Love Russian film and have a soft spot for the Russian language (a beautiful one, though it takes time to get your head around the phonetic alphabet, the symbols, the stresses and the hard and soft signs), having studied singing in it on my vocal and operatic studies course. The story here in 'Mathilde' was an interesting one. So decided to see it as choice film of the night with my sister on Amazon.
My sister did find it a little more interesting than me, though she didn't have prior knowledge to the story (or of the Russian language other than hearing me sing in it) before watching, compared to me having knowledge of some of it. As for me, do have to agree with those who were really let down, some insulted, by 'Mathilde'. Not irredeemable but there is a lot wrong with it, more wrong than there is right. It has been rightly said that much of, well almost all of, 'Mathilde' is a fabrication or at least heavily fictionalised. The often gross liberties did make a lot of it far less plausible and increasingly difficult to take seriously, but actually there is far more to the problem than the lack of historical accuracy.
Credit is due that 'Mathilde' is a visually stunning film. The period detail, interiors and exteriors, are mounted exquisitely and makes one envious and the costumes are also a sumptuous visual feast evocative to period. All complemented by beautiful, if sometimes too "artsy", cinematography.
The music, always an important asset for me to talk about when reviewing films, is both lush and atmospheric, like a character of its own in its best bits and having a presence without being over-bearing. It starts off reasonably intriguingly, though this doesn't last for long.
However, 'Mathilde' succeeds badly in having a potentially interesting story and making it often deadly dull. The pace is lifeless with too many scenes going on for far too long in a rather ostentatious way and some of the film felt like padding. Some of it unnecessary and at other points confusing. Too much of the story is soapy and melodramatic, with no tension or emotion, to the point of unintentional silliness (the climax being absurdly over-the-top). The script is stilted and like something out of a bad stale soap opera, as well as being over-speculative and devoid of any emotion.
Didn't care or believe for any of the characters (that's including the central couple), none of them come over as real or are given any depth. Some add absolutely nothing to the story too and either complicate it or make the film more over-the-top than it already is. The direction gets the style right but when it comes to the substance it falls completely flat on its face from the get go, with scenes intended to be intense or moving, like the train crash or the climax, having nothing to them. The acting is not much better, with a bland female lead and cartoonish "villains", as well as Nicholas being played far too stiffly. Nicholas' father is the best acted of the lot (to me that is) but is not in it much. The chemistry between the two leads isn't there either, some of it looking under-rehearsed.
Overall, disappointing with a good deal of interest botched by weak execution. 3/10 Bethany Cox
