Historically compelling scenery for the TV series "Poor Nastya", conveying the spirit of the 30s-40s of the XIX century

Passing the gallery

A photo: Evgeny Luchin

Materials prepared: Pavel Portnov

Text: Julia Sakharova

Reporting: Anton Merkulov

Magazine: N5 (83) 2004

The series "Poor Nastya", a joint project of the production company "Amedia" and the film company Columbia Pictures, owes its success to the audience including the famously twisted love-adventurous plot and convincing from the historical point of view scenery that subtly convey the spirit of the era The action of this 120-episode film takes place in Russia in the 30s-40s of the 19th century; and in each series, production artists create a surprisingly organic environment: firstly, historically accurate, secondly, inspired and poetic. What, it should be noted, in the conditions of rapid shooting of "sets", as in the American manner, the scenery created for this or that scene is called here, is really amazing. But still. Furniture - antique, in the Empire style, or its modern remakes; beautiful curtains of silk, velvet and brocade; picturesque canvases are on the walls ... Eighty percent of the interiors of "Poor Nastya" are decorations built in the pavilions of Mosfilm. Live recordings took place in the palaces of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Along with fictional characters, real historical figures appear in the film: Tsar Nicholas I, Tsarevich Alexander, poet Vasily Zhukovsky, Count Benkendorf. Therefore, the idea arose for a more accurate re-creation of interiors to use the old watercolors of Edward Gow, who described in detail the decor of the royal chambers. “And some of the interiors, on the contrary, were perfect improvisation,” says production designer Alexander Burkov. “For example, the stable of Baron Korf. It was assumed to remove the stable in kind. But, unfortunately, nothing was found in the near Moscow region. As a result the scenery had to be built not in the Mosfilm pavilion, but ... in one of the workshops of the ball-bearing factory, where, among other inconveniences, there was no floor. While the team of decorators planted it, we drew a plan and made sketches of a stable. By morning the next day sets were ready, and the shooting took place in time. " All in all, the Mosfilm Pavilions have already captured more than seventy interior decorations: the royal chambers and the rooms of maids of honor and courtiers, noblemen’s mansions and peasant huts, gypsy tents and inns. And about a hundred more series of eternal passions will rage on the artistically and historically verified space.