I wanted to love the movie so badly but Liv Tyler's performance kept that from happening. She's a beautiful girl, but she had that "deer in the headlights" look through the whole film. Also, she's got the grace and subtlety of a wrecking ball. I know she was supposed to be a country girl, but sheesh! And I can't think of a single language whose accent would produce "oool" for the English "all" ... Inuit maybe? It's hard to believe one critic pronounced her mastery of an aristocratic accent successful; it kept playing a tense game of hide and seek with my ears.
I wondered to myself how many feet of film were wasted in the creation of that ice skating scene? It seems it could've been so much more powerful with almost anyone in FrankenTyler's place. The only thing that redeemed the scene for me was Ralph's genuine look of devastation at its close. It's really hard to feel the potency of Tyler's unaffected gaze by that point when she's got that look on her face through the WHOLE movie! Ralph's pathos-drenched reaction (how DOES he do that?) to her mediocre action pulled it through. But Ralph shouldn't HAVE to work that hard. A more experienced actress would've pulled her own weight. I should probably just be grateful that Ralph DID have to work that hard and that I was lucky enough to get to see the results.
Enough about that poor Tyler girl! I'll just assume her intentions are good and it's all very Dickensian and she's supporting her poor father and her life is not within her control. Let's just hope that a waning of her interest in acting or a would-be suitor comes quickly along to save her from the degradation in which she too often finds herself when appearing in the same movie with someone talented like Ralph. If she'd stick to playing opposite Keanu Reeves or Antonio Banderas, I think everything would work out fine.
I thought Martha Fiennes' directing was very thoughtful and daring, first feature length effort or not. A couple places left me mildly jarred continuity-wise, but that's so insignificant compared to the many very beautiful and effective scenes I can still feel. I agree with someone who mentioned the strength of the opening sleigh scene. As in Dr. Zhivago and Bram Stoker's Dracula, there's just something really powerful about the sight of a snorting horse running at full throttle, transporting our characters to some unknown fate. I liked the staging and shooting (sorry) of the duel scene very much. It must have taken a lot of control not to have Vladimir go plunging slow motion into the icy water surrounding the action. Martha Fiennes must have quite a bit of confidence and restraint not to go that predictable route merely for the sake of the dramatic shot. The whole story oozes restraint (and its inherent frustrations) and she intelligently replied. Some nice symbolic visual gestures as well -- the moth and fly, the coffin in the closing scene, etc. Just gorgeous direction and camera work overall. She did such a good job of using the sets and locations to their best advantage and utility. Nothing seemed superfluous nor ignored. It all seemed so unified in intent.
Ralph's performance was predictably very good, but I think it could have been superb given even a halfway decent female lead against/with which to work (maybe it's my imagination but I swear I saw him inappropriately gritting his teeth and narrowing an eye! I kept waiting for him to burst out, "I just can't work with this stupid, clumsy girl!"). I know there aren't that many "doe-eyed ingenues" for casting purposes these days, but there had to be SOMEONE else available ... ANYONE! The scenes where Ralph shone were those in which Liv Tyler was completely out of range. Did you notice how few shots had them framed together? Whether this was a directorial decision to support the plot or a last ditch effort to de-emphasize the obvious disparity between the two leads' acting talents I'm not sure.
Also, that notary character seemed just way too angry, no? I think a long day of retakes with Liv might have taken its toll. And do you think it was just a coincidence that the poor girl was always lurking from behind columns, trees, reeds, etc.? I think what we were supposed to read as Tatyana's wary curiosity might have as easily been, in reality, a defensive maneuver on Miss Tyler's part when the other actors finally took to tossing catered goods at her out of sheer frustration ... not that an icy glare from Ralph Fiennes wouldn't be enough to send the poor pretty mouse running for the nearest hiding place!
I would love to see it made again with someone else in the Tatyana role. I sound so critical and I don't wish to. I feel frustrated that this project, so important to Ralph and Martha Fiennes that they'd produce it themselves, was kept from being sublime for me by the work of an inexperienced actress. It was like making homemade buckwheat pancakes then topping 'em off with fake maple syrup. Sure they taste good, but you just KNOW how much better they would've tasted with the real stuff. The Fiennes family I'm sure are, justifiably, extremely proud of their collaboration. Just think how young they all are and how many great things they've still got the time to create!
Pushkin's response, perhaps: "Where did my tragedy go? Who would shed a tear over the loss of that stiff? I mean, she's pretty, but ... where's she from anyway?"
P.S. I think we might have the making of yet another great tragedy here: "Onegin: the Casting of Liv Tyler". Imagine the heated discussions! Imagine the family conflict -- the threats of Boxing Days celebrated separately! In one scene, when faced with the thought of Liv Tyler's unwelcome participation, I see Ralph transformed into an unleashed lion! Spit flies from his twisted maw, "She is NOT Tatyana! This is not my vision of Onegin!" he snarls. He rushes Martha and fiercely bats the script from her hand. Loosed pages fly upwards! Then, mirroring the falling pages, we watch as he slowly, silently succumbs to the gravity of the situation, the resignation drifts down upon him like a heavy snow and that look of utter devastation grips his face in its iron mask. He barely gets hold of the arm of a convenient chair and somehow manages to slump into it. His head crashes into now unclenched hands, he's backlit and then alone on the soundstage, there's the silhouette of a broken man now violently sobbing for the dream that WAS and the reality that IS ... curtain falls.
I wondered to myself how many feet of film were wasted in the creation of that ice skating scene? It seems it could've been so much more powerful with almost anyone in FrankenTyler's place. The only thing that redeemed the scene for me was Ralph's genuine look of devastation at its close. It's really hard to feel the potency of Tyler's unaffected gaze by that point when she's got that look on her face through the WHOLE movie! Ralph's pathos-drenched reaction (how DOES he do that?) to her mediocre action pulled it through. But Ralph shouldn't HAVE to work that hard. A more experienced actress would've pulled her own weight. I should probably just be grateful that Ralph DID have to work that hard and that I was lucky enough to get to see the results.
Enough about that poor Tyler girl! I'll just assume her intentions are good and it's all very Dickensian and she's supporting her poor father and her life is not within her control. Let's just hope that a waning of her interest in acting or a would-be suitor comes quickly along to save her from the degradation in which she too often finds herself when appearing in the same movie with someone talented like Ralph. If she'd stick to playing opposite Keanu Reeves or Antonio Banderas, I think everything would work out fine.
I thought Martha Fiennes' directing was very thoughtful and daring, first feature length effort or not. A couple places left me mildly jarred continuity-wise, but that's so insignificant compared to the many very beautiful and effective scenes I can still feel. I agree with someone who mentioned the strength of the opening sleigh scene. As in Dr. Zhivago and Bram Stoker's Dracula, there's just something really powerful about the sight of a snorting horse running at full throttle, transporting our characters to some unknown fate. I liked the staging and shooting (sorry) of the duel scene very much. It must have taken a lot of control not to have Vladimir go plunging slow motion into the icy water surrounding the action. Martha Fiennes must have quite a bit of confidence and restraint not to go that predictable route merely for the sake of the dramatic shot. The whole story oozes restraint (and its inherent frustrations) and she intelligently replied. Some nice symbolic visual gestures as well -- the moth and fly, the coffin in the closing scene, etc. Just gorgeous direction and camera work overall. She did such a good job of using the sets and locations to their best advantage and utility. Nothing seemed superfluous nor ignored. It all seemed so unified in intent.
Ralph's performance was predictably very good, but I think it could have been superb given even a halfway decent female lead against/with which to work (maybe it's my imagination but I swear I saw him inappropriately gritting his teeth and narrowing an eye! I kept waiting for him to burst out, "I just can't work with this stupid, clumsy girl!"). I know there aren't that many "doe-eyed ingenues" for casting purposes these days, but there had to be SOMEONE else available ... ANYONE! The scenes where Ralph shone were those in which Liv Tyler was completely out of range. Did you notice how few shots had them framed together? Whether this was a directorial decision to support the plot or a last ditch effort to de-emphasize the obvious disparity between the two leads' acting talents I'm not sure.
Also, that notary character seemed just way too angry, no? I think a long day of retakes with Liv might have taken its toll. And do you think it was just a coincidence that the poor girl was always lurking from behind columns, trees, reeds, etc.? I think what we were supposed to read as Tatyana's wary curiosity might have as easily been, in reality, a defensive maneuver on Miss Tyler's part when the other actors finally took to tossing catered goods at her out of sheer frustration ... not that an icy glare from Ralph Fiennes wouldn't be enough to send the poor pretty mouse running for the nearest hiding place!
I would love to see it made again with someone else in the Tatyana role. I sound so critical and I don't wish to. I feel frustrated that this project, so important to Ralph and Martha Fiennes that they'd produce it themselves, was kept from being sublime for me by the work of an inexperienced actress. It was like making homemade buckwheat pancakes then topping 'em off with fake maple syrup. Sure they taste good, but you just KNOW how much better they would've tasted with the real stuff. The Fiennes family I'm sure are, justifiably, extremely proud of their collaboration. Just think how young they all are and how many great things they've still got the time to create!
Pushkin's response, perhaps: "Where did my tragedy go? Who would shed a tear over the loss of that stiff? I mean, she's pretty, but ... where's she from anyway?"
P.S. I think we might have the making of yet another great tragedy here: "Onegin: the Casting of Liv Tyler". Imagine the heated discussions! Imagine the family conflict -- the threats of Boxing Days celebrated separately! In one scene, when faced with the thought of Liv Tyler's unwelcome participation, I see Ralph transformed into an unleashed lion! Spit flies from his twisted maw, "She is NOT Tatyana! This is not my vision of Onegin!" he snarls. He rushes Martha and fiercely bats the script from her hand. Loosed pages fly upwards! Then, mirroring the falling pages, we watch as he slowly, silently succumbs to the gravity of the situation, the resignation drifts down upon him like a heavy snow and that look of utter devastation grips his face in its iron mask. He barely gets hold of the arm of a convenient chair and somehow manages to slump into it. His head crashes into now unclenched hands, he's backlit and then alone on the soundstage, there's the silhouette of a broken man now violently sobbing for the dream that WAS and the reality that IS ... curtain falls.