| Adventures of Petrov and Vasechkin, Usual and Incredible | |
| Director: | Vladimir Alenikov |
| Music: | Tatiana Ostrovskaya |
| Cinematography: | Igor Feldstein |
| Studio: | Odessa Film Studio |
| Runtime: | 134 minutes |
| Country: | Soviet Union |
| Language: | Russian |
Adventures of Petrov and Vasechkin, Usual and Incredible (Russian: Приключения Петрова и Васечкина, обыкновенные и невероятные|Priklyucheniya Petrova i Vasechkina) is a 1983 Soviet two-part children's two-part musical comedy directed by Vladimir Alenikov.[1] [2] The plot tells of two friends-schoolboys, Petya Vasechkin and Vasya Petrov, about their attempts to assert themselves and about their friend, with whom they are in love, Masha Startseva.
A year later a sequel titled Vacation of Petrov and Vasechkin, Usual and Incredible was released.
Masha is the best student аt school. In class she receives an anonymous love letter. Meanwhile, Petrov comes to the blackboard and writes a sentence full of mistakes. Meanwhile, Masha has corrected the spelling mistakes in the love letter. When she compares it to the mistakes Petrov made, she immediately realizes that the letter was from him. She rebuffs him by sending him a note saying that he must first learn how to write correctly.
Vasechkin wants to help his friend Petrov. Тhey read The Taming of the Shrew, which leads them wanting to tame Masha in a similar way. But Masha is far too smart not to see through the boys' plan. Frustrated, they stroll through the streets imagining what if they had special powers. They encounter a strange man, who turns out to have magic powers. He grants the boys three wishes altogether. Petrov wishes to be the strongest man in the world, and Vasechkin only wants to get perfect grades. The third wish is not yet granted to them, they are to mull over it.
And indeed, the wishes come true. However, incredible strength soon turns out to be rather disadvantageous for Petrov. And also Vasechkin does not enjoy his wish — although he only receives perfect grades, he has not actually become any smarter. Additionally, Masha is not impressed by the new skills of the boys. Eventually they want to become the same as they were before, but the wizard has disappeared. Masha helps them formulate their wish correctly and the boys lose their skills again.
The French class stages the Little Red Riding Hood in French. Masha plays the title character. Petrov is supposed to play the wolf, but because he had reported sick to skip an exam, Vasechkin takes over the role. When Petrov hears this, he sneaks to the performance, and so the Red Riding Hood suddenly faces two wolves. After the two guys ruin the show, they have even less of a chance with Mascha.
While the boys have to do a detention, Masha is awarded three times — as the best athlete of the school, as the best student in French and the best student paramedic. The boys then swear revenge. During the swimming class they think of a solution — Petrov is to pretend that he is drowning, while Vasechkin is to save him to receive a rescue medal, and thus divert attention from Masha. But the plan fails as it is Masha who saves both boys in the end.
And once again Masha is awarded, this time with a rescue medal. The boys realize that they can not outdo Masha. Instead, they focus on their abilities. While they have to do a detention again, they use the opportunity and beautify the classroom by hanging a wallpaper. And finally, they also attract the attention of Masha.
For the first time Petrov and Vasechkin appeared in 1974 in the children's magazine Yeralash, where Vladimir Alenikov worked at that time as director and screenwriter.[2]
Casting for the film took place in Kiev, Moscow, Odessa and other cities. For the role of Vasechkin, the director found Yegor Druzhinin in Leningrad, who was son of the picture's choreographer Vladislav Druzhinin. After finding out that no one was yet cast for the second lead part, Yegor brought along his classmate Dima Barkov, who eventually became Petrov.[2]
When both pictures about the exploits of Petrov and Vasechkin had already been shot and voiced, the Moscow film bosses, after watching them, categorically forbade to release them on screens as the main characters of the films behaved in a way which was deemed as too "non-Soviet". And then Vladimir Alenikov decided to show the film to Irina Andropova, daughter of General Secretary Yuri Andropov, who at that time worked at a music magazine.[3]
Arranging a meeting, Alenikov called the studio and asked to arrange a screening for the Andropov family. As soon as this information became known to officials, the issue of the release of the films was solved in a matter of hours. The premiere took place on June 1, 1984, at 16:30 on the First channel of the Soviet Central Television.[3]