“Cruel Romance”: why the film that made Guzeeva famous received such a name

As Ryazanov himself admitted, his primary goal was to avoid comparisons with the 1936 Soviet film “The Dowry,” also based on Ostrovsky’s play of the same name.

In addition, the director always had a weakness for romances and decided to make them an integral part of the film – he even wrote the lyrics to the song “I’m like a butterfly in front of a fire” himself. By the way, it is in vain that some still think that Guzeeva sang in the film – the famous gypsy singer Valentina Ponomareva was invited to record Larisa’s songs.

The main actress did not even voice her own lines, her vocal abilities seemed unsuitable for Ryazanov. Anna Kamenkova speaks on behalf of Ogudalova Jr. in “Cruel Romance” – her soft voice perfectly matches the fragile image of the heroine and young beauty of Guzeeva.

But back to the title of the film. Why did Ryazanov choose exactly this, distracting from the story of the poor girl who “was looking for love and did not find it”? The director’s love of romances as such does not provide a complete answer. The answer lies in the history of mass culture in the mid-19th century.

The most fashionable songs among townspeople at that time were in the style of “cruel romance”. Moreover, these couplets did not have any particular cruelty – they mainly described more or less tragic love stories, preferably with death in the finale. A prerequisite was the high intensity of the characters’ feelings and various contradictions, including exotic ones (he is a rich man – she is a shepherdess, he is an English sailor – she is a Japanese geisha, etc.). Details such as loss of innocence, betrayal, jealousy, suicide and murder, prison and bankruptcy were valued.

For their performers, writers and listeners, “cruel romances” seemed to be beautiful, strong ballads, but for a more or less educated person it immediately became very clear that this was the embodiment of maximum vulgarity, funny in its emphasis.

Eldar Ryazanov called his film “Cruel Romance” because, taking Ostrovsky’s play “Dowry” as a basis, he built his work according to the laws of a different genre. For all the touching and “vitality” of the story, the characters are insignificant and predictable figures, driven by petty-bourgeois interests.

Which, of course, does not cancel out the tragedy of the death of the deceived girl. But she confirms that in such an environment she did not have the slightest chance to see a beautiful life and experience true mutual feeling. In the best case scenario, she would have grown up and become the host of the show “Let’s get married”.

Photo: stills from the film