Kreutzer Sonata (1987)
A revelatory discussion on a train. Based on Leo Tolstoy's novel of the same name.
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Load of rubbish!!
It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
The original novel has been a breakthrough for the time and, in many of its aspects, remains relevant nowadays. I am a Russian speaker, but hopefully anyone can appreciate the superb rendering of the ambivalent protagonist. Another powerful performance by Oleg Yankovsky - a reason already good enough to recommend the film.
When I read the gut-wrenching book of Tolstoy I got totally influenced. It is one of the best books I have ever read. Though I did not love the movie still I find myself lucky at least I saw the adaptation. Chop off thirty minutes and trim the background scenes to the storyteller it could have been a great movie. Actually the first 45 minutes is totally öloyal to the book. On a train a couple of people starts discussing family life,women,sexuality, marriage etc.. When a woman told "the underlying reason for the plight of women is because they marry not for love" the story-teller gets involved in the story and he tells how he killed his wife and all the lateral process.. Actually a small novella which describes a discussion on a train so it could be more of theater than a movie but what is really worse the director made it tediously long!For example when the story-teller says "But in this same honeymoon there came a period of satiety, in which we ceased to be necessary to each other, and a new quarrel broke out. It became evident that the first was not a matter of chance." the movie doesn't have to reflect a similar scene in the background but everywhere detailed background scenes! Unfortunately I see once again that Soviet motion-pictures cannot cinematize their own literal products! I say you should not watch the movie before reading the book