Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Liv Tyler, Toby Stephens, Lena Headey, Alun Armstrong, Harriet Walter, Irene Worth, Jason Watkins, Francesca Annis, Martin Donovan, Simon McBurney

Director: Martha Fiennes

Summary: A tale of love and tragedy set in St. Petersburg during the 19th century. Evgeny Onegin is an aristocrat who becomes disillusioned with St. Petersburg's high society and moves to the countryside after inheriting an estate.

Onegin (Fiennes) is a bored, unaffected St. Petersburg aristocrat who inherits his uncle's large estate. When he rejects the advances of his neighbor Tatyana (Tyler), her sister's fiance considers this an offense worth fighting over. In a senseless, tragic duel, Onegin prevails. Six years later, Onegin returns to St. Petersburg and is reintroduced to Tatyana. This time, he falls helplessly in love with her and discovers, crushingly, that she has already married and has no intention on reciprocating his emotions. Fienne's debut as a feature film director is aided greatly by Adefarasin's cinematography, brother Ralph's performance, and Tyler's mere appearance. Based on the classic verse novel EUGENE ONEGIN by Pushkin.

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Given that for Russians, Pushkin's poem Eugene Oneginis sort of like Hamlet, Beowulfand Lord Byron's Don Juanrolled into one melancholy tale of lost love and ennui among the gentry, it's surprising Russian filmmakers have balked at adapting the film. Having taken a stage production of Hamletto Russia where it was rapturously received, self-confessed Slavophile actor Ralph Fiennes must have thought he was making reparation when he executive-produced and starred in this faithful adaptation of the film. With Martha Fiennes on board as director, it's something of a family affair with more than a little of the solemnity one often discovers in "personal projects". Pushkin's romanticism comes across amply, but little of his ferocious wit or, inevitably, the authorial voice that makes the poem so compelling, even in translation. Ralph Fiennes typecasts himself in the title role: his Onegin is yet another of the actor's wintry, haunted lovers in period dress (this time early 19th century). The character, a jaded rouéfrom St. Petersburg, summers in the countryside where he inadvertently wins the heart of the impulsive Tatyana (Liv Tyler, the girl they book when Gwyneth Paltrow's busy). Onegin's casual attitude to her love leads to a tragic duel (magnificently tense and perfectly staged), and years later a chance meeting stirs up feelings of regret, triumph and moral queasiness. Tears well in eyes, letters are sent and read, furs are ruffled in the snow. This is the high-brow end of costume drama: patrician in its literary purity, and rather admirable in its restraint and good taste, if a little dull. If you're not a fan of genre, you might start screaming for Steven Seagal to descend from a helicopter and start spraying the impeccable sets with an Uzi. --Leslie Felperin

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Interviews, News Reports
Year:	1999
Release Date:	June 5, 2000
Runtime:	106 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	E D V 9057
Keywords:	General, Onegin, Drama
Genre:	Drama