Tchaikovsky

Starring the remarkable Innokenti Smoktunovsky in the title role, this film is completely unlike the Ken Russell debacle 'The Music Lovers.' Talankin's film is absolutely breathtaking in its fidelity to the story of the composer's life as I know it from numerous sources. The resemblance of Smoktunovsky to Tchaikovsky is striking and it's very easy to suspend disbelief and imagine one is watching the composer himself -- and in color!

The film doesn't try to go far afield from simply telling the facts of the composer's life, but then it really doesn't have to: the true story is vastly interesting. Brought to life splendidly are Nadejda von Meck, the Rubinsteins, Hermann Laroche -- all those characters familiar from the musical life of Russia in the late 19th century. Executive Producer Dmitri Tiomkin returned to Russia to arrange and conduct the soundtrack before such cultural exchanges became commonplace. Tiomkin's work with Tchaikovsky's music is respectful and also highly creative at the same time. While 'Tchaikovsky' is certainly not as fanciful as Hollywood or Ken Russell it's all the more rewarding for it.

That is correct. i deem this film to be the worst I've ever seen in my life. and im not a new comer on the scene. i am also an ardent tchaikovskyite. so i would have been more than glad to give this movie high praise if indeed it was worthy of it. what makes a good movie? it moves. it makes you want to see what happens next. it has a cohesive narrative that is logical and persuasive. i have never relegated a movie to be the worst ever till now. the cinematography is terrible. the story line is an unlikely jumble. there is little veracity here. its music making and performances are nil. i was barely able to watch this movie once a year ago. there is nothing in it that would want me to see it again. so it sits on the shelf. the portrayals were wooden and unlifelike. by golly, "the music lovers" was a cinematic masterpiece next to this, travesty of tchaikovsky's life as it was. it still was entertaining. i don't know where these Russian directors get their training but i can tell you that any American or English director would have done a much better job. in reading some of the other reviews i felt that i was living on another planet. give this movie high praise and extol it to the skies? beats me thats for sure. i relegate this one to the trash bin. a complete and total disappointment.

the reasons to see this film are many. each-in same measure-important. the first - Innokenti Smokturovski. the great artist. and the impressive interpreter of fundamental characters. the second - Tchaikovsky portrait. realistic, touching and the perfect guide for discover his music as reflection of long and painful war against himself. not the last, the atmosphere. special, authentic, delicate and precise recreated. a film who propose the spirit of a period. the steps of a life. sure, not for the expectations of too many viewers. because, like each Russian film, it is, first, a homage. impressive for the care to give the essence of a work and love and passion and sadness and forms of hope. a film like a reflection. about the purpose of a not ordinary existence.

"Music of passion" is a biopic about (the last thirty years) of the life of the Russian classical composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

The film is told in series of more or less independent episodes. Maybe for every Russian the story of the life of Tchaikovsky is well known, but for Western eyes this way of telling the story is a little confusing.

It is generally believed that Tchaikovsky was a homosexual, but in the Russia of 1970 it was still difficult to be frank about this fact (as it still is in the Russia of 2021 I think). More surprising to me was the fact that in Russia Tschaikovsky is mainly seen as a composer of opera's and not so much of symphonies. The opera's of "Jevgeni Onjegin" and "Queen of spades" play an important role in the film.

As may be expected in a biopic about a composer the music is very beautiful. The cinematography is also OK, especially in the scene with the coach riding through a birch forest (the symbol of Russia's vastness). There is however nothing more kindly to report about this film. The acting is rigid and the dialogue is bombastic.

All in all "Music of passion" is no match for other biopics about composers such as "Amadeus" (1984, Milos Forman, about Mozart) or "Immortal beloved" (1994, Bernard Rose, about Beethoven). I saw "Music for passion" in a program with three films from Russia in the movie house of the city where I live. With directors such as Sergei Eisenstein, Mikhail Kalatozov and Andrei Tarkovsky I I really wondered if "Music of passion" was the right choice for this program.

I will remember this movie all my life.I watched it twice on the 80s in a movie club.One with my friends and the other with my dad,a real fan of Tchaikowski as myself.Two days in a row because it was so moving,so wonderfully made,I had to watch it again.I wonder why I didn't find it on cable in all these years!

All the biographical musical movies are better made out of Hollywood ,I must say.Hollywood is too much show and fantasy,but this version of Tchaikowski's life is so close to his actual history you can't help to believe you are actually watching Piotr Yllich living his life than an actor playing a part.

I will always keep in my mind the scene beside the water where he was writing the 4th Symphony in the times of Nadezhda Von Meck,his benefactor.So poetical,so deep and without words.Only music and a beautiful sight.Great photography!If you didn't watch this movie,do.If you like Tchaikowski,you won't regret it.