howardross

Shostakovich is my favorite composer after Alfred Schnittke but I had only heard not seen the opera. He wrote the lead role for Galina Vishnevskaya wife of Rostropovich who sings this performance. Nicolai Gedda sings the role of Sergei. The film is obviously not big budget as you can tell from the titles and other things but they are good performances all around and I like the sets, costumes and stylish film work. there are not really any special features on the disk but I was just glad to finally be able to see the opera. I think it was probably more entertaining than just watching a filmed stage version.

This film is done to high standards - the story's convincing, the acting's right on and the cinematography is fine. Tolyan is charming despite his great faults and you can understand why Katya stands by him. Katya's motherly love and her need for Tolyan are well depicted. Tolyan is not a pure user and in his own dysfunctional way wants to help Sanya mature as a male. Tolyan has mixed feelings about Tolyan but looks up to him as a male figure. In short this movie is good at exposing the feelings and motivations of it's characters. It's marvelous that Sanya's character is so well played by such a young actor.