Les trois soeurs

In turn of the century rural Russia, the aristocratic daughters of a dead colonel each have their own dreams and aspirations.

Laurence Olivier's own stagey adaptation of Anton Chekhov's play has at times some minimal sets and stage decoration. Adapted from one of Chekhov's best known plays makes for an overlong and at times tedious viewing. There is something cliched in this well intentioned film does little to elevate the cliches.

Having a Russian background, I saw many productions of one of the most famous Chekhov's plays. I'd say the Olivier's "Three sisters" is the best of all I've ever seen. Even if there are some inaccuracies in details related to the Russian 19th century realities, the Olivier's n-depth understanding of the complicated Chekhov's work is amazing.

Laurence Olivier was justifiably proud of his National Theatre company and this film is essentially a showcase, designed to replicate the type of ensemble playing for which Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre was renowned. It was there that Chekhov's 'Three Sisters' was first performed in 1901 with his wife Olga Knipper in the role of Masha.

Olivier's fortunes had been in decline of late with dwindling Old Vic audiences, the theatrical disasters wrought by Kenneth Tynan and the toll taken on his health by overwork.

You cannot keep a good man down of course and he summoned up sufficient strength, energy and technique to both direct this and reprise his role of the amiable army surgeon Chebutikin. The cast from the stage production remains the same with the exception of Alan Bates as Vershinin who has been drafted in to replace an ailing Robert Stephens.

The entire cast is simply splendid but of course Olivier, Bates and Joan Plowright as Masha possess that indefinable 'something' which sets them apart.

Watching this piece always calls to mind Gershwin's lyric "More skies of grey than any Russian play can guarantee." There are various sub-plots here but the main theme is the failure of two of the sisters to ever realise their dream of going to Moscow. Irina doesn't really love Tusenbach but will marry him anyway which makes their parting when he goes off to fight a duel even more poignant. Masha and Vershinin are fated never to be together whilst Natasha is resigned to a life with lapdog Andrei.

Positivity abounds however with Tusenbach talking excitably about a healthy storm arising and Vershinin seeming to think that wars are a thing of the past! Cruelly ironic of course with WW1 a few years away not to mention another peak of human insanity known as the Russian revolution.

This is a studio version of a stage production which by its very nature falls between two stools and cannot be wholly satisfactory but it is lovingly made and this piece, as with all of the plays of Chekhov, who declared that 'a writer must be humane to his fingertips', will never cease to cast its spell. Moura Budberg is an ideal choice as adaptor and had previously worked on 'The Seagull' of Sidney Lumet. Mention must be made of the lovely score by William Walton, without which no film directed by Olivier would be complete.

The film was not the success for which Olivier had hoped but bearing in mind the attention span and literacy level of the average cinema-goer one is hardly surprised.

A fine, sensitive filming of a fine stage production of Chekhov's masterpiece THE THREE SISTERS. A few of the actors are a bit too broad and stagey (especially the oldest sister, the schoolteacher), reflecting inexperience acting for the camera, but that's a minor flaw.

What's up with the sound? I rented the DVD and the sound track is terrible for a film from this period. It's hard to make out some of the dialogue, especially when a character turns away from the camera. I hate having to strain to hear dialogue, especially dialogue by Chekhov! It seems to be a recording problem. The film was shot on what seem to be massive stage sets. This family's provincial home looks roughly the size of the Winter Palace. I'm guessing the cavernous sets swallowed up and muffled the dialogue, resulting in the poor sound quality.

Aside from the deficiencies of the sound (and there's no excuse for such a problem in a production from 1970 -- fire that sound engineer!) it's a great production of a gently funny and bittersweet classic play.

It is remarkable how deeply interesting and moving is Chekhov's play about a small-town Russian family, longing to move to Moscow. Yet the playwright crafts with such affection and love for his characters that the viewer is hypnotized by the unfoldment.

With a production obviously based on a beautiful stage production, Laurence Olivier co-directs with John Sickel a most engrossing presentation.

Among the outstanding cast, Joan Plowright's Masha, Alan Bates' Col. Vershinin, and Olivier's Dr. Chebutikin are outstanding. The beautiful cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth apparently utilize much of the stage sets, yet they merely add to the overall effectiveness.

Few cuts are made, as the production offers a comprehensive view of this work. Part of the American Film Theatre's series of 1970, "The Three Sisters" is a memorable experience. One longs for a re-release of this fine achievement.