I watched 'Onegin' twice in the space of two days, and I have to admit that the first time I watched the film - I hated it. I found it poorly written, slowly paced with huge jumps in plotline and character development - and just a bit of a waste of film. The second time I watched the film, I discovered a second level which enhanced a lot of the features that I felt were lacking on a first viewing.
For example, on the first viewing, I didn't realise how important costume and setting were to character development - and Martha Fiennes has worked well with symbolism to present the complete turnarounds in both Tatyana and Onegin's character - especially in the big 6 year jump in the film's narrative. Tatyana's dresses become more flamboyant as the film progresses (in fact, the first time we observe her she could almost be mistaken for a peasant with the headscarf, but by the end of the film she is far closer to Olga and her mother in style). She wears increasing amounts of jewellery as the film progresses also, representing her increasing desire to impress. However, she is still the same character and is still true to her original belief to repel any sense of adultery. This sort of symbolism is extremely important to the characters in 'Onegin', and is quite possibly overlooked on a first screening.
The film is also beautifully shot, a lot of it on location in Russia, which means the snow covered streets of Petersburg look little short of stunning on the screen. One of the films final scenes, where Onegin declares his undying love for Tatyana, is astoundingly beautiful, with the black of Onegin contrasting perfectly with the white of Tatyana - showing that they could not be further apart from each other, despite the mutual attraction. The social situation that pressured Tatyana into marriage makes any kind of formal relationship impossible.
However, I found the film quite poorly written, and the addition of a handful of one liners from Onegin took away from the potential seriousness of scenes. The writers may argue that they were trying to further the representation of Onegin as a sarcastic man apart from society - but I thought they were cheap tricks to get a giggle from the audience. Without the symbolism, the characters were quite poorly written, with no real reason for Onegin's sudden changes of heart or a decent image made out of the actual social pressure that girls of the period were put under to marry. The only scene which begins to extend on this is a comic one, so it doesn't really have the desired effect.
I think personal taste also comes into my apparent slight distaste for this film. It would not be the sort of film that I would watch out of choice.
6/10
For example, on the first viewing, I didn't realise how important costume and setting were to character development - and Martha Fiennes has worked well with symbolism to present the complete turnarounds in both Tatyana and Onegin's character - especially in the big 6 year jump in the film's narrative. Tatyana's dresses become more flamboyant as the film progresses (in fact, the first time we observe her she could almost be mistaken for a peasant with the headscarf, but by the end of the film she is far closer to Olga and her mother in style). She wears increasing amounts of jewellery as the film progresses also, representing her increasing desire to impress. However, she is still the same character and is still true to her original belief to repel any sense of adultery. This sort of symbolism is extremely important to the characters in 'Onegin', and is quite possibly overlooked on a first screening.
The film is also beautifully shot, a lot of it on location in Russia, which means the snow covered streets of Petersburg look little short of stunning on the screen. One of the films final scenes, where Onegin declares his undying love for Tatyana, is astoundingly beautiful, with the black of Onegin contrasting perfectly with the white of Tatyana - showing that they could not be further apart from each other, despite the mutual attraction. The social situation that pressured Tatyana into marriage makes any kind of formal relationship impossible.
However, I found the film quite poorly written, and the addition of a handful of one liners from Onegin took away from the potential seriousness of scenes. The writers may argue that they were trying to further the representation of Onegin as a sarcastic man apart from society - but I thought they were cheap tricks to get a giggle from the audience. Without the symbolism, the characters were quite poorly written, with no real reason for Onegin's sudden changes of heart or a decent image made out of the actual social pressure that girls of the period were put under to marry. The only scene which begins to extend on this is a comic one, so it doesn't really have the desired effect.
I think personal taste also comes into my apparent slight distaste for this film. It would not be the sort of film that I would watch out of choice.
6/10