Three Seconds
Production
Revenue
$51 169 464
Director
Scenario
Nikolai Kulikov
Composer
Julia Holter
Producer
Actors
Vladimir Mashkov
тренер сборной СССР Владимир Гаранжин
Ivan Kolesnikov
игрок сборной СССР Александр Белов
Viktoriya Tolstoganova
жена Владимира Ксения Гаранжина
Marat Basharov
чиновник Госкомспорта Терещенко
Andrey Smolyakov
Григорий Моисеев (председатель Федерации баскетбола СССР)
Sergey Garmash
председатель Госкомспорта Сергей Павлов
John Savage
тренер сборной США Генри Айба
Andrius Paulavičius
литовский водитель Йонас
Short description
This drama focuses on the 1972 Munich Olympics basketball final between the Soviet Union and the United States. The story centers on the final seconds of the match, where a series of timing disputes and clock resets led to a Soviet victory. This result ended a 36-year winning streak for the American team, who ultimately chose to refuse their silver medals in protest of the jury's decision.
Directed by Anton Megerdichev, the film is the second in a series of works that includes Metro and The Plagiarist. The production was a collaboration between Mosfilm, Cinema Fund, Russia-1, and Central Partnership, with a screenplay by Nikolai Kulikov. The cast features Vladimir Mashkov as the Soviet team coach, Ivan Kolesnikov as player Alexander Belov, and Viktoriya Tolstoganova. Other credited roles include Marat Basharov, Andrey Smolyakov, and Sergey Garmash.
The film earned 51 million USD at the worldwide box office. It holds a rating of 6.6/10 on IMDb based on 5,900 votes and a score of 6.8/10 on TMDB from 186 votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- During preparation for filming, the actors in the main roles trained for several hours a day for several months.
- The basketball game was filmed by six camera crews using six cameras – a unique occurrence in the domestic film industry. A spidercam moving along cables under the ceiling was responsible for the speed and geography of the sporting elements. Another camera was constantly on the court. A third filmed close-ups, a fourth – the opponents of the Soviet team. Yet another camera was responsible for height and angle, and a "rapid" camera captured events, slowing down time. All signals from the court were brought together by Q-take synchronizing equipment.
- Costume designer Sergei Struchev thoroughly studied archival photos and videos, the nuances of tailoring and fabric textures that were used in sports in our country and abroad during that period. For example, it turned out that the shorts of Soviet national basketball players were sewn from cotton satin, while Americans were already playing in knitwear. “We adhered to that,” says Sergei, “but we had to sacrifice some other documentary details in favor of aesthetic and cinematic truth. For example, the Soviet basketball players' uniforms in the film are not as tight and narrow as they actually were.”
- The scene of the legendary match was filmed during the first days of shooting. Filming of the final game lasted a month.
- For dramatic effect, the filmmakers distorted some historical facts, such as: Alexander Belov was not terminally ill in 1972, Modestas Paulauskas did not attempt to escape from the USSR, Sergei Belov did not have knee problems and did not have a mustache, and Alzhan Zharmukhamedov did not wear contact lenses. Some of these facts did occur in the lives of the athletes, but at different times in their lives.
- More than 500 costumes – civilian and sports outfits – were specially sewn for the project.
- In the scene where the team returns from the European Championship and exits the airport building, the Triumph Palace skyscraper is clearly visible in the background, although it was built much later.
- The project's consultants included participant in the Golden Match Ivan Edeshko, as well as Sergei Belov's son, Alexander, who played a small role (Soviet team player Gennady Volnov) and was the director of the film's basketball game scenes.
- The gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics was the first Olympic victory in history for domestic basketball players.
- More than 20 historically accurate basketballs were ordered for the film: to Soviet standards, for international competitions, and soft ones used during stunts.
- During the preparation stage, the cinematographer and director spent six months doing test shoots of basketball scenes in search of the most effective visual means. Igor Grinyakin, in particular, tried shooting while moving on roller skates (scenes shot this way were included in the film).
- Filming took place from July to November 2016.
- The number of actors in mass scenes reached 500 people.
- CG Factory ("The Crew", "He is a Dragon", "Metro") under the direction of Alexander Gorokhov created a crowd duplication system, allowing work with photorealistic characters in shots ranging from extremely wide to medium.
- A system for the spidercam was created from scratch by young engineers from Moscow State University. It is faster, more mobile, and cheaper than all foreign counterparts.
- Actors in mass scenes can be seen wearing vintage clothing from the late 1960s – early 1970s.
- Four sets of playing uniforms were created for the main characters, as well as sports suits and everyday outfits.
- The vast majority of the basketball players in the film are professional basketball players in real life. Alexander Ryapolov, a basketball player making his film debut, spent a month and a half studying acting to play Aljan Zharmukhamedov.
- The final version of the film's script was the 22nd.
- The film is based on the autobiographical book of the great basketball player Sergei Belov, "Upwards Movement".
- The film’s title for foreign film festivals is "Three Seconds".
- Due to lawsuits from Evgenia Kondrashina and Alexandra Ovchinnikova (widows of Vladimir Kondrashin and Alexander Belov) against the film's authors, the name of the head coach of the USSR men's basketball team was changed to Vladimir Garanzhin. The coach's real name is Vladimir Petrovich Kondrashin.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
