A Escrava do Amor

The good old Mikhalkov-Adabashian-Lebeshev trio means that you get expert - and a bit Western- directing, masterly done design and great camerawork. The cast is superb. There is a great deal of suspense in this movie although the counter-espionage is a mere backdrop for a more reflective look at human nature during the trials and tribulations of love and war.

it is one of Mikhalkov great titles. beautiful, melancholic, seductive. picture from old photo-album. part of a Rusian manner to discover the challenges of history. a film team. the Revolution. and a love story. extraordinary music. and political correct message. in fact, isles of delicate poetry. at first sigh, it is a picture by Seurat. because , not only the atmosphere but the crumbs of reality behind gestures/words of characters transforms the film in a collection of dots of pure color. indeed, it is director spirit, exercise to save traces of lost Russia but, in same time, homage to first steps of cinema.and the performance of Elena Solovey remains touching soul of this remarkable movie . because, more than a film, it is question, basic question in gloomy times - who is the duty of artist in the clash of worlds ? the answer is out of film.

"Raba lyubvi" - called "Slave of Love" in English - portrays silent screen star Olga Voznesenskaya (Yelena Solovey) getting caught up in the 1917 revolution. She's trying to reconnect with a former lover, but the surrounding events complicate everything. What the movie's title shows is that Olga is not only a slave of love, but also of world events, of her career, and of her fans (I guess that even under communism - or whatever it was - people turn into celebrity fetishists!). As often happens in Soviet-era movies, there's a lot of exaggerated facial expressions. Director Nikita Mikhalkov appears as a waiter.

Well-acted, nicely photographed, believable, this near-melodrama is remarkable for its comparatively realistic portrayal of character and personality on each side in the Russian Civil War (which immediately followed the second Russian Revolution, Lenin's Bolshevik take-over in the Autumn of 1917). See it, though, not so much for a surprising insight into crumbling Soviet ideology in 1976 (so early!) as for a very human, very touching love story.

This movie gives great insight into the history and politics of Russia during 1916-1917. Not knowing much about these things, it gave me an inside perspective into the attitudes of both the educated activist and the naive young woman. It is interesting to see the main character change throughout the film from a happy yet self centered actress to a woman with a heavy heart. This movie struggles to keep your attention, but it is worth your while.

I am left pondering the title of this film. Is Olga a slave to the love she feels for her love interest, which pulls her into a politically charged situation she can't escape? Or is she a slave to the love of her country and for this reason abandons all hopes of going to Paris and leaving her country behind?