The film crew for“Mer Bak 3” was feeling pretty sure yesterday. It was clear that they were satisfied with their work and they said the following a couple of times at the conference at “Moscow” cinema theatre. “See for yourselves.” The theatre was full of people during the premiere. Everyone knew from the beginning that much had been done.
What was the budget for the film and did the actors get paid well? Producer of the film and owner of the “Sharm Holding” Ruben Jaghinyan said a few words about these questions: “It’s simple math-if we add “Mer Bak 1”, “Mer Bak 2” and an x amount of money, we will have the budget for “Mer Bak 3”. Actor Hrant Matevosyan stated that the actors and technicians working on the film were not even thinking about the salaries during filming. “Mer Bak 3” was really an expensive film because it has special effects, a variety of decorations, animation and choreography.
The premiere of the film was shown in Moscow a couple of days ago and it will be shown in Los Angeles on December 20. According to director Hrant Movsisyan, “Mer Bak 4” will be filmed in 2007 since this is loved by the people. “The film talks about the problems facing residents of Yerevan. Our bak (yard) is our city where we see everyone. “Mer Bak” must turn into a soap opera because it brings up a lot of questions. If I have the financial resources, I will make another film like this,” said Mr. Movsisyan. According to the permanent resident of “Mer Bak” and actor Rafayel Kotanjyan, all the problems of Yerevan are in that one film which is a classical version-the plot, time and place are united as one. “Mer Bak” is one huge world centralized in a small yard. The residents are the same; some characters that are actual are featured in the film. The place where the residents gather is the same place, which the residents like to call “besetka” (an open tent). As always, Hrant Tokhatyan is playing the role of a man of an unknown age and has nothing to do. He calls himself boy and panics when he finds out that the name of the dog that has moved with the new resident Shushan Petrosyan is also “Boy”. When Shushan calls her dog “boy”, Hrant stands up immediately. As in all the “Mer Bak” films, H. Tokhatyan loves children and is scared of women. In a word, “Mer Bak” is beloved by the residents of Yerevan and is watched with laughter and applause.