Serial film tells about the difficult fate of two families whose lives have intertwined. Here is everything hints on Bayrak’s style - love, loyalty, break ups and encounters...This film is also interesting due to its 16 episodes, that’s the longest series in Oksana’s filmography!
Oksana, how did you come up with this film idea?
That was a pure luck. I remember how a frail looking woman came up and said, "Hello, my name is Elena Rog, I'm a journalist, I love your work. Can you read my stories?" And stretched a book with a wonderful title "My bitter happiness". I just avidly read all the essays, but most of all I loved the story "Late regret". The plot is incredibly simple and complicated at the same time. A simple 3-page story turned into a script for 16 episodes. I drew inspiration from life itself, which sometimes prompts such complex twists that even the most brilliant scriptwriter could not come up with!
Some actors admitted that there were no castings. You knew from the start whom you want to see in each role?
I hate castings. This is a humiliation for the actors. A good director has to feel whether it’s his actor or not. Couple of photos and one look at the artist is enough for me. It's like a breath of love. It's either there or not. It’s a kind of magic...This happened with the majority of my actors. However, general producer Victor Mirsky strongly advised me one actor despite my doubts. I’m talking about Maxim Drozdov. I must confess that I was wrong. The first meeting dotted all the "i"s. Now I can’t imagine my life without this creative and amazing talented actor.
Oksana, what was most difficult for you while working on this project?
Its duration. My brains always need something new. You know, I’m like a photon, - I have no rest mass (laughs). And here for almost a year the same story, the same characters...On the one hand, it is difficult, but on the other, the project is completed, there is a script for the next movie, and I still dream of smiles, tears, deceit and love of "Late regret” characters.
In an interview with Artem Krestnikov, who played a major role, he admitted that you are a very strict director, and he gave up smoking and lost weight for the shooting...
Artem fibbed a little, I'm not a very strict director...I’m an absolute authoritarian (laughs). Of course, it was not easy for Artem.
First, I forced him to lose ten pounds in a month. Secondly, he is twenty-six and has not played an elder person, and we had painstakingly worked on psychological maturation of his character. And, thirdly, he didn’t know how to play love. As for his diet, we were fortunate that first we shot scenes where his character is a 40-year-old man. Two weeks later, when we moved on to the story of his 27-year-old hero, he was already well-shaped (laughs).
"The story begins in 1989, that was remembered by the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan and perestroika, continues in the turbulent 90s and ends in our days...And in all of this "grinder" film characters live, love, change, lose and find again..."
