The Duel, based on Chekhov's short story, is a fun period piece about an indebted ne'er-do-well who has an affair with a married woman in a resort town in the Russian wilderness. Laevsky loves to drink, gamble and spend his days in bed with his lover, Nadia, a rich woman whose husband lives far away in the city. Laevsky's behavior shocks and offends everyone in the area, particularly Von Koren. He is a scientist doing research in the area who thinks Laevsky is ruining the good behavior of the townspeople. When Nadia's husband dies, the two lovers have to figure out whether they will formalize their relationship or continue to live together in sin. Von Koren has hopes that this decision will help to get rid of Laevsky one way or another.
The film is directed by Dover Koshashvili with a mostly British and Irish cast. It has the overall polish of the best period stuff to come out of the UK in a long time - and generally matched up well with any top-notch Merchant-Ivory production. Everything from the costumes to the settings feel totally natural and authentic.
Andrew Scott, as Laevsky, is fantastic as is Fiona Glascott as Nadia. Both of them are a bit flaky and seem to see their situation as a somewhat silly and unimportant until it becomes very serious. They have a lot of chemistry and ooze sex all the time.
This is a fun ride of a story. I'm sure a lot of this has to do with the original story (which I've never read), but it seems to have been adapted well - at least entertainingly. It's a bit of a farce, but it's totally enjoyable.
Stars: 2.5 of 4
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I don't think enough doors are slammed for this to qualify as farce, a word that I'd never associate with Chekhov anyway. But I find Chekhov VERY hard to perform on stage (his plays read much better than they are performed and I think, shockingly, that he's simply not that theatrical) so this movie's solidness was very satisfying to me. it might even make my best of the year list after a second viewing.
ReplyDelete