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Tchaikovsky (1969): Innokenti Smoktunovsky, Antonina Shuranova, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Kirill Lavrov,Alla Demidova, Yevgeni Leonov, Bruno Frejnndilkh, Maya Plisetskaya, Yevgeni Yevstigneyev, Liliya Yudina...Director Igor Talankin....Screenplay Yuri Nagibin, Budimir Metalnikov.

"I merge with you in your music"...........

This Russian film, from director Igor Talankin, was an obscure, independent foreign film when it was in theaters in 1969 and played in art-houses in the 1970's. But its impact must have been great, fueling the idea for other similar films about classical music composers (to name a few, Ken Russell's Mahler 1975, Amadeus 1984 and Immortal Beloved 1995). It is a long, emotionally driven and romanticized account of the life of Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky. While not every aspect of his life is covered, and his homosexuality is implied in the most subtle of hints, it is a glossy, beautiful tale with the theme of an artist and his muse. In the case of the real Tchaikovsky, it was his patron the reclusive millionairess Madame Natalia Von Meck. Their relationship is the focus of the film. Filmed on location in Russia and France, the film follows the life of Tchaikovsky, highlighting the key moments of his career. True to the depiction of him as a child, he was a gifted musician but a frail, sickly child with mood swings and psychological problems, problems which would continue through his adulthood. His first big step is a relationship with the prominent pianist Nicholas Rubinstein. In the film, Tchaikovsky occupies his time composing and teaching music to his pupils while studying music at the Conservatory, where he makes most of his friends. All this is very true, but the film completely ignores the fact that Tchaikovsky was gay and quite troubled by it, as this was a restrictive and very Catholic Russia. Only through small hints do we perceive his turmoil. His sudden marriage to Antonina was simply his way of attempting to quiet whispers and live a seemingly normal straight life. But after an attempted suicide, he divorces her. Meanwhile, his only relationship with a female is with the wealthy and older Madame Von Meck. She adores his music and supports him financially. They never meet and correspond only through letters, something which goes on for 13 years. For Von Meck, it appears to be a kind of mental love affair, and when she arranges for an actual meeting in a country estate, Tchaikovsky runs away, breaking her heart. There are many gorgeous and moving scenes, but these are limited to the ones between Tchaikovsky and Von Meck, such as the scene in the train in which Tchaikovsky, reading her letter, imagines she is in the train with him, and the two contemplate the nature of their relationship, one solely based in music. After the death of Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky begins to ponder his own mortality. Death comes again, this time for Madame Von Meck, who suffers a mental illness after becoming bankrupt. Tchaikovsky's imagination and creativity is fueled by these various experiences, and although we do not see him create the ballets he is most famous for - Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker, we see the completion of his Piano Concerto 1 (which was said to be unplayable), his Fourth Symphony which he dedicated to Von Meck and his great operas, the romantic tragedy Eugene Onegin, which reflected Tchaikovsky's own doomed relationship with his one-time wife and the melancholy final opera Queen of Spades, which seems to be making a sad statement about his relationship with Van Meck, the inspiration for the old Countess who has the secret to winning in the card game. It appears that Tchaikovsky felt he used Van Meck and she haunted him after her death. The music to the film is a hodgepodge of Tchaikovsky music including the symphonies and ballets but the score to this film uses variations and Tchaikovsky-like melodies composed by Dimitri Tiomkin, a noted Russian film composer who also made music for American movies, such as Fall of the Roman Empire in 1964. This is a long, poetic, philosophical, dreamy and romantic film, filmed on location in Russia and France, including Paris. The cinematography tends to be both romantic and bleak, which best describes the moods of Tchaikovsky. This is an excellent film for music students to watch, simply because the acting is top-notch (the actor playing Tchaikovsky is hauntingly like Tchaikovsky himself) and although this is not an accurate and detailed account of Tchaikovsky's life, it's an impressive film worth viewing by anyone who loves classical music and that of Tchaikovsky, the Romantic from Russia.

Tchaikovsky(1970) is a very beautiful and very good film in its own right. And as a biopic it's interesting and is fairly faithful to the composer's life- though with things that could have been better touched upon.

Not everything works as well as it could have done. The sound is rather tinny especially in the music snippets that represent what is inside Tchaikovsky's head, which can diminish the impact of the music itself. Tchaikovsky's homosexuality is only implied and hinted at(considering that that was one of the main things that was tormenting him, this was at a time where homosexuality was against the law). The thunderstorm resolving into a symphonic movement was a somewhat hackneyed moment in how it was executed and the concept of it really. The ending is rather underdeveloped and glossed over,- those unaware of Tchaikovsky's life prior to watching will be asking how did he die and why- maybe because Tchaikovsky's death still leaves question marks(suicide I believe is the most common theory, but it's not been proved) and the film didn't want to make too much of an open-and-shut case. And some of the characters could have been better introduced.

However Tchaikovsky(1970), getting onto the many good points, is a very lavish production to look at with flowing cinematography and stunning scenery/landscapes and costumes that make you wish you were there in Russia(Russia has to have some of the most beautiful landscapes of any country), also very evocative of Russia in Tchaikovsky's lifetime. Scenes that was particularly quite striking here was that of the carriage running through the forest of birch trees and the 360 degree shot of the parties at the table looking on with amusement at Tchaikovsky trying without success to silence his wife. The music is simply gorgeous and cleverly interwoven(Queen of Spades is shown in nice healthy doses) and arranged by Dmitri Tiomkin, one wishes that their presence was richer though if the sound was better. The writing is sharp-witted and heartfelt while flowing well as well as informative and not soap-opera-ish.

The story told is poignant and compelling, the most telling scenes were Tchaikovsky and Nadezhda Von Meck on the train and Tchaikovsky lunching in Paris with the accordion subtly playing the second movement of the fourth symphony. The performances are great, Antonina Shuranova( Von Meck), Vladislav Strzhelchik(Nikolai Rubenstein) and Evgeniy Evstigneev(Laroche) stand out in support and we even see one of the greatest ballerinas Maya Plisetskaya. But along with the production values the best asset of Tchaikovsky(1970) is the performance of the composer himself. Innokenti Smoktunovsky portrays Tchaikovsky as tormented, introverted, sensitive and somewhat shy and we genuinely sympathise with him. That he bears a remarkable physical resemblance also is a great advantage too, if television did exist at the end of the 19th century this most likely would have been like watching footage of Tchaikovsky himself.

All in all, could have been better developed here and there, but absorbing, beautiful to watch and telling with a truly fine lead performance. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox