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Onegin
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by Studio / Sterling
Sales Rank: 28881
Price: $104.98
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Given that for Russians, Pushkin's poem <I>Eugene Onegin</I> is sort of like <I>Hamlet</I>, <I>Beowulf</I>, and Lord Byron's <I>Don Juan</I> rolled into one melancholy tale of lost love and ennui among the gentry, it's surprising Russian filmmakers have balked at adapting the film. Having taken a stage production of <I>Hamlet</I> to Russia where it was rapturously received, self-confessed Slavophile actor Ralph Fiennes must have thought he was making reparation when he executive-produced and starred in this faithful adaptation of the film. With Martha Fiennes on board as director, it's something of a family affair with more than a little of the solemnity one often discovers in "personal projects". Pushkin's romanticism comes across amply, but little of his ferocious wit or, inevitably, the authorial voice that makes the poem so compelling, even in translation. Ralph Fiennes typecasts himself in the title role: his Onegin is yet another of the actor's wintry, haunted lovers in period dress (this time early 19th century). The character, a jaded <I>roué</I> from St. Petersburg, summers in the countryside where he inadvertently wins the heart of the impulsive Tatyana (Liv Tyler, the girl they book when Gwyneth Paltrow's busy). Onegin's casual attitude to her love leads to a tragic duel (magnificently tense and perfectly staged), and years later a chance meeting stirs up feelings of regret, triumph, and moral queasiness. Tears well in eyes, letters are sent and read, furs are ruffled in the snow. This is the highbrow end of costume drama: patrician in its literary purity, and rather admirable in its restraint and good taste, if a little dull. <I>--Leslie Felperin</I>
Viewer Reviews
I was drawn to this movie after seeing Marthe Fiennes latest work: Chromophobia.
Liv Tyler is absolutely gorgeous to watch but she is wooden and bland. No doubt this would not have become apparent should she have been paired with less seasoned and brilliant actors, but in the company of Ralf Fiennes, Toby Stevens, and the like, she is clearly out of her depth. She did the best she could and clearly gave a performance that stretched her prior abilities, but the director might be the one to thank for this.
Her body movement is clearly American and she, unlike someone like Rachel Weiz who can both look gorgeous AND convey intellectual fortitude, is not convincing as an avid reader and Old World aristocrat.
I didn't think there was much chemistry between her and Ralph Fiennes. There were more sparks flying in the 1 minute of screen time he shared with Francesca Annis, his real-life girlfriend at the time, then in the whole movie with Liv Tyler.
Outside of that, the movie is superb, directing and acting-wise, the music is wonderful. Those Fiennes kids are a talented bunch!
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Onegin
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