The Lady with the Dog

I would die for Anna. Now, I am sure that some Russian women speak in a most beautiful way possible in the world. Something like a baby or a cat meawoing horoşo... I love cats, I love Russian women. That's my love letter to them.

Há 60 anos A Dama do Cachorrinho estreava na União Soviética. Excelente rendição ao conto de Tchekhov, brilhantemente fotografado, possui todas as características estéticas transpostas para a linguagem cinematográfica de um dos mais aclamados momentos literários da Rússia. Plus: O cachorrinho é bunitinho que só ele. No Youtube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjkxjsX-GtU )

Marxist interpreatation: Nietzsche says "suppose the truth is a woman" and this film follows that commandment by loading the burden of history on Anna's shoulders. Gurov & Anna suffer under their bourgeois families and as Anna says they are "in chains", only in a free relationship of love can they live an emancipated life and all other characters approach love in a materialist way. Hence they are the true idealists who can bring the revolution. Not my taste but I loved the cinematoghraphy.

Not much "happens" in this movie. It's mostly a lyrical expression of unfulfilled yearning and the constraints of bourgeois life. The performances don't always convey this passion very well. Batalov is pretty good, Savvina sometimes seems distant. However, the camerawork is exquisite, and I love how Kheifits languishes in the details surrounding the couple. I was particularly struck by the ending, which has an ambiguity quite rare in a romance. Not a perfect film, but a lovely and poetic one.

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