I wanted to share my "coup de coeur" around my discovery of this brillant film produced by Donald Rosenfeld who brought us 4 masterpieces from James Ivory, including his best "Remains of the Day".
This is another delicate and smart story adapted from Anton Chekhov's novella THE DUEL.
Absolutely superb performances, brillantly shot by Dover Kosashvili.
I was about to write a lavish review when I found this one, by Michael Phillips, a Chicago Tribune Movie critic. I cannot...
"The vibrant new film adaptation of the Anton Chekhov novella The Duel...nails also the essential qualities of comic indolence and dangerous yearning in Chekhov, which have proved so elusive time after time, in adaptation after adaptation.... The Duel looks beautiful, but it is not merely so. It doesn't carry the baggage of an important adaptation; it's deft, droll and languorously sexy.... This film is indeed something like a miracle." - Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune [Read the r...
Director: Dover Kosashvili.
The pivot point is an emotional and psychological triangle: a civil servant, Laevsky (Andrew Scott, appalling and appealing); his married mistress, Nadya (Fiona Glascott, a milky beauty); and a zoologist, Von Koren (Tobias Menzies, suitably rigid). The story gets going with Laevsky bitterly complaining about Nadya to an older friend, a doctor, Samoylenko (Niall Buggy). Laevsky claims to no longer care for Nadya, who, having left her husband, now inspires her lover’s contempt or, perhaps, fatigue. Like a caged animal, he wants out and claws at Samoylenko as Von Koren watches and seethes, stoking his loathing for Laevsky. For his part, by cutting to Nadya during Laevsky’s rant and capping the scene with a disapproving look from Von Koren, Mr. Kosashvili suggests that his own sympathies are divided.
I wanted to share my "coup de coeur" around my discovery of this brillant film produced by Donald Rosenfeld who brought us 4 masterpieces from James Ivory, including his best "Remains of the Day".This is another delicate and smart story adapted from Anton Chekhov's novella THE DUEL.Absolutely superb performances, brillantly shot by Dover Kosashvili.I was about to write a lavish review when I found this one, by Michael Phillips, a Chicago Tribune Movie critic. I cannot resist ...
Tuesday, January 2----The New York Times Arts and Leisure Weekend, which begins this coming Friday, is fast becoming one of New York’s most anticipated cultural events of the new year. With a mix of discussions, panels, concert performances and other delights in the fields of theater, dance, film and music, the Weekend is bringing a post-Holidays lift to the Big Apple.
The Arts and Leisure Weekend will present several film programs….a combination of screenings of some of the year’s most...
With the worldwide simultaneous release today of THE DA VINCI CODE across the globe, a question lingers in the air: Did Cannes kill The Code? Or more specificially, did the buildup and hype surrounding the Cannes opening create such a high expectation that the film will suffer from disappointed critics and viewers?While the mass hysteria over THE DA VINCI CODE has passed into memory in Cannes with all the subtlety of a hangover after too much champagne, the industry waits with bated breath the b...
With the worldwide simultaneous release today of THE DA VINCI CODE across the globe, a question lingers in the air: Did Cannes kill The Code? Or more specificially, did the buildup and hype surrounding the Cannes opening create such a high expectation that the film will suffer from disappointed critics and viewers?
While the mass hysteria over THE DA VINCI CODE has passed into memory in Cannes with all the subtlety of a hangover after too much champagne, the industry waits with bated breath th...
