J. B. Priestley was considered a safe writer in the USSR, so the scriptwriter changed the story knowing the censors wouldn't read the original.
The film director managed to give main parts to ballet dancers, despite resistance of the Mosfilm management. Dancers were considered unreliable: quite a few of them didn't return from foreign tours.
The shooting took place in the pavilions of Mosfilm in the summer of 1978, with the exception of Melicent and Sam's trip to nature. The musical "An Ordinary Miracle" was shot nearby at the time, and one can see that the kings in both films wear the same crown.
All music was arranged and recorded at Alexandr Zatsepin's home studio, technically superior to that at Mosfilm. Due to censorship, he had to make over 30 amendments: "I was told that my music is old stuff of capitalism, all performers should be replaced, and the film itself should be banned." The dancers' too revealing outfits dissatisfied the censors as well.
Next year, the management's fears about dancers materialised: during a Bolshoi Theater tour to the USA, Alexander Godunov (Lemisson) asked for political asylum. His wife Lyudmila Vlasova (Ninette / Ann) returned to Moscow after three days of detention of the Soviet plane by American authorities, who investigated whether her return was voluntary. Godunov and Vlasova's relation during this crisis and afterwards strangely resembled those of their characters in the film! As a result, the film was shelved for 7 years.
In the early 1980s, when Zatsepin left for France, also the songs were banned. The most absurd was the ban on the song "The World without My Beloved": this phrase seemed an allusion to the emigrated Taganka Theatre director, Yuri Lyubimov. And in the song "Star Bridge" officials saw propaganda of the American "Star Wars" programme.
The film director managed to give main parts to ballet dancers, despite resistance of the Mosfilm management. Dancers were considered unreliable: quite a few of them didn't return from foreign tours.
The shooting took place in the pavilions of Mosfilm in the summer of 1978, with the exception of Melicent and Sam's trip to nature. The musical "An Ordinary Miracle" was shot nearby at the time, and one can see that the kings in both films wear the same crown.
All music was arranged and recorded at Alexandr Zatsepin's home studio, technically superior to that at Mosfilm. Due to censorship, he had to make over 30 amendments: "I was told that my music is old stuff of capitalism, all performers should be replaced, and the film itself should be banned." The dancers' too revealing outfits dissatisfied the censors as well.
Next year, the management's fears about dancers materialised: during a Bolshoi Theater tour to the USA, Alexander Godunov (Lemisson) asked for political asylum. His wife Lyudmila Vlasova (Ninette / Ann) returned to Moscow after three days of detention of the Soviet plane by American authorities, who investigated whether her return was voluntary. Godunov and Vlasova's relation during this crisis and afterwards strangely resembled those of their characters in the film! As a result, the film was shelved for 7 years.
In the early 1980s, when Zatsepin left for France, also the songs were banned. The most absurd was the ban on the song "The World without My Beloved": this phrase seemed an allusion to the emigrated Taganka Theatre director, Yuri Lyubimov. And in the song "Star Bridge" officials saw propaganda of the American "Star Wars" programme.