Published on: 2026-09-04
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
It has already been 57 years since the publication of Yulian Semyonov’s novel “Seventeen Moments of Spring” — a work that inspired director Tatyana Lioznova to create the iconic film adaptation. The film has shaped several generations of viewers and allowed the actors not just to play assigned roles, but to virtually live through the difficult and dangerous circumstances of the final year of World War II.
Archive of an era
The plot of the novel revolves around an operation involving Soviet intelligence officer Colonel Maxim Isaev. In Germany, everyone knows him as Max Otto von Stierlitz, who holds the high rank of Standartenführer in the security service. His mission is not only to maintain his cover but also to identify which of the top leaders of the Third Reich is conducting separate negotiations with Western intelligence agencies. The events of the novel and film are based on the real secret operation “Sunrise.” Special attention is given to the Yalta Conference — it was there that the leaders of the USSR, USA, and Great Britain met in February 1945. The conference was devoted to establishing the postwar world order and coordinating plans for the defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies.
Active intelligence officers were involved as consultants for the film shoot, whose names were not listed in the credits to maintain secrecy. The prototype for Stierlitz was the intelligence officer Mikhail Filonenko, who advised Vyacheslav Tikhonov during the preparation for the role.
Yulian Semyonov emphasized: “Stierlitz is not just an agent. He is a person who says one thing, thinks another, and does a third. He is the living embodiment of the dialectic of disguise. And the writer’s task is to show this complexity.”
Stirlitz Near Failure and the Disappearing Pirate. A Film Scholar on Inaccuracies in Gorky Film Studio’s MoviesStierlitz’s walk and secret negotiations: to the filming locations of “Seventeen Moments of Spring”
On the theatrical stage
“Seventeen Moments of Spring” is not only a cult work about the spy Isaev-Stirlitz, but also a profound story about the price of choice, about courage and strength of spirit, when every word and gesture can cost a life. It is a narrative about how even one person can influence the course of history.
Premiere “Seventeen Moments of Spring” is rehearsing on the theater stage Moderna. The director and artistic director of the theater, Yuri Grymov, is the creator of the production. We talked with him about the idea of the play, his personal attitude towards the work, and memories.
— Tell us, how did the idea of creating the play ““Seventeen Moments of Spring”?
— After one of our productions, Olga Semenova, the author’s daughter, approached me. It turned out she was a fan of the Modern Theatre. Olga Yulianovna suggested staging one of her father’s works. My initial reaction was, “Olga, do you really think I will stage ‘Seventeen Moments of Spring’?” — “No, no, of course not!” she replied. “My father has other plays; take a look at them.” She left me four plays, and I read them.
Among them was the play “Seventeen Moments of Spring”: Julian Semenov himself once adapted the novel. Olga later further adapted the text for the theatrical production.
I knew that during the filming of the movie, Yulian Semyonovich had a conflict with Tatyana Lioznova. Olga shared some details. The issue was primarily that Lioznova, as the director, wanted to shoot an artistic film, and this task required quite a serious intervention in the author’s text. The classic example is the famous scene of Stirlitz’s “prerecorded meeting” with his wife in a Berlin café. From the writer’s point of view, this was an unthinkable blunder, an impossible event for an illegal intelligence officer. The author even considered removing his name from the credits! After all, any inaccuracy in a work of this genre could ruin the entire concept. But Tatyana Lioznova needed a lyrical line, and she added it.
So there are significant differences between the film and the novel, and most importantly, between the film and the play. Our production will be based on the novel. It will be a kind of alternative interpretation of the plot and, to some extent, a return to the author’s original intent.
Acquaintances say that I’m a kamikaze: I took on Stierlitz — practically already a folkloric, legendary hero! In response, I say only one thing: “This is a play, friends, not a movie.” This is a completely different matter, a different energy, a different form of creative existence. On stage, as a director, I have access to what any, even the most talented film lacks — live contact, resonance with the audience here and now. It’s a completely different feeling.
— How did the work with the material go? After all, the novel is very extensive. How did you identify the main points, what did you rely on when selecting scenes?
— I always rely on the resonance that a particular text evokes in my consciousness, in my soul. All my plays and films are my stories; they are about me. In the past few years, I have studied a lot of documents, memoirs, and testimonies about the Second World War and the Nuremberg Trials.
At Moderna, we have released three plays dedicated to this period: “The Man with Mozart’s Eyes”. “We don’t need flowers” and “Night in Lisbon”. In each of them, I tried to look at the horrors of fascism from a new perspective. “Seventeen Moments of Spring” fits into this mosaic as the final piece. With this production, I put a full stop on the military theme for myself.
— Have you consulted with experts, military museums, archives? If so, which ones?
— Yes, I communicated with experts — military historians, consultants, intelligence historians, and sometimes with participants of those long-ago events. I read documents from the entire period — from 1928 to 1946. While working on the play, it is important to recreate the atmosphere of wartime Germany.
By the way, one of the most striking thoughts that stayed with me after this many years of immersing myself in the subject is how fortunate we are not to know the whole truth about that war. The truth about the war is monstrous. It is destructive to the human soul, to human nature. So, for me, “Seventeen Moments of Spring” is a novel about the role of the individual in history.
Tickets for the performance can be purchased using the service “Mosbilet”.
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