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As cold and dull as a Russian winter, Onegin aims to please only the snootiest of film-lovers. Set to make its major debut on the Starz television network (after a pointless one-week, Oscar-qualifying run in New York and Los Angeles), the film stars Ralph Fiennes (The Avengers) and is directed by his sister Martha and scored by his brother Magnus. Magnus…and you though Ralph was a pretentious name.
Based on Alexander Pushkin's lengthy 1823 poem, Onegin takes place in Russia during the early part of the 1800s. Fiennes plays the titular Yevgeny Onegin, a St. Petersburg playboy that inherits the entire estate of his wealthy uncle. Onegin appears as bored with his life as I was watching it. He has his pick of women and takes pride in showing other men how easily he can steal their wives and fiancées. One woman who pours her heart out to him - Tatyana Larina (Liv Tyler, Plunkett & Macleane) - is quickly and tactlessly rejected by the smarmy Onegin.
After a victory in a cool pistol duel (which, ironically, is how Pushkin died in 1837) and a six-year vacation, Onegin returns to St. Petersburg ready to profess his love to Tatyana. But, of course, he's too late – Tatyana has married. The story may have seemed fresh back in 1823, but it's a real yawner today. Onegin was actually filmed twice before, in 1911 as a silent Russian short and in 1959 as a Russian feature, but is probably best known in this country as a Tchaikovsky overture.
Fiennes is perfectly cast as the frosty Onegin. He shows as much range and emotion as Walt Disney, but that's the fault of the role more than the actor (I think). An Oscar nominee last year, Remi Adefarasin provides chilly camera work and has now had the pleasure of working with four of the Fiennes (sibling Joseph dulled up the joint in Elizabeth). Poor Remi probably had to be talked down off of the roof after this one, muttering that `Ralph' is supposed to be pronounced with the `L.'
They say that a decent English translation of Pushkin's poem has never existed and Onegin does nothing but perpetuate the myth. Plus, I can't stop thinking of Robert DeNiro's Rupert Pupkin (from The King of Comedy) whenever I see that name. And don't get me started on the name Yevgeny, which sounds like `F. Genni.' Whose Genni? I don't know, but `F' him. It's almost as dumb as `Raif.'
Thankfully, the film is short for a stuffy period piece. If you take out the obligatory dancing scenes, you would be left with a half-hour movie. And that wouldn't be such a bad thing. Onegin fails where last year's family affair This is My Father – with Aidan, Paul and Declan Quinn contributing to the production – succeeded. Father was like a bright, warm ball of ligh,t while Onegin is a bitter, cold shard of ice.
1:46 – R for violence, gore and adult situations
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