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The Eldest Son (1976)
Having just counted up the number of 'pending' Russian videos that I had acquired, I ended up jumping straight into a forty-third when YouTube suddenly presented me with "Старший Сын", the film that gets cited in the documentaries as Boyarsky's 'breakout' picture. It was only an hour long (it turns out that this was in fact an opening episode!), and I thought I'd take a look at the start at least without bothering with subtitles or anything, as I was no more than mildly curious about it. The start (a) has nice music and (b) is practically wordless and was thus undemanding to follow, so I was ten minutes in or so before things started getting complicated, and by that time it had grabbed me emotionally...
It was the rejection scene between the seventeen-year-old and the older woman with whom he is hopelessly in love that hit hard first; it's really beautifully acted by the young performer, and I could feel all his eagerness and utter humiliation and blank shock in the face of the totally unforeseen blow, not by what he says (very little), but in every movement of his body, and could very, *very* vividly identify with it. And then, having been not just rejected but told that she is tired of seeing him around -- that she never wants him anywhere near her again -- all he wants to do is to run away on the spot, only to be caught in the act by his (?older) sister and humiliated in front of their father, who goes out to try to smooth things down.
Meanwhile we have Boyarsky's character Silva and his friend wandering the streets after missing the last train home to the big city, and trying and failing to find someone who will give them shelter overnight -- this is where the scene from all the documentaries comes into it, with Boyarsky playing his guitar and singing as the two ne'er-do-well youths swing round on a children's roundabout in the cold and dark. (Presumably why he was cast for the part? It's a very minor role, as it turns out; it is his friend who is the main character, and although I only started watching the film because Boyarsky was supposed to be in it, by the end I really wasn't interested in his character at all, but was far more caught up in the others ;-)
At any rate the two of them spot the father heading off down the street after what was clearly a confrontation of some sort with his teenage son, and overhear him knocking at the woman's door and being greeted by name (although they unsurprisingly jump to the conclusion that this is a love-tryst of some kind!) And since they are tired, hungry and freezing cold, they decide to take advantage of the situation and con their way into the flat where the son is still awake to let them in, and is young enough to be browbeaten and confused into believing them when they say they have business with his father Sarafanov and need to wait until the old man comes back. They get vodka and food (which they tuck into ravenously) as well as some blessed relief from the chilly streets... and the friend, Volodya, comes up, when pushed, with a spur-of-the-moment excuse as to what their very important 'business' with the father of the boy Vassily is. The old man is his, Volodya's father too. At which point I literally choked with laughter and disbelief at the audacity of it, as did Silva on-screen, although he very hastily hides it and concurs in Volodya's assurances. And it tells us something about the family that Vassily is apparently not actually all that surprised to be told that he has an illegitimate elder half-brother...
But in the middle of all this the father comes back, and we assume the two young imposters are about to be thrown out on the street... except that Sarafanov, when confronted by his teenage son over the existence of this supposed brother, clearly thinks that it is entirely possible that the story might be true, and lets fall sufficient detail in the course of that conversation as to the names and dates involved that the eavesdroppers are able to play along. And thus short, thickset Volodya -- who does indeed, as Silva is quick to point out, bear a certain physical resemblance to the rotund Sarafanov -- finds himself welcomed to the bosom of the family, with a new-found father, brother and initially very sceptical sister. Although Silva, who is not handicapped by any supposed relationship, clearly has an eye to the sister himself ;-)
Sarafanov brings out photo albums and reminisces about the past; Volodya is inspired to embroider on his story, and when the old man breaks down in tears he is clearly moved. They sit up together all night, with Volodya being enlisted to help with his "little brother's" romantic problems ("he'll listen to you"). When Sarafanov finally goes to bed -- kissing his son fondly -- a stricken Volodya rouses his friend, who is rolled comfortably in a blanket and fast asleep on the sofa, and tells him they've got to get out of here.
But just as the two young men are making their hasty getaway, Sarafanov comes back to bring his son a pillow, and is hurt and confused as to the fact that Volodya, having gone to such lengths to find him, is now apparently leaving without saying goodbye. And Volodya, trying to allay suspicion, ends up promising that they will come back as soon as term is over -- of course they will come back -- both of them will come -- but as they are disappearing out of the door the old man suddenly calls desperately for Volodya to come back for a moment, and he returns (clearly to Silva's discomfort, who, having been reluctantly woken up, now can't wait to clear out before the whole thing goes horribly wrong).
Sarafanov leaves the room and comes back with a box, which he presses into Volodya's hands as the rightful family heirloom of "the eldest son" (I don't think we ever see what's in it; the contents may have been mentioned in the dialogue and escaped me). The scenario has long since ceased to be a light-hearted student prank but become very painfully real, with Volodya becoming emotionally involved -- and it's one of those situations, like "Scarlet Street", where you desperately *want* the con to succeed, because for the truth to be revealed at this point is going to utterly destroy the victim and his unexpected happiness.
In this case, the con is maintained... so far. (The tension was increased by the fact that I really wasn't sure whether whether this was going to be the end of the film, or just of the first episode of a multi-part serial, so a shattering revelation as the climax of the story was entirely possible!) Volodya declares that he doesn't have to go straight away this minute after all -- he will delay another day and take the aeroplane instead of the train he needed to catch -- and the episode closes with the old man beaming and introducing his new 'son' from the window to his neighbours, and everyone happy. But of course this can only be a very fragile happiness, with the whole thing liable to get blown out of the water at any moment. (Vassily's sister is already all in favour of her father's remarrying -- presumably to Volodya's mother, his "long-lost love", which can only lead to further problems!)
And I'm left wondering... is this an "Ivy Tree" situation? Is there a chance that Volodya really *is* the result of an affair between Sarafanov, the touring musician, and his mother (with the fact that he doesn't know who his own father is giving him the idea for the con in the first place)? Because after all we the audience don't actually know anything about his antecedents, save that far from being inseparable friends with Silva as he claims for Sarafanov's benefit, the two young men have only just met that day...
And how on earth is this all going to turn out in the long run? At this point I'm caring very much about the characters -- and all this with zero subtitles at all, which is as much a tribute to the acting as to the relative accessibility of the dialogue ;-)
Of course, as it happens, this sort of thing -- a conflict of loyalties, assumed identity, and emotional betrayal -- is very much more up my street than the standard romantic drama of will-they-won't-they with lashings of sexual action... But it's *not* Boyarsky, because he's really barely in it -- frankly, I'm not sure how this was a break-out role of any sort -- it's simply the film itself. Though I do remember thinking near the beginning that it was a breath of fresh air to see what are basically 'character' actors in major roles: none of them, with the exception of the daughter and possibly scrawny young Vassily, are even conventionally attractive, let alone having the current Hollywood clone-look. (Probably why I was thinking of Edward G. Robinson: Evgeny Leonov has a short, round stature, expressive eyes, broad and open face, slow movements, and slightly slurred speech, very far from being leading-man material, and yet in the part of the would-be father he is compelling; his role ends up being the heart of the whole film.)
It was the rejection scene between the seventeen-year-old and the older woman with whom he is hopelessly in love that hit hard first; it's really beautifully acted by the young performer, and I could feel all his eagerness and utter humiliation and blank shock in the face of the totally unforeseen blow, not by what he says (very little), but in every movement of his body, and could very, *very* vividly identify with it. And then, having been not just rejected but told that she is tired of seeing him around -- that she never wants him anywhere near her again -- all he wants to do is to run away on the spot, only to be caught in the act by his (?older) sister and humiliated in front of their father, who goes out to try to smooth things down.
Meanwhile we have Boyarsky's character Silva and his friend wandering the streets after missing the last train home to the big city, and trying and failing to find someone who will give them shelter overnight -- this is where the scene from all the documentaries comes into it, with Boyarsky playing his guitar and singing as the two ne'er-do-well youths swing round on a children's roundabout in the cold and dark. (Presumably why he was cast for the part? It's a very minor role, as it turns out; it is his friend who is the main character, and although I only started watching the film because Boyarsky was supposed to be in it, by the end I really wasn't interested in his character at all, but was far more caught up in the others ;-)
At any rate the two of them spot the father heading off down the street after what was clearly a confrontation of some sort with his teenage son, and overhear him knocking at the woman's door and being greeted by name (although they unsurprisingly jump to the conclusion that this is a love-tryst of some kind!) And since they are tired, hungry and freezing cold, they decide to take advantage of the situation and con their way into the flat where the son is still awake to let them in, and is young enough to be browbeaten and confused into believing them when they say they have business with his father Sarafanov and need to wait until the old man comes back. They get vodka and food (which they tuck into ravenously) as well as some blessed relief from the chilly streets... and the friend, Volodya, comes up, when pushed, with a spur-of-the-moment excuse as to what their very important 'business' with the father of the boy Vassily is. The old man is his, Volodya's father too. At which point I literally choked with laughter and disbelief at the audacity of it, as did Silva on-screen, although he very hastily hides it and concurs in Volodya's assurances. And it tells us something about the family that Vassily is apparently not actually all that surprised to be told that he has an illegitimate elder half-brother...
But in the middle of all this the father comes back, and we assume the two young imposters are about to be thrown out on the street... except that Sarafanov, when confronted by his teenage son over the existence of this supposed brother, clearly thinks that it is entirely possible that the story might be true, and lets fall sufficient detail in the course of that conversation as to the names and dates involved that the eavesdroppers are able to play along. And thus short, thickset Volodya -- who does indeed, as Silva is quick to point out, bear a certain physical resemblance to the rotund Sarafanov -- finds himself welcomed to the bosom of the family, with a new-found father, brother and initially very sceptical sister. Although Silva, who is not handicapped by any supposed relationship, clearly has an eye to the sister himself ;-)
Sarafanov brings out photo albums and reminisces about the past; Volodya is inspired to embroider on his story, and when the old man breaks down in tears he is clearly moved. They sit up together all night, with Volodya being enlisted to help with his "little brother's" romantic problems ("he'll listen to you"). When Sarafanov finally goes to bed -- kissing his son fondly -- a stricken Volodya rouses his friend, who is rolled comfortably in a blanket and fast asleep on the sofa, and tells him they've got to get out of here.
But just as the two young men are making their hasty getaway, Sarafanov comes back to bring his son a pillow, and is hurt and confused as to the fact that Volodya, having gone to such lengths to find him, is now apparently leaving without saying goodbye. And Volodya, trying to allay suspicion, ends up promising that they will come back as soon as term is over -- of course they will come back -- both of them will come -- but as they are disappearing out of the door the old man suddenly calls desperately for Volodya to come back for a moment, and he returns (clearly to Silva's discomfort, who, having been reluctantly woken up, now can't wait to clear out before the whole thing goes horribly wrong).
Sarafanov leaves the room and comes back with a box, which he presses into Volodya's hands as the rightful family heirloom of "the eldest son" (I don't think we ever see what's in it; the contents may have been mentioned in the dialogue and escaped me). The scenario has long since ceased to be a light-hearted student prank but become very painfully real, with Volodya becoming emotionally involved -- and it's one of those situations, like "Scarlet Street", where you desperately *want* the con to succeed, because for the truth to be revealed at this point is going to utterly destroy the victim and his unexpected happiness.
In this case, the con is maintained... so far. (The tension was increased by the fact that I really wasn't sure whether whether this was going to be the end of the film, or just of the first episode of a multi-part serial, so a shattering revelation as the climax of the story was entirely possible!) Volodya declares that he doesn't have to go straight away this minute after all -- he will delay another day and take the aeroplane instead of the train he needed to catch -- and the episode closes with the old man beaming and introducing his new 'son' from the window to his neighbours, and everyone happy. But of course this can only be a very fragile happiness, with the whole thing liable to get blown out of the water at any moment. (Vassily's sister is already all in favour of her father's remarrying -- presumably to Volodya's mother, his "long-lost love", which can only lead to further problems!)
And I'm left wondering... is this an "Ivy Tree" situation? Is there a chance that Volodya really *is* the result of an affair between Sarafanov, the touring musician, and his mother (with the fact that he doesn't know who his own father is giving him the idea for the con in the first place)? Because after all we the audience don't actually know anything about his antecedents, save that far from being inseparable friends with Silva as he claims for Sarafanov's benefit, the two young men have only just met that day...
And how on earth is this all going to turn out in the long run? At this point I'm caring very much about the characters -- and all this with zero subtitles at all, which is as much a tribute to the acting as to the relative accessibility of the dialogue ;-)
Of course, as it happens, this sort of thing -- a conflict of loyalties, assumed identity, and emotional betrayal -- is very much more up my street than the standard romantic drama of will-they-won't-they with lashings of sexual action... But it's *not* Boyarsky, because he's really barely in it -- frankly, I'm not sure how this was a break-out role of any sort -- it's simply the film itself. Though I do remember thinking near the beginning that it was a breath of fresh air to see what are basically 'character' actors in major roles: none of them, with the exception of the daughter and possibly scrawny young Vassily, are even conventionally attractive, let alone having the current Hollywood clone-look. (Probably why I was thinking of Edward G. Robinson: Evgeny Leonov has a short, round stature, expressive eyes, broad and open face, slow movements, and slightly slurred speech, very far from being leading-man material, and yet in the part of the would-be father he is compelling; his role ends up being the heart of the whole film.)