Sons of Bitches

Sons of Bitches is a 1990 Soviet comedy-drama film directed by Leonid Filatov. It was entered into the 17th Moscow International Film Festival.

Plot

The plot of the film is based on real historical events in the Taganka Theater, when its leader Yuri Lyubimov left the USSR, and made a number of anti-Party statements, after which he was removed from the management of the theater and deprived of citizenship. Sons of bitches tells how the troupe has apprehended these events and the pressure the state put on them, and also shows events that have not happened – the actors' strike, the hunger strike, the threat of self-immolation. A functionary is sent to the theater from the Ministry – Yuri Mikhailovich, who is to restore order in the rebellious cultural institution. The story ends in tragedy – with the death of one of the protesters.

Cast

Vladimir Ilyin as Leva Busygin
Larisa Udovichenko as Tatyana, Busygin's wife
Aleksandr Abdulov as Igor Gordynsky
Yevgeny Yevstigneyev as Andrey Ivanovich Nanaytsev
Liya Akhedzhakova as Ella Ernestovna, Nanaytsev's wife
Vladimir Samoilov as Pyotr Yegorovich, Theater's Director
Yelena Tsyplakova as Lidiya Nikolaevna Fedyaeva
Tatyana Kravchenko as Serafima Mikhailovna Korzukhina
Nina [Shatskaya (actress)|Nina Shatskaya] as Elena Konstantinovna Gvozdilova
Sergey Makovetskiy as Borya Sinyukhaev
Mariya Zubareva as Ninochka
Galina Petrova as Tyunina
Stanislav Govorukhin as Sergey Sergeevich Popov, writer
Lyudmila Zaytseva as Anna Kuzminichna
Leonid Filatov as Yuri Mikhailovich

Production

At first, Larisa Udovichenko refused to play the scene where she undresses totally nude in front of the official, played by director Leonid Filatov himself, and in the episode of seduction she starred partially dressed. But then, as Larisa Udovichenko recalled, "Leonid came to me with his wife Nina Shatskaya and on his knees begged me to be naked. Otherwise, the shock that his hero should experience does not work". Filatov promised that everything will be filmed delicately. "Leonid did not deceive me: there was no vulgarity. But all the same, I felt bad after that, I was ashamed in front of my parents, daughter, close friends", Udovichenko said.