Tchaikovsky’s Wife
Film details
| Film Title | Tchaikovsky’s Wife |
|---|---|
| Suitability | |
| Genre | |
| Length | 144mins |
| Year | 2022 |
| Country | France, Russia, Switzerland |
| Director | Kirill Serebrennikov |
| Actors | Alena Mikhaylova, Odin Lund Biron, Nikita Elenev, Ekaterina Ermishina, Philip Avdeev, Miron Fedorov, Andrey Burkovskiy, Aleksandr Gorchilin, Varvara Shmykova, Vladimir Mishukov, Viktor Horinyak, Akilina Sokolova, Yuliya Aug, Natalya Pavlenkova, Gurgen Tsaturyan |
| Language | French, Italian, Russian |
| AKA | Жена Чайковского |
| Showings |
Antonina Miliukova is a beautiful and bright young woman, born in the aristocracy of 19th century Russia. She could have anything she’d want, and yet her only obsession is to marry Pyotr Tchaikovsky, with whom she falls in love from the very moment she hears his music. The composer finally accepts this union, but after blaming her for his misfortunes and breakdowns, his attempts to get rid of his wife are brutal. Consumed by her feelings for him, Antonina decides to endure and do whatever it takes to stay with him. Humiliated, disgraced and discarded, she is slowly driven to madness.
The result is a movie that constantly dances along the knife’s edge between “hysteria” (in the most outmoded, misogynistic definition of the word) and defiance. Nowhere is that balance more obvious or more thrilling than in the opening sequence.
★★★★
This is undoubtedly a vehement and very watchable drama – far superior to Serebrennikov’s previous film, the sprawling and unrewarding Petrov’s Flu. If there is a narrowness in its emotional and final range, that gives it force.
★★★
