Ralph Fiennes

Liv Tyler

Toby Stephens

Lena Headey

Martin Donovan

Elizabeth Berrington

Alun Armstrong

Simon McBurney

Harriet Walter

Jason Watkins

Irene Worth

Gwenllian Davies

Margery Withers

Geoffrey McGivern

Tim McMullan

Tim Potter

Ian East

Richard Bremmer

Marion Betzold

Tom Eastwood

Francesca Annis

Martha Fiennes

Michael Ignatieff

Mary Selway

Lesley Stewart

Chloe Obolensky

Maggie Gray

June McDonald

John Bright

Chris Seagers

Ivan Sharrock

Bill Hargreaves

Jim Clay

Tom Forsyth

Tamara Frid

David Appleby

Peter Ettedgui

Alexander Pushkin

Jim Clark

Simon Bosanquet

Remi Adefarasin

Ileen Maisel

Magnus Fiennes

Rowley Irlam

Djivan Gasparyan

Drama

Romance

Onegin

CanWest Global Communications Corporationt

Onegin Productions

United Kingdom

United States of America

CinemaSerf

Directed by his sister (Martha), Ralph Fiennes portrays the unfulfilled, philandering, "Onegin" who has just inherited a large estate from his uncle. Shortly after he arrives at his new stately pile, he meets his neighbour "Lensky" (Toby Stephens) and is also introduced to "Tatiana" (Liv Tyler). Now she falls a bit hook, line and sinker for him but he doesn't really reciprocate. His character seems incapable of deep thinking, or emotions or just about anything beyond the superficiality of his wealthy but empty existence. The thing is, that's about the height of this rather good looking but sterile drama. It's based on Pushkin's cleverly observational poem and it does look every inch the opulent and grand piece of cinema, but the characterisations here are remarkably under-developed and shallow and the plot dances all over the place as if it were doing the polka too. At times, it's as if I was watching through a thick pane of glass looking at something that has very little real about it. A fairy tale, almost. The film does present us with a glimpse of the almost feudal system that still prevailed in Czar Alexander's vast and contrasting Russia, with millions of people living in twig-built lean-tos whilst the brightly coloured palaces offered the wealthy and privileged an altogether different life, and it was good to see a few brief appearances from Irene Worth ("Princess Alina") but I felt by the end just as uninvolved in these characterisations as "Onegin" had been at the start. It's all just a bit too chilly.

English

Français

onjegin (1999) -trailer