Dark Eyes

Dark Eyes

Dark Eyes

Moviecut—Gypsy Lover

An Italian who cannot afford to take anything seriously (as by now he is little more than an ornament in the life of his countess wife) meets a young, married Russian woman at a spa, where she is alone (and living on short funds). Not meaning to, he causes her to fall in love with him (rather than simply to bed him, as would be the usage at the spa). He realizes this when she returns to Russia and her husband. He then sets out on the one serious undertaking of his life, meeting her again in Russia. For her part, she has realized that he could only be what he is, and in any case she lives as a correct married lady. So the enterprise leads to nothing -- except that the Italian loses the taste for standing for his wife's husband, and winds up, appropriately, as a waiter on a ferry. Extremely memorable.

Nikita Mikhalkov made practically only masterpieces, but this ought to be his most beautiful film, in fact, one of the most beautiful films ever made, ranking on a parallel position with Josif Kheifts' film of 1960 on Anton Tchekhov's short story "The Lady with a Dog" and clearly influenced if not inspired by it: their beauty is of the same kind. Also here the story is rather vague in character, as the end of the film becomes the beginning of the real story, which we cannot know anything about. A passenger on a boat goes to the bar to have something to drink and is met by the fact that the bar will not open for an hour, but another man is sitting there, an Italian called Romano, and when the passenger proves to be Russian, Romano is overjoyed, because he has been to Russia, and they tell each other the story of their frustrating marriages. The whole film has very much the character of Anton Tchekhov's stories, the same melancholy, the same futility, the same kind of pathetic characters displayed with warmth and compassion, and the same depth of the unfathomable strangeness of human destiny. As Marcello Mastroianni's wife we see Silvana Mangano in her full maturity, while the lady Marcello falls in love with, Elena Safonova, really is indescribable in her lovability. The scenery is idyllic all the way, almost all constantly dressed in shining white, it happens in 1903 and 1911, and all the paradisiacal beauty of that lost age before the First World War is rendered in constant breathaking beauty - the music by Francis Lai is perfectly appropriate as well. In brief, this is to enjoy and more than one time if not forever.

Dark Eyes is beautiful. His beautifully shot, beautifully acted, beautifully directed, and the whole movie is visually and emotionally pleasing. You're able to learn this whole guys life in two hours, and see where he ends up. I was a little confused in the middle, maybe it's just because I'm slow but I was a little confused. The ending is superb.

after its end, the only strange remains the source of his seduction. sure, it is a Mikhalkov film, the meeting between Mastroianni and Smoktunovsky is a happy event, the favorite of Fellini does an admirable job, the old text of Chekov has new nuances but each new explanation is far to be enough. the secret could be the strange status of story. it seems be well known. it could be a story about yourself. the emotion becomes profound scene by scene. the feelings about poor lead hero are ambiguous more and more. the virtue of film - it presents not only a touching story but an expected one. a film about life, errors, hopes and regrets.confession of an Italian full of authentic Russian states of soul. and that is the key - except Mastroianni, nobody can act his character. except Mikhalkov, nobody can give the air of familiarity to a strange story like that. a seductive film. but the roots of its seduction are so profound presented in its viewer experiences....

Dark Eyes can be expressed as a film that arises in greatness in the landscape of Russia -a story that never quite ends in thousands of miles of imagination to regain a love that was lost in a nostalgic desire of melancholy.... The film was directed by Nikita Mikhalkov, who has a wonderful talent to convey such a love story that sweeps across the beautiful houses of both Russia and Italy in a magnificent film image of travel. This is a rare film of quality that might have otherwise felt dated by its period drama...but it is a story of love that will never grow out-of-date in changes to its shifting scenery: A love that is unmoveable like a mountain - only changing in nature and season of time - and a love that cannot be separated in an extended landscape of endless thought.... The film is not as stunning as 'The Barber of Siberia' in epic proportion, but is not unlike that film in its allurement of mystique of storytelling -of a lost love that draws itself into the past and present as though time itself were one of an imaginary thought of reality - only age will eventually capture love lost souls together in times end? Macello Mastroianni is a wonderful actor and excels in his light and comical portray of the Italian whose life is easy going, and has the time and wealth to enjoy his leisure in the film's haunting theme of love.... 'Dark Eyes' has world class status -with Nikita Mikhalkov as the master, film director, and Marcello Mastroianni as the exceptional actor: a combination that in itself is remarkable! It is a film of my personal choice.

Yes, its story is an old chestnut. There's an excuse for Marcello Mastroianni to tell a story about himself and a Russian woman, and he does it, and there's an aftermath. But the story is so good and so well told (and acted and directed) that the device is like an old friend. This is one of Mikhailkov's best, right up there with Burnt by the Sun. It draws on Heifetz's Lady with a Dog (and Chekhov's short story too, for that matter) and parodies (or pays homage to) Fellini's 8 1/2--both just right for this Italo-Russian piece about Italians and Russians, which I found a pure delight. It revels in both poking fun of and warmly enjoying both Italian and Russian types and moods. For me, there was the additional pleasure of seeing Innokenti Smoktunovsky, who played the title role in Kozintsev's Hamlet, now middle-aged and as fine an actor as ever. Will it ever be released on DVD? It's about time this one is rediscovered.