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Originally scripted for the role of Anatoly Solonitsyn in the film was not, it was invented specifically.(From the memoirs of M. Terekhova).

In the apartment of Alex when he's talking with mother on the phone, you notice the poster of the film "Andrei Rublev", the Director who also is Andrei Tarkovsky.

The idea of the film came in 1967, after the filming of the picture "Andrei Rublev". According to the memoirs of the playwright Alexander Misharin, during a walk with Tarkovsky along Izmaylovsky ponds are talking about the scenario of the story, which would reflect the modernity of our country today, the reality of our reality. The plot of the expected pattern in this largely coincided with the real life Tarkovsky, in particular, they discussed details such as the departure of the father from the family, the complex relationship of the protagonist with her parents, etc

The screenplay was called "white, White day".

A. Misharin and Andrei Tarkovsky began to write the script in early 1968 in a rest home of cinematographers in Repino near Leningrad. The story was born from memories of his own life Tarkovsky, told someone stories, discussions, literary works, etc. in the Beginning there were no records. Only after you have accumulated a large number of ideas and images, Misharin and Tarkovsky began to try to systematize all that they discussed. Was 36 episodes (subsequently, considering the planned duration of the picture, their number was reduced to 28). After that, the script began to be transferred to paper — and wrote down daily for two episodes, discussed and made changes. The script was ready in two weeks, 14 episodes were written Misharin, 14 — Tarkovsky. The script had an unusual shape: it was built on the supposed dialogue with the mother of Tarkovsky in the form of a questionnaire, she answered questions about her life, each of her responses was accompanied by a kind of cinematic commentary.

At the Studio for experimental creative Association Grigory Chukhrai script of the film is supported, but the Chairman of the state Committee for cinematography A. V. Romanov was opposed. The implementation of the script "White, white day" was impossible, and Tarkovsky had to turn to another topic: he started filming the movie "Solaris".

In 1972, the Chairman of Goskino, was appointed ft Ermash, the views of officials of the Soviet cinema became more liberal, and Tarkovsky received permission to make a film based on the script "white, White day". Before starting work on the film, the Director has revised the approach to the scenario in which the dialogue with the mother was supposed to remove a hidden camera. Tarkovsky decided to rewrite the script, resulting in dialogue in the form of a questionnaire with the mother who followed before each episode was removed from the script. Moreover, when the film was put into production, the script was constantly changing, every day the crew didn't know what scene will be shot. Co-authors of the script processed the scene before and came to the set with scraps of paper, on which was painted a new version of the episode.

In the process of shooting has been added new episodes, replacing removed from the script interview with the mother, in particular, have significantly expanded the role of the mother performed by M. Terekhova.

According to Oleg Yankovsky, part of the film was shot in Tuchkovo.

When filming one of the last episodes of the film, Tarkovsky proposed a new name for the picture is "Mirror".

After filming in the installation phase, before the writer and Director of any difficulties with the choice of a sequence of episodes. All was filmed 32 episodes. Tarkovsky proposed to make the "cash-for letters with 32 pockets" in each place card with the name of the episode: "Selling earrings", "Typography", "hypnosis", "Spaniards", etc. According to the memoirs of A. Misharin, shifting the cards took more than 20 days in each of the sequence variants were detected scenes that do not fit into the shaped chain, did not bind and will not escape from other episodes. Eventually the solution was found after one of the episodes made in the prologue, after which the sequence of all other episodes perfectly "formed".

The film was done by L. Feiginova. According to her, it was she who insisted on the episode "I can talk", which script was supposed to be inside the movie, made in the prologue of the picture. In addition, when I accepted her offer to read poems against the background of newsreel, thereby making poetry "more authentic and more accessible, and chronicle — more poetic".

The premiere of the film was arranged in a narrow circle of persons invited to the premiere of D. Shostakovich, P. Kapitsa, V. Shklovsky, P. Nilin, Yuri Bondarev, Aitmatov. Opinion about the picture from them was positive.

The Chairman of the state Committee for cinematography ft Ermash after watching the film, according to Alexander Misharin, withstood a long pause and then said, "we Have, of course, freedom of creativity! But not to the same degree!" On the one hand, the finished film did not make any corrections, on the other hand, the reaction of the Chairman of the state influenced the film — it showed only in a few cinemas of Moscow.

Ft Ermash twice promised to send the film "the Mirror" at the Cannes film festival, but did not give permission, the film was not hit and for the competition of the Moscow film festival. At the same time, the movie was sold overseas for the rental companies, it was shown in France, Italy and other countries. In Italy the "Mirror" was the best foreign film in 1980.