''Dusha'' (, English translation: ''Soul'') is a 1981

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written by Alexander Borodyansky and directed by Alexander Stefanovich, starring

Sofia Rotaru Sofiia Mykhailivna Yevdokymenko-Rotaru ( ; ; ; born 7 August 1947), known simply as Sofia Rotaru, is a Ukrainian pop singer of Romanian origin. Rotaru, nicknamed "Bukovinsky Solovey" ("the Nightingale from Bukovina"), emerged in 1966 as a po ...

and

Mikhail Boyarsky Mikhail Sergeyevich Boyarsky (; born 26 December 1949) is a Russian actor and singer. He is best known for playing swashbucklers in historical adventure films; the role of d'Artagnan in the 1978 Soviet adaptation of Alexander Dumas' ''Thre ...

. The movie features songs performed by Sofia Rotaru, Mikhail Boyarsky and the

Russian rock Russian rock music originated in the Soviet Union in the 1960s based on the influence of Western rock music and bard songs, and was developed by both amateur bands and official VIA. The "golden age" of Russian rock was during the 1980s (es ...

band

Mashina Vremeni Mashina Vremeni () is a Russian rock band founded in 1969. Mashina Vremeni was a pioneer of Soviet rock music and remains one of the oldest still-active rock bands in Russia. The band's music incorporates elements of classic rock, blues, and b ...

(Time Machine). The movie has substantial

philosophical Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...

about the

self-criticism Self-criticism involves how an individual evaluates oneself. Self-criticism in psychology is typically studied and discussed as a negative personality trait in which a person has a disrupted self-identity. The opposite of self-criticism would be ...

of an artist and the

existential Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and value ...

approach to the golden mean between artistic creation and respect for human dignity. The movie featured a musical video, with Rotaru and Boyarsky jumping on a trampoline in gold

stretch fabric Stretch fabric is a synthetic fabric that stretches. Stretch fabrics are either 2-way stretch or 4-way stretch. 2-way stretch fabrics stretch in one direction, usually from selvedge to selvedge (but can be in other directions depending on the k ...

. Stefanovich claimed it was watched by more than 57 million cinema-goers in the Soviet Union, while the KinoExpert.ru site lists 33.3 million. During production of the film, Rotaru's son was threatened to be taken hostage and was hidden in a villa in the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. The scenario and the role of Viktoria Slobodina were specially written for Rotaru. The main plot in the movie deals with the singer's health problems (inflammation of the vocal cords), and Rotaru had similar health issues. The story is set by the sea at Rotaru's house in

Yalta Yalta (: ) is a resort town, resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crime ...

and in Germany (where Rotaru at that time recorded many of her albums), as well as at international song festivals, where Rotaru participated as well. Initially, producer and director Stefanovich cast his wife

Alla Pugacheva Alla Borisovna Pugacheva (, ; born 15 April 1949) is a Russian singer and songwriter. Her career began in 1965 and continues to this day, although she retired from performing in 2010 after the international concert tour "Dreams of Love". For her ...

to star in the film. After their breakup, he invited Rotaru.

Plot

Viktoria Svobodina is a young but already well known popular singer in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, living in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Her popularity reaches the heights whilst the band she is performing with remains in the shadows. At an important live concert the band turns off the sound, but Viktoria keeps singing the song, changing the lyrics to "''I will sing till the end''". As they leave the concert she stops the car and rips posters of herself off the walls of the concert hall and leaves the band for a solo career. As her career grows, her producer arranges new concert performances for her. However, something starts going wrong with her voice. Her doctor forbids her to sing for at least three months or else she will lose her voice completely. She decides to take a break and informs her producer, as she has received an invitation to sing at an important state concert. As she had not been informed that the concert would be aired live on major Soviet television channels, she concedes to the request and performs in the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

. She receives a telephone call from an old school friend who invites her to the recording of a new song in duet in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. She learns that he is playing in a rock band. She visits their rock concerts

incognito Incognito is an English adjective meaning "in disguise", "having taken steps to conceal one's identity". Incognito may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Incognito'', a 1915 film featuring Rae Berger * ''Incognito'' (1937 film), a Dan ...

and considers adopting their musical style. Her producer learns that she is in fact singing, even though he persuaded all her clients to postpone requests for her to perform. Viktoria finally decides to take a break and leaves for an anonymous vacation at a resort on the seashore. The name of the movie ("Soul") comes from a dialogue which takes place at this point in the movie between Viktoria and an older stranger at this isolated vacation resort, during a stroll on a pier. Viktoria confesses her fears of losing her voice and the stranger comforts her, saying that the songs of a singer live as long as the soul of the singer remains alive. Viktoria asks: "''Soul? But where is this soul?''". Her producer finally locates her with the news that an important international song competition is going to take place in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and she has been selected to represent her country. Viktoria leaves the resort immediately with the producer. To go to the competition she needs a new band, and the producer finds her one on the outskirts of Moscow. The role of the band is played by

(Time Machine). When Viktoria meets the band she recognizes the main player - her old school friend, although they give no sign of it in front of the producer. Rehearsals begin, and at his point in the film we see a music video featuring Rotaru, Boyarsky and Mashina Vremeni, all dressed in futuristic costumes made of tight shiny stretchy fabric, jumping on the trampoline. Alexander Stefanovich, "

Mosfilm Mosfilm (, ''Mosfil’m'' , initialism and portmanteau of Moscow Films) is a film studio in Moscow which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's fi ...

" director, (1976—1980): Viktoria leaves with her new band for the international song festival Intermusik in Germany, and begins to fall in love with her old friend. She falls ill during a yacht trip on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. A doctor present on board detects the reason, and advises her to stop singing immediately. Viktoria asks him to be silent and appears on the stage during the competition, where she wins. The last scene of the movie is ambiguous, as it seems she loses her voice completely after the competition, yet the final chord is the victory at the competition.

Cast

as the famous singer Viktoria Svobodina. The root of Svobodina is ''svoboda'' ()–"freedom". *

Rolan Bykov Rolan Antonovich Bykov (October 12, 1929October 6, 1998) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, director, screenwriter and pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1990). Early life Rolan Bykov was born to Anton Mikhailovich Bykov and Ol ...

as Svetlana's manager Albert Leonidovich Grob (Coffin - eng). *

as Vadim Starych, soloist of the band Mashina Vremeni. * Vyacheslav Spesivtsev as Sergey, boyfriend of Viktoria Svobodina in her first band. * Ivars Kalniņš as the translator and friend of Viktoria while in Germany. * Leonid Obolensky as an old man who meets Viktoria at the secluded sea resort and gives her insight into artistic creation. *

Aleksandr Zatsepin Aleksandr Sergeyevich Zatsepin (; born 10 March 1926) is a Soviet and Russian composer, known for his soundtracks to movies, notably comedies directed by Leonid Gaidai. People's Artist of Russia (2003) and Hero of Labour of the Russian Federat ...

as a studio sound operator. * Mashina Vremeni features its real life members: Valery Efremov,

Alexandr Kutikov Alexander Viktorovich Kutikov (; 13 April 1952 in Moscow) is a Soviet/Russian rock musician, composer, producer, and businessman. Biography Kutikov was born in a Russian-Jewish family in Patriarshiye Ponds, Moscow. He was a fan of groups such a ...

Andrey Makarevich Andrey Vadimovich Makarevich (; born 11 December 1953) is an Israeli and Soviet-Russian rock musician and the founder of Russia's oldest still active rock band Mashina Vremeni (Time Machine). Personal life Makarevich was born in Moscow to m ...

, Pyotr Podgorodetsky, and Ovanes Melik-Pashaev.

Production

Sofia Rotaru sings in the movie, but another actress did the voice for the dialogue because of Rotaru's Moldavian accent. In contrast to the role she played in the movie, Sofia Rotaru did not have to leave her singing career; her voice eventually recovered. * Writers: Alexander Borodyansky, Alexander Stefanovich * Director: Alexander Stefanovich * Producer: Alexander Stefanovich * Cameraman-producer: Vladimir Klimov * Painter-producer: Alina Speshneva * Music:

* Sound operator: V. Babushkin, V. Ladyguina * Producers: V. Kovaleva, M. Maksimchyuk * Cameramen: V. Kromas, A. Naydyonov * Costumes: V. Ptitsin * Cutter: E. Tobak * Make-up: M. Agafonova * Trick photography: Cameraman: A. Dvigubsky, Painter: P. Khurumov * Editor: E. Ermolin * Music editor: A. Belyaev * Film director: Georgy Pastushkov

Soundtrack

Songs were composed by Soviet lyricists such as

Robert Rozhdestvensky Robert Ivanovich Rozhdestvensky (; 20 June 1932 – 19 August 1994) was a Soviet-Russian poet and songwriter who broke with socialist realism in the 1950s–1960s during the Khrushchev Thaw and, along with such poets as Andrei Voznesensky, ...

and Igor Kokhanovsky, composers such as

, and members of Mashina Vremeni: Andrey Makarevich and Alexandr Kutikov.List of tracks from the movie ''Dusha''
(in Russian) Scenes in Germany feature the works of

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

in the background.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0082301, Dusha
Filmography of Sofia Rotaru''Dusha'' at kinox.rukino-teatr.ru
1981 films 1981 in the Soviet Union 1980s musical drama films Films about disability Films about entertainers Films about music and musicians Films scored by Aleksandr Zatsepin 1970s Soviet films 1980s Russian-language films Soviet musical drama films Russian-language musical drama films 1981 musical films