Onegin (1999)

Directed by his sister (Martha), Ralph Fiennes portrays the unfulfilled, philandering, "Onegin" who has just inherited a large estate from his uncle. Shortly after he arrives at his new stately pile, he meets his neighbour "Lensky" (Toby Stephens) and is also introduced to "Tatiana" (Liv Tyler). Now she falls a bit hook, line and sinker for him but he doesn't really reciprocate. His character seems incapable of deep thinking, or emotions or just about anything beyond the superficiality of his wealthy but empty existence. The thing is, that's about the height of this rather good looking but sterile drama. It's based on Pushkin's cleverly observational poem and it does look every inch the opulent and grand piece of cinema, but the characterisations here are remarkably under-developed and shallow and the plot dances all over the place as if it were doing the polka too. At times, it's as if I was watching through a thick pane of glass looking at something that has very little real about it. A fairy tale, almost. The film does present us with a glimpse of the almost feudal system that still prevailed in Czar Alexander's vast and contrasting Russia, with millions of people living in twig-built lean-tos whilst the brightly coloured palaces offered the wealthy and privileged an altogether different life, and it was good to see a few brief appearances from Irene Worth ("Princess Alina") but I felt by the end just as uninvolved in these characterisations as "Onegin" had been at the start. It's all just a bit too chilly.