Survive to win “Too many people in this country know you in person,” Major Bazhenov, a curator from the Department of State Protection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, tells Colonel Viktor Rastorguev. Show me a place on the map, a city, a town, a village, where your co-worker or the person you interrogated, arrested or sent to the zone may not be.
“Who is he this time? Sailor? A geologist?, – asks Dasha Major Bazhenov after the next move of the family to a new place. “Almost,” the curator answers Rastorguev’s wife about another legend. - Criminal. A former military man who committed serious bodily harm, and served time for a crime, with a passport in the name Ivanov moves to the Siberian town of Tomilinsk. On budget money, newcomers bought a modest apartment. These are the conditions of family stay under state protection. And all because, here I recall the finale of the second season of the series “Chef”, that police Colonel Viktor Rastorguev exposed members of a criminal group with big stars on epaulettes. Yes, he also testified against its organizer, General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Konstantin Lykov. Rarely in life such revelations go unpunished, for them lovers of truth can pay with their lives and their loved ones. Therefore, the staged death of the colonel, his wife and little daughter was organized. A whole new life of survival began for them. “New Life,” as the season “Chef 3” is very accurately called.
In cinema, great success is not accidental! And the third season of "Chef." New Life immediately had a resounding success with the audience. Already in the second week of showing on NTV, he took the first rating line in the list of television series of the country. At the end of 2015 entered the top 10 new Russian series. For this work, actor Andrei Chubchenko became a diplomat of the XVIII International Festival of Detective Films DetectiveFEST in the section "Hero" - for the charismatic performance of the role of a positive hero - Colonel Viktor Rastorguev.
The foundation for the success of “Chef-3” was laid by a friendly team of producers of the Triix Media film company headed by Inesa Yurchenko. The content of this season, as always, owes to the famous playwright Andrei Tumarkin. All the twists and turns of the plot are clearly and logically built. The geography of events covers the fictional town of Tomilinsk (the shooting took place in Lomonosov near St. Petersburg). Moscow and St. Petersburg, involving many heroes in the history of Colonel Rastorguev, both memorable to us from previous seasons of “Chef”, and new ones. A successful discovery was a young artist Alexander Rybakov in the role of district, senior lieutenant Vaskov. Interesting are the images of Major Bazhenov from the state defense (Sergei Paldnykh) and provincial criminal authority Malysh (Yuri Sysoev).
The problem of state protection is very relevant for Russia. Every year, more than 10 million people appear in criminal cases as victims and witnesses. There are cases of people refusing to participate in the courts, when they are physically and psychologically pressured, and the mortal danger is real. Therefore, the federal law "On state protection of victims, witnesses and other participants in criminal proceedings" is in force. “Chef New Life” was filmed in 2014-2015, in the same years almost four thousand people in Russia received state protection. So the whole story told by the screenwriter is not the fruit of his imagination, it is close to real life.
In the third season of “Chef” Colonel Viktor Rastorguev remained true to himself, once again confirming the truth that a real cop is not the former. And although the curator recommended him to sit quieter than the water, below the grass, not to lean out anywhere, but he is not such a person. Rastorguev, faithful to his legend, earned his living either as a taxi driver, then as a loader or a locksmith, but he could not be “like everyone else”, agreeing with the lawlessness of people and lawlessness. Not satisfied with his ongoing in the town criminal showdowns and police lawlessness. As a private person, having no right to intervene, he had to act often outside the law, for the sake of justice and the triumph of the same law.
In my opinion, the series “Chef” of the highest level is a patriotic film, so it has a great public resonance. To be a hero in spite of all difficult circumstances, to fight alone on two fronts against werewolves in uniforms and bandits - this is a real feat in peacetime. And Rastorguev’s wife Dasha in trials shares a fate similar to the Decembrist woman who abandoned everything for her husband and the preservation of the family. Artist Anna Tabanina (Dasha) said: “I think that it is difficult to live with a person who does not completely belong to himself, but serves the Motherland and people.”
Directors believe that if an artist plays one character for a long time, then to some extent psychologically merges with him. Andrey Chubchenko and Viktor Rastorguev confirm this, in many ways they are similar in character. The actor on the set, as director Oleg Larin recalled, refused for the sake of reliability from the help of stuntmen. He extinguished the fire in the apartment when it was set on fire by bandits, even received a burn to his hand. And during a furious fight in the entrance, not only demolished the mailbox with a blow from the hinges, but also knocked out his finger. The director said: Andrei Chubchenko had to master the management of the passenger version of the "gazelle". The car he got quite killed, and during the filming failed the gearbox, the pedal. When the plot of the “gazelle” brakes fail, and Rastorguev maneuvers, saving passengers, the artist himself sat behind the wheel. It took more than five hours to shoot the dangerous passage.
There were psychologically very strong moments to the thrill of heart when I realized that if I had played this tragic episode by another artist, I would not have believed him. How absolutely believed Andrey Chubchenko in the role of Colonel Viktor Rastorguev. Only he was capable of the highest mercy, forgiving an old friend who had betrayed him. Perhaps, this is not only the skill of a talented artist, but his bright soul opened up to us in this stunning role.
10 out of 10