Prize, played the Astrologer. Eugene was born in 1926 in a family of a metallurgist, and passed away in 1992. From childhood he was very gifted, played all musical instruments that came across his eyes, and performed talentedly both jazz and folk songs. Graduated from the Gorky Theater School. He combined his work in the theater with filming, appearing in almost all famous Soviet films and performing more than 110 roles during his career.
The role of the Hunter was played by Rolan Bykov, a Soviet and Russian actor, screenwriter, director and teacher. Born in Kiev in 1929, graduated from Shchukinskoye, worked in theater and cinema, and in the 60s decided to devote himself entirely to cinema. In the nineties he was actively involved in the political life of Russia, he died in 1998.
Mother Wolf was played by Galina Volchek, born in 1933. To date, the actress is still alive, she is in charge of the Sovremennik Theater and has many presidential awards. She performed mainly on the theatrical stage, acted a little in films, became the director of a dozen films and took part in documentaries.
