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ONEGIN Send This Review to a Friend
The film adaptation of Alexander Pushkin's verse novel, which begins in 1820s Russia, is a Fiennes family affair. Ralph Fiennes acts the leading role, his sister Martha Fiennes has directed and their brother Magnus Fiennes has done the scoring. Their combined effort is a partial success. The story, adapted by Michael Ignatieff and Peter Ettedgui, is graced with romantic yearning, a tragic duel and unrequited love, but a heavy hand is sometimes at work in the manner of filming.
The temptation is to drench the drama in visual atmosphere, and there are certainly beautifully photographed country scenes. Fiennes plays Evgeny Onegin, who inherits an estate from his uncle and, with a sense of social responsibility, decides to lease land to the serfs who have been working it. After a tiff with his neighbor Vladimir Lensky (Toby Stephens), the men become good friends, but the friendship is broken when Onegin insults Lensky by frowning upon his fiancee Olga (Lena Headey) as too provincial. Matters are complicated when Olga's beautiful older sister Tatyana (Liv Tyler) falls in love with him and bares her emotions in a letter. But he coldly rejects her. Later, the tables are turned and Onegin becomes so smitten by Tatyana that he begs for her love, but it is too late. She is married to Prince Nikitin (Martin Donovan). And, since we're dealing with the Russian soul in Pushkin's tale, let's not forget the duel that occurs between Onegin and Lensky.
Fiennes succeeds in endowing Onegin with a surly, cynical demeanor, and then when the romantic situation is reversed, an impassioned, desperate air. Tyler is exquisite as the hopelessly-in-love Tatyana, and she manages to project painful regret when she is no longer free to accept Onegin's tardy pursuit. But the last scenes back in St. Petersburg are not as believable as they must be. "Onegin" is absorbing enough but seldom touches the heart despite the suffering of the characters. A Samuel Goldwyn Films release
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