The Last Axel | Team USA

The Last Axel Jun 11, 2021 5:27:43 GMT

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Post by Admin on Jun 11, 2021 5:27:43 GMT

The shooting of the eight-part film "The Last Axel" ended in St. Petersburg on the ice arena of the largest sports complex. It took the young actors many days of training to be able to skate with confidence. This film tells about what tests need to be passed in order to be on the podium, where, it seems, only Alexei Yagudin does not go on the ice, which he is very happy about.

The shooting was difficult, took place at night, and ended at six or seven o'clock in the morning. They could not give the filmmakers any other time - life is in full swing at the sports complex all day, and even trainings do not stop late in the evening. Children, teenagers and their parents are hurricane past us. Giants pass majestically on skates and with clubs in their hands. They say they are members of the security forces. They look at the artists with interest, they cannot understand what is actually happening. And we are interested - we have not seen such heroes. Even talking to the participants in the filming process is problematic - there is noise and din everywhere.

It is not easy to spend half an hour in the stands of the ice arena. It was outside all day long unprecedented heat for St. Petersburg, and here - a real ice age. We sit in jackets, periodically running out into the hall to warm up. Actors don't have that luxury.

The heroine of the film, the figure skater Katya, has a lot to go through. Her father, played by Mikhail Trukhin, suddenly dies. He was an oppressive person, which tempered his daughter, formed a strong character. Katya comes to Moscow to join the team of an equally tough coach, to compete at the World Figure Skating Championships. She needs victory not for the sake of fame, but to gain independence for herself and her younger sister. The role of Artakova's coach was played by Elena Podkaminskaya.

They were looking for an actress for the role of Katya for almost a year. What was needed was not just a talented dramatic actress, but an athletic, hardy, able to skate. It is clear that each of the actors had an understudy - a professional athlete, but you still need to go to the ice yourself. By the way, not everyone is good at it. In general, after a long search, we settled on a young actress Angelina Zagrebina, a graduate of the Theater Institute named after I. Schepkin in 2021. She already had experience in cinema, although she is 21 years old. As a student, she starred in the series "Flight" by Pyotr Todorovsky Jr., in the film "I am free" by Ilya Severov, and not only. Angelina had to train seriously under the guidance of the school coaches Alexei Mishin. The creators of the series were advised by Olympic champions Evgeny Medvedev and Alexei Yagudin, who, however, refuses the status of an official consultant, but is satisfied with the proposed role of a choreographer. Evgenia Medvedeva also starred in the role of herself and helped the authors figure out the nuances not only in the arena, but also outside it - how the relationship of girls-athletes in the locker room develops, what rituals exist before going on the ice.

The Last Axel Jun 11, 2021 21:26:02 GMT

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Post by Admin on Jun 11, 2021 21:26:02 GMT

The film's director Anario Mamedov spoke about the advantages of working in St. Petersburg:

- We invite good actors for episodes and supporting roles, and many of them were a godsend. We filmed Moscow in St. Petersburg, worked in locations where no one had filmed before. Moskovsky Prospect of St. Petersburg resembles our capital, there is a lot of Stalinist architecture. And if you drive away from the center, you can find Ulyanovsk, a panel building.

- You rented Moscow in St. Petersburg for the sake of economy?

- No, we just liked it better here. In St. Petersburg, the choice is much richer, many objects are not hackneyed in the series. In Moscow, most of them have already been filmed, since there is a common base from which everything comes. And in St. Petersburg, the opportunity opened up to surprise the viewer. We entered some objects first. Nobody has ever seen them on the screen. In this regard, it will be cool.

- Is it worth filming about sports now? Everyone is so hooked on the sports theme, churning out films one after another.

- It's interesting and cool to shoot about everything, but we have a story not only about sports. She is multi-genre. It is a mix of genres - classic sports drama and captivating detective story. And the conflict between fathers and children brings a dramatic component. We will have eight episodes, which means that we will be able to tell the story in detail with all the parallel lines. The writers did not work head-on, did not use a specific biography as a basis, although they plunged into the realities of sports life. We learned many interesting things from the skaters. Similar stories happened in reality.

- Who advised you?

- Someone was listed as a consultant, and his name can be called, and someone consulted unofficially. Mostly - Alexey Yagudin. We worked together with him 12 years ago on the Hot Ice project. During this time, he has grown a lot as an artist, and we have conceived a new comedy project with him, not just about ice, but about a person.

In The Last Axel, Alexei Yagudin stars as choreographer Shigapov, and part of the filming with his participation took place at the Boris Eifman Ballet School. We met late in the evening at the sports complex.

Alexei Yagudin does not consider himself a consultant, he has completely different tasks on the project.

- I read the script, but in the course of work I have to edit something. I am not a consultant for the film, I just answer questions that arise in the course of work, even if I am not on the set. I was asked about what can be considered a complete fall, whether the skater's knees should touch the ice. I am asked about what emotions an athlete experiences when performing. Everything is individual here. Sometimes everything goes automatically, because everything is worked out. I like to clean up so that everything is perfect, but the average viewer will not catch any inaccuracies, only a professional will notice them. Moreover, our film is not about sports, although it is an important component of it. Whatever you do, the main thing is personality. It is life's ups and downs that often affect athletic performance. Our film is about a person, not about sports, but such stories always win. I think, that we should do well. Here I am more responsible for humor, which I value very much in my life. We have a head coach who is very demanding, as it should be. And my character is trying to smooth out some corners. In this series, I am an artistic person, choreographer and part-time physical training coach. I have never been a choreographer, but sometimes I was creative with my numbers. Six months before the Olympics, I began to work on physical training on my own, so I have experience in this profession. but sometimes he was creative. Six months before the Olympics, I began to work on physical training on my own, so I have experience in this profession. but sometimes he was creative. Six months before the Olympics, I began to work on physical training on my own, so I have experience in this profession.

- The film touches upon the theme of overprotection and cruelty towards young athletes. What do you think about this?

- Recently I was already asked about the abuse in figure skating. I felt so uncomfortable. I have never come across this, only saw on YouTube how the coach throws a little girl somewhere, hurting her. This is rare in figure skating. You see figure skaters going out on the ice at the European and World Championships. In fact, this is the end of the story, and its beginning is a life filled with everyday things. A real coach performs not only coaching functions, but also parental ones. Sometimes conflicts lead to the fact that the athlete passes from one coach to another. Among them there are more demanding and less demanding ones. It cannot be said that Tatyana Anatolyevna Tarasova is a soft coach. She is a demanding and well-versed person. It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of "rigidity" and "cruelty". Tatyana Anatolyevna was a tough coach in her requirements, setting certain tasks. We, Russians, are romantics and this is what distinguishes us from athletes from other countries, who have everything checked out in seconds. We are different, creative. But, unfortunately, creativity does not help in sports, so we need a tough approach in order to have discipline and dedication.

- Would it be interesting for you to participate in a film project where there is no sport?

- Yes! In the series Hot Ice, I played a figure skater. Almost 15 years have passed, and I moved forward. In "The Last Axel" I am not on the ice. Already a victory. My agent tells me that when a proposal comes up and my name is called, they often hear the answer: "He's an athlete." Despite the fact that I work as an actor, everyone is still conscious that I am an athlete. I have been playing in the theater for more than ten years, working with great actors. From the latter - the play "Bitter!" based on the works of Chekhov and Zoshchenko at the Nadezhda Babkina Theater, where I have wonderful partner-teachers - Alexey Maklakov, Sergey Nikonenko, Olesya Zheleznyak. I have been in this industry for a long time, but I still associate with the triple sheepskin coat. Therefore, I am glad that I have made a step forward, and no longer on the ice, although I am surrounded by skaters. Hope to get out of the sport. In the fall, we shot the feature film "Sin" based on a true story that happened thirty years ago with a girl with cerebral palsy. It was once told to the director Vladimir Fatyanov, with whom I had the honor of filming. So we are slowly moving forward.