Which of you has ever gotten a chance to be present at a shooting of a historical film or to visit a mysterious bunker? Curious? Have a look at this fascinating collection of pictures taken at the shooting stage of the film Life and Fate in Moscow and the scary Stalin’s Bunker in Samara.
In the area of Hitrovka everything has been changed excluding air conditioners and satellite aerials.
Some vintage cars have arrived.
The extras are wearing the costumes suitable for the scene of action.
A corn chandler’s shop was constructed.
…and a typical Russian queue was formed straight after.
Also, a fruiterer’s was built, though, unfortunately, the sign on the door informs us that it’s closed.
The special placards are hanging there – this one urges ‘Destroy the German beast’.
Some burnt planks were put around. The shooting began.
Some strangers were passing by…
Some really vivid characters showed up…
One of the actors is driving by in a small lorry.
The shooting finished – voila! The queue disappeared.
Telephone booth
Now let’s take a look at the Stalin’s Bunker.
“Stalin’s bunker” is a colloquial name for a defensive work in Samara, created as a reserve location for the General Headquarters of the USSR Commander in Chief – I.V. Stalin. It is situated at the depth of 37 meters. Built in 1942 it was declassified only in 1990.
This object is located under the Modern Academy Of Arts and Culture. Close to the staircase in the hall there was an imperceptible door that was guarded by an NKVD agent 24/7. Just after it there was an iron leaf, that was hiding the main secret behind. Also, there is a yard entrance.
Stalin’s Bunker in Samara is the most massive of all the declassified bunkers nowadays. Its depth is 37 meters and its equal to the height of a 12-storeyed building. Just for the sake of comparison: the depth of Hitler’s Bunker in Berlin was around 16 meters, both Churchill’s and Roosevelt’s dugouts were even less deep. This gigantic burrow was dug within less than 9 months of non-stop work. The bunker had its own system of air regeneration and a power source. By the way, all those still work. Long ago, this secret place used to be a many-storeyed construction equipped with lifts. At the lowest floor there was a meeting hall meant to accommodate 115 people. Next to it there was a restroom for Stalin. As for the upper floors, they were meant for the security and storehouses. This bunker wouldn’t be damaged even by the biggest aviabomb of those times. It was protected by a 3 meter thick concrete layer.
The bunker was built by the best specialists of the country – the builders of the Moscow Metro, Donbas miners and other workers. This construction became a miniature copy of the metro station Airport. More than 2900 workers and about 800 engineers took part in this project. The workers never left the construction site, had meals in a canteen that was situated there as well, and spent nights in a hostel in the yard or even in the underground rooms.
The sacred place – Stalin’s restroom. It is of the same style with his Kremlin cabinet.
The hall for various governmental meetings.
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I would assume that all of the satellite dishes and air conditioners would be removed in post production. Everything else looks good though.
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4st!
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Stalin never slept on a bed after his wife’s suicide in 1932, only on divans. And all his restrooms in any location were built with the same dimensions to accommodate his height. His desk in the Kremlin also had that green top. He was a creature of order and cleanliness. I guess Beria was in charge of most of these things being the head of the security organs.
Thanks to the admin. for bringing us these interesting pics.
Most dictators were creatures of order. They enjoy creating chaos while living in their static, sterile worlds.
Life and Fate was made into a movie? And a Russian production at that! I admire Vasily Grossman’s writing, and would love to see his epic novel translated into film. I’m glad to see that a Russian studio is filming it, instead of some Hollywood outfit. Nothing against hollywood per se, but Bruckheimer can maybe tone it down a little sometimes with the explosions and stuff.
On a different note, how about that bunker, huh? Maybe Hollywood can make a movie about that 😉