MOSCOW, August 11The image of intelligence officer Maxim Isaev-Stirlitz performed by Vyacheslav Tikhonov in the cult television series «Seventeen Moments of Spring» was shown so vividly that it subsequently influenced the choice of profession by many domestic intelligence officers, said Sergey Naryshkin, director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation.
Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the premiere of «Seventeen Moments of Spring» on Soviet television. The 12-episode series, directed by Tatyana Lioznova, is based on Yulian Semyonov's novel of the same name about how Soviet foreign intelligence revealed the fact of separate negotiations between Nazi bosses and representatives of the West in the spring of 1945. This series is considered the most famous depiction of intelligence work in domestic culture.
August 18, 2022, 09:00 AM .html» data-title='How well do you know the TV movie «Seventeen Moments of Spring»?'>
«Vyacheslav Tikhonov created such a vivid image of intelligence officer Maxim Maksimovich Isaev that his talented game influenced the choice of profession for many young people,» said Naryshkin, quoted by the SVR press bureau. The director of the Foreign Intelligence Service admitted that when he began his work in intelligence, he himself, like his young colleagues, was under the influence of this «piercing image.»
An unprecedented success
According to official estimates, the premiere of «Seventeen Moments …» in August 1973 was watched by about 80 million people.
“For twelve evenings, the streets of cities, towns, villages and even urban-type settlements throughout the Soviet Union were empty. Electricity consumption increased sharply, the consumption of hot (who had it) and cold water decreased, and street crime was practically at zero, which was recorded in police reports,» the press bureau of the Foreign Intelligence Service notes.
The success of the new picture was so great that three months later the series was re-showed — this has never happened on Soviet television before.
According to experts, in «Seventeen Moments…» the work of a scout for the first time in Russian cinema was shown as a set of intense intellectual and psychological duels with an exceptionally dangerous opponent. According to experts, the huge popularity of the film was ensured not only by the excellent play of actors, including Evgeny Evstigneev, Rostislav Plyatt, Vasily Lanovoy, Oleg Tabakov, Leonid Kuravlev, Lev Durov, Leonid Bronevoy, Otto Melies (GDR), but also songs performed by Joseph Kobzon to lyrics by Robert Rozhdestvensky and music by Mikael Tariverdiev.
The image of Isaev-Stirlitz is considered collective. Vyacheslav Tikhonov himself was friends with the famous Soviet illegal intelligence agents — spouses Mikhail Filonenko and Anna Kamaeva. The actor borrowed a lot from Filonenko — the historian of the SVR Vladimir Antonov spoke about this in an interview. And Kamaeva became the prototype of the radio operator Kat — one of the most striking characters in «Seventeen Moments …» performed by Ekaterina Gradova, Antonov said.
A symbol of service to the Fatherland
In 2022, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of domestic illegal intelligence, a monument to Russian illegal intelligence officers of all times was opened on the territory of the SVR headquarters in the Moscow district of Yasenevo .
An illegal immigrant is a scout who works in a foreign state under the guise of a citizen of this or any third country. An illegal, being specially trained, acts in accordance with the legend developed for him to the smallest detail, actually living the biography of another person. This often happens in very difficult conditions, and often at the risk of life.
The monument by sculptor Vladimir Ivanov captures the culminating episode of Seventeen Moments of Spring, when Isaev-Stirlitz, having revealed the contacts of the West with the Nazis, travels from neutral Switzerland back to the Third Reich to continue his work, although he had the opportunity to finally return to his homeland. The Soviet intelligence officer, sitting on the ground on the side of the road to Berlin, realizes what a huge risk he is exposing himself to, and nevertheless makes his decisive choice.
The fate of Isaev-Stirlitz is a symbol of perseverance and heroism and of people who have dedicated their lives to the service of the Fatherland and the struggle for the highest goals and ideals, Sergey Naryshkin emphasized at the opening ceremony of the monument.
On the monument, the words from the song «Moments» sounding in the television series are engraved: «You just need to remember the duty from the first moment to the last.»
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