Partitura incompiuta per pianola meccanica

The excellent scenario by Alexander Adabashyan is composed from an early Chekhov's play 'Platonov' together with some unpublished Chekhov stories and diaries. The story of Platonov (Alexander Kalyagin) disillusionment and loosing the love of his youth is created with a great skill. The perfect selection and performance of cast, subtle camera-work and a beautiful Russian nature as a background make film extremely enjoyable and convincing.

The portrayal of pre-revolutionary 'intelligentsia', the degraded nobility and arising peasants bourgeoisie is full of bitter sarcasm and irony, unfortunately comprehensible only to those familiar with Russian culture and language. The ostensible conflict between old stiff nobility and impotent trendy younger gentry movement - narodniks (populists) is shown with a splendid humor by two brilliant actors: Yury Bogatyryov (Sergei Voynicev) and Oleg Tabakov (Pavel Petrovich Sherbuk). One can easily see how much similar they are in fact.

This one of the best Nikita Mikhalkov's films is full of nostalgia and apprehensions about the role and fate of intelligentsia in the subsequent history of Russia. One can clearly sense the decline and decadence of pre-revolutionary life with the deep filling of oncoming tragedy hanging over the people, still enjoying their life as much as they can.

v.beautifully rendered cehov sceneries + ambiance

the film is a a deliciously nuanced afternoon treat whether one comprehends it or not.

human reason has created many grand, yet artificial axioms in order to tame reality and extract meaning ... but none so tiny, yet infinite, as love

winning over love begets one ... meaninglessness and/or suicide

it cannot be directly sought or striven for but it is recognized when it comes and it brings a serenity and graciousness of knowing how small the sense of self is, how transient are its aims and impacts, and how broad is the range of interconnection with other selves by influences too small to be singled out and labeled, yet undeniably acting within -

in the way that a single neuron in cortex 'knows' what is to be done from the field of activity within which it is embedded, without the need to know 'why' or 'what the big picture is'. it is sufficient for a neuron to perform as a neuron is designed to do, and for a woman or man it is enough to know that one has met a challenge or passed 01test without realizing that a test was in progress.

not everyone achieves this state of mind, and it is not communicable in words or by teaching, but it is there and has been written about, and when one arrives, one knows that the future has joined with the past to make a circle outside time.

space folds onto itself. love does as well.

I'm afraid that my poor english will not let me to tell how wonderful and profound movie is this. The actors are brilliant, the script is perfect, the recreation of the atmosphere is a totally success, the dramatic turn is magnific directed, this movie is an all time masterpiece. Believe me! Oh, those Russians!

I saw a movie from a Chekhov play in a college film class decades ago and it was a tedious thing about wealthy boring people prattling on as uninterestingly as possible. So I haven't been eager to see more. I did see an amateur production of a one-act that was quite funny, but I didn't decide to actually track down more Chekhov until I watched the Japanese movie Drive My Car about a guy directing a Chekhov production. It made my girlfriend curious, so I looked into acclaimed Chekhov films and found this one was admired. It was also recommended by an actor friend.

But once again, it's just wealthy people prattling on. They don't say anything interesting. It was just like hanging out with a bunch of dull people as they live their lives. 25 minutes in we couldn't take any more.

I just don't get it. My impression is Chekhov knows his characters are dull and empty-headed but that doesn't make it any more interesting to watch them.

Oh well.

Constantly this film makes you reflect on your own life, your relationships, your place in the world.

This slice of life depicts a day in the life of Russian gentry in the late 19th century, warts and all. They're silly and pensive, boring and fascinating, shallow and profound--in short, a mass of contradictions, like most people really are. If the theme is the path taken, the plot is a glimpse of the path NOT taken.

The photography is gorgeous, and the direction and editing are flawless. What makes the film, what really puts it over, are the superb, subtle, multi-dimensional performances.

There is a scene toward the end of the movie where a character goes careening down a hillside, descending into a fit of madness. The camera just observes, but the scene is completely and totally surreal wholly because of the actor's performance. I cannot recall seeing anything like it ever, either in content or skill.

And the last shot of the movie is absolutely breathtaking in its simplicity, innocence, and composition. Movies don't get much better than this one.