A FAIRYTALE COME TRUE

This is a historic event, an iconic film, and an iconic composition. This week saw the premiere of the restored version of Arshin Mal Alan, the popular 1945 film by director Rza Tahmasib, held at the Heydar Aliyev Centre. The restoration breathed a new life into this legendary film we in Azerbaijan had thought was lost forever. It appears that in the tumultuous 1990s, the film, which was kept at the USSR State Film Foundation, literally disappeared somewhere on the border between Russia and Azerbaijan. Numerous problems emerging between Azerbaijan and Russia at the time overshadowed issues of the protection of the cultural heritage so when yet another great film disappeared, nobody in Azerbaijan noticed it, according to Peachline Advertising, a company that created a new history for Arshin Mal Alan. 

The restoration and colourization of the film began in December 2012. The leadership of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ata Holding company staff who evaluated the importance of the project, agreed to go ahead with the task. Outstanding Hollywood professionals were engaged in the restoration and colourization of this iconic Soviet musical. The project was successfully completed and presented at a closed viewing in November. 

Way to color 

First of all, "the year 2013 marked the 100th anniversary of the creation of the most beloved operetta by Uzeyir Hacibayov, Arshin Mal Alan. Second, many compare the colourization of Arshin Mal Alan with the Seven Moments of Spring and Only Old Man Are Going to Battle whose colourization was unsuccessful. However, the latter were filmed in 1973 and in both cases the black and white format was used intentionally to create a more realistic feel. In 1945, only one material, A Parade of Victory, was filmed in the colour format in the Soviet Union. Colour film was extremely rare and, just like black and white film, could only be purchased abroad at a high price. Director Rza Tahmasib could only dream of filming his musical fairytale in colour, the way it was supposed to be filmed. However, in the post-war Soviet Union this was an impossible task. Nevertheless, the film won great acclaim. Given the profit, one can assume that in the USSR alone the film was viewed about 250,000,000 times. Not to calculate profit it received abroad, in the Soviet Union the film earned 1,000 times more than was spent on the filming itself," the agency said. 

"When we started looking for the film that could be used for restoration it emerged that somebody had preserved the only copy of Arshin Mal Alan somewhere in dusted archives. This copy had been used for numerous screenings at a Baku movie theatre. Restoration specialists who saw the condition it was in were overwhelmed by the scope of work they faced. Thank God, the work engaged the most celebrated old film restoration experts - Oscar winners and other Hollywood professionals. 

Interestingly, more people were involved in the restoration of the film than in its creation in 1945. Work was under way in four countries of the world. "Each passage of the film involved dedicated specialists who spent long hours working in archives, searching for materials to ensure that true likeness was observed throughout the film. Work on the film which was damaged at some points was like performing a surgery. Professionals treated our cultural heritage like a religious relic. Their main aim was to restore it without causing any damage. This is how Arshin Mal Alan was restored. As much as they could they also restored the original sound, the magic voice of Rasid Behbutov and the music by Uzeyir Hacibayov. This is how we acquired the film again, this time in colour, something the creators of Arshin Mal Alan could not have dreamed of in 1945. Those who are used to seeing the film in black and white now have an opportunity to do so as the film was cleared of scratches and corrosion," Peachline Advertising said. 

Screening and record 

Arshin Mal Alan was rendered for the screen on several occasions. The first attempt to adapt the musical comedy was undertaken by Director B. Svetlov in 1916. The main roles in the film were performed by A. Huseynzada (Sultan Bay). G. Sarabskiy (Askar), A. Agdamskiy (Gulcohra), Y. Narimanov (Cahan Xala), M. Aliyev (Suleyman Bay). The silent film was accompanied by the prominent singer, Cabbar Qaryagdioglu. They performed musical scores live. The second screening of the musical comedy was accompanied by scandal. Petersburg-based director G. Belyakov in 1917 filmed Arshin Mal Alan without the permission from its author Uzeyir Hajibeyov. Consequently, the film was not released for general public after active protest by the composer. 

During the Second World War, it was decided to produce a full-length musical film, Arshin Mal Alan. 

The new film was released in 1945 in the Soviet Union and later abroad. The script was written by Sabit Rahman, and Rza Tahmasib and Nikolai Leshchenko were appointed as directors. Uzeyir's nephew, Maestro Niyazi, became the musical editor. The film brought together prominent actors of the time, including Rasid Behbutov, Leyla Badirbayli, Alakbar Huseynzada (Sultan Bay), Lutfali Abdullayev (Vali), F. Mehraliyeva (Telli), Minavvar Kalantarli (auntie Cahan). Young theatre actress Rahila Malikova was cast as Asya. Well-known Soviet film director, actor and script writer, G. V. Aleksandrov, acted as a consultant of the project. 

Initially, the film was not approved by Soviet censorship and the film was banned. In disregard of the opinion of the Creative Council, Sergey Eisenstein, Soviet theatre and film director and art theoretician, who believed that the film would "conquer the world", made sure that it was seen by Stalin who eventually liked the film. After the approval by the Generalissimo, the film was released in the Soviet Union and even gained the Stalin award.   

The film was screened in 136 countries and dubbed in 86 languages. In Soviet Union alone it was seen by at least over 16 million viewers. The film's budget was 5,807,000 roubles while the profit exceeded 5bn roubles. This is not to count huge profit from its foreign release, something that was concealed from the public. 

After 20 years, in 1965, the state-owned organization, Soyuzexportkino of the USSR, which recognized the fact that the 1945 Arshin Mal Alan, starring Rasid Behbutov, had yielded great financial profit, commissioned the Baku Film Studio to produce a colour version of the film. A Chinese version of the film named Love under the Blanket" followed at a personal request by Mao Zedong. The film cast, among others, a popular Azerbaijani mugam performer, Alim Qasimov.  

In 1992, the Melodiya company produced a record of Arshin Mal Alan in the Russian, Azerbaijani and Persian languages. A large number of materials is available in the form of reviews in the press, as well as scientific publications in magazines, books and brochures. The musical fame of Arshin Mal Alan still resonates across the world of art. The overwhelming love story of Asker and Gulcohra continues to attract art lovers the world over. 

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE FILM 

Rasid Behbutov did not want to be cast in Arshin Mal Alan. To persuade him, Tofiq Quliyev and Niyazi staged a brawl at the Baku railway. A train to Tbilisi where Behbutov lived at the time left and Rasid, Tofiq and the future maestro were sent to the police department "for clarification". This is how director Rza Tahmasib managed to persuade Behbutov to play the role in the musical.  

Merchant Asker's prototype was Rasid Behbutov's father, Macid Bay Behbutali who, before becoming a professional singer helped his father sell fabrics. The image was so poignant for young Uzeyir that he decided to compose an operetta.  

Stalin watched the film three times in a row - first time, with Zhdanov, Sergey Eisenstein and the chairman of the state Cinema, Bolshakov (who, in fear of being arrested, had bade farewell to his family). The next day he cancelled an evening session of the Politburo (even though the war had not ended yet) to do another screening and, on the third day, he gathered all members of the Politburo at his holiday home [to watch the film]. 

 The film basically did not use any props as almost everything was original - antique furniture, clothes, valuables, and so forth. Despite the fact that the film was produced during the wartime, actors wore well-fitting expensive woollen and silk costumes, held golden cigar cases and wore diamond ear-rings. There were no stage props.  

The film is set in Susa but was actually filmed in the village of Mardakan in the north of the Abseron peninsula.  

In connection with the 100th anniversary of world cinema, the year 1945 rendition of Arshin Mal Alan was included in the list of 100 most favourite films for Soviet viewers and in the list of 100 favourite films of all times and peoples.