| As cold and
dull as a Russian winter, Onegin aims to please only the
snootiest of film-lovers. Set to make its major debut on the
Starz television network (after a pointless one-week,
Oscar-qualifying run in New York and Los Angeles), the film
stars Ralph Fiennes (The Avengers) and is directed by his
sister Martha and scored by his brother Magnus. Magnus…and
you though Ralph was a pretentious name.
Based on Alexander Pushkin's
lengthy 1823 poem, Onegin takes place in Russia during the
early part of the 1800s. Fiennes plays the titular Yevgeny
Onegin, a St. Petersburg playboy that inherits the entire
estate of his wealthy uncle. Onegin appears as bored with his
life as I was watching it. He has his pick of women and takes
pride in showing other men how easily he can steal their wives
and fiancées. One woman who pours her heart out to him -
Tatyana Larina (Liv Tyler, Plunkett & Macleane) - is
quickly and tactlessly rejected by the smarmy Onegin.
After a victory in a cool
pistol duel (which, ironically, is how Pushkin died in 1837)
and a six-year vacation, Onegin returns to St. Petersburg
ready to profess his love to Tatyana. But, of course, he's too
late - Tatyana has married. The story may have seemed fresh
back in 1823, but it's a real yawner today. Onegin was
actually filmed twice before, in 1911 as a silent Russian
short and in 1959 as a Russian feature, but is probably best
known in this country as a Tchaikovsky overture.
Fiennes is perfectly cast as
the frosty Onegin. He shows as much range and emotion as Walt
Disney, but that's the fault of the role more than the actor
(I think). An Oscar nominee last year, Remi Adefarasin
provides chilly camera work and has now had the pleasure of
working with four of the Fiennes (sibling Joseph dulled up the
joint in Elizabeth). Poor Remi probably had to be talked down
off of the roof after this one, muttering that
"Ralph" is supposed to be pronounced with the
"L."
They say that a decent
English translation of Pushkin's poem has never existed and
Onegin does nothing but perpetuate the myth. Plus, I can't
stop thinking of Robert DeNiro's Rupert Pupkin (from The King
of Comedy) whenever I see that name. And don't get me started
on the name Yevgeny, which sounds like "F. Genni."
Whose Genni? I don't know, but "F" him. It's almost
as dumb as "Raif."
Thankfully, the film is
short for a stuffy period piece. If you take out the
obligatory dancing scenes, you would be left with a half-hour
movie. And that wouldn't be such a bad thing. Onegin fails
where last year's family affair This is My Father - with
Aidan, Paul and Declan Quinn contributing to the production -
succeeded. Father was like a bright, warm ball of light while
Onegin is a bitter, cold shard of ice.
1:46 -  for violence and adult situations |
