Onegin (Import, All Regions)

Love this movie. One of my favorite stories. Ralph Fienes is captivating as always and Liv Tyler holds her own. A very relatable tale of unrequited love and regret.

Having never read the novel in verse on which this is based, I regard the story by its own merit. 'Onegin' is a haunting, passionate, beautiful, and unforgettable tale of unrequited love. The film follows the tragic story of Evgene Onegin (Ralph Fiennes), a Russian playboy who catches the eye of innocent Tatyana (Liv Tyler). Rejecting her confession of love, Onegin is lead to commit a spontanious action which leads to eventual tragedy, his seperation from Tatyana, and their reunion years later after her marriage to his cousin, a czar. The film ends with a powerful climax very different from most productions of this nature.With lush costuming, beautiful cinematography, and rock-solid performances from a fantastic cast, 'Onegin' is an unusual kind of film. Moving along at a measured pace, it demands patience but also evokes obsession. We cringe at the inevitable, shed a few tears, and cheer at the final conflict. It's a story of love, tragedy, circumstance, and choices. I came into it with sincere doubt, certain my hopes would be dashed. For once I was pleasantly surprised at the restraint and dignity shown in the production and its conclusion. When all other aspects are stripped away, it becomes a tale of a woman's honor. It's not a subject often breached, and for this element alone hold my admiration and praise.It also has one of the most stunningly picturesque and yet chillingly horrific dueling scenes I've ever witnessed on film. The emotion and intensity of the tragic cold winter morning on the docks builds to an inevitable climax and shows the profound sorrow that follows in the wake of a terrible mistake. I much appreciated witnessing the victor's anger, frustration, and sorrow over what he was forced to do in order to defend his good name. Was the outcome by chance or intention? Perhaps we'll never know.Fiennes' sister directed the film and his claims that she has a "sensual power" over the camera are true. Every frame is full of romantic intensity. I do question her reasoning for moments of complete silence and the soundtrack at times is grating on the nerves, but overall I was very impressed.

This is Pushkin's story about Tatiana, a young, naive girl who is swept off her feet by Onegin, a handsome young stranger who comes to visit along with her older sister Olga's fiance Lensky. Tatiana and her sister live with their mother on a large estate outside of St. Petersburg, Russia. Lensky lives on a neighboring estate, and Onegin is his new friend who has just inherited his uncle's neighboring estate.Onegin is a blase, irresponsible, and too-rich young man who scandalizes his new neighbors when he says he intends to give each of his tenant farmers their own farm. Onegin is not really a radical social reformer, he's just too damned lazy to run the estate himself.That night, Tatiana can't sleep because of her fascination with this new neighbor. After passing the night in self-torturing romantic agony, she impulsively dashes off a letter pledging her undying love to Onegin, and quickly gives it to a courier before she has a chance to change her mind.That morning Onegin appears at the door, and in the only decent thing he does in the story, lets Tatiana down gently, saying they could never make it together because of their very dissimilar natures. Tatiana, of course, is devastated.Things come to a head at Lensky's and Olga's engagement ball, when Onegin shamelessly flirts with his friend's fiancee and acts so boorishly that the hot-headed Lensky challenges Onegin to a duel. Onegin has obviously done this before, and next morning handily dispatches his new best friend. But now Onegin realizes with horror what he's done, and realizes that the silly game of life he's been playing can have real, disastrous consequences.Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler are perfectly cast as Onegin and Tatiana, as are Toby Stephens as Lensky, and all the other members of the cast. The filming in and around St. Petersburg, Russia soon after the fall of the USSR is spectacular, on a par with "Doctor Zhivago" (which was filmed in Spain, complete with fake snow).There are interesting interviews-with and making-of featurettes that you should also watch. The only distraction I found was that all the verbiage surrounding the feature is in Korean. There are Korean subtitles for the movie. But once you are inside the feature, all navigation is in English.

So when does a movie stop in the middle and leave you with no closure? When you watch Onegin! It's really slow at the get go and then when you think the movie it finally going to pick up and get good it stops! And stops with no real conclusion as to what's going to happen to all involved! I did not like this movie one bit! I was highly disappointed and would recommend that people see anything else.