Mesyats v derevne (2014) Online

Based on the play by Ivan Tirgenev and released in Russia as 'Mesyats v derevne' – 'Two Women' is told in a sunny nineteenth Century Russia as the wife of a wealthy land Baron acts as a flibbertigibbet about the place. This is Elisavetta Bogdanova – she is a woman of beauty and given to self indulgence but attracts men as if she effuses her own special pheromones.

She has recently engaged a young Russian tutor for her youngest boy and he seems to have a way of making everyone fall to his boyish charms and Elisavetta Bogdanova is not immune – and neither is her ward daughter. Meanwhile Mr Feinnes playing Mikhail Ratkin – friend and wilting admirer becomes ensconced in all of the passions that seem to rise with the heat of the Russian summer. As emotions smoulder so too does the mistrust that inevitably has to unfold.

Now this is actually a very good film, the acting is, as you would expect to be, completely flawless with a stellar cast. The camera captures the period detail and the hazy summer beautifully. Mr Feinnnes is splendid acting in Russian too that I could not find flaws with – there is some French too which is all translated very well. Made in 2014 but with its inspiration from much farther back in time this will be for Russophiles and those who love a good period drama.

Not the most believable of story lines with a quite wealthy husband, his mom, his wife, his son and a sort-of adopted/taken-in ward of a 17 yr old female (looked more like 14, but actress is in her 20s - good for her). Add in a sort-of live-in lifetime friend of the wealthy husband, and a recently hired live-in 21 yr old Russian tutor for the son.

Rough plot outline: Husband's male lifetime friend has feelings for husband's wife; the wife is having a midlife boredom crisis and vacillates between leading on the friend and now adding the much younger tutor to her interests. The husband may or not be aware of all this throughout most of the film - not too clear. Add a family doctor who also has some interest in the wife as well as acting as an emissary for an older male wanting the 17 yr old for his wife (and is willing to pay the mercenary doctor to succeed in convincing the girl). To further complicate, the girl also has interests in the Russian tutor while said tutor doesn't know what he wants. Phew! As it turns out the wife gets her explosive fireworks to relieve her boredom (only not totally what was expected).

Acting was a bit mechanical; scenes too set-up, not believable; English subtitles were OK.

Review: After not watching a movie for some time, I certainly picked the wrong movie to watch. Once I saw that Ralph Fiennes was in this film, I thought that it would be half decent but it was full of annoying subtitles which took away the emotion from this period drama. Its based around a woman, Natalia (Anna Vartanyan), who has fallen for her hired help Alexei (Nikita Volkov), even though she is married to a wealthy land owner. Alexei is also loved by Natalia's adopted daughter Veras (Anna Levanova), so Mikhail (Ralph Fiennes) steps in to try and sort out the troubling love triangle. Mikhail also has feelings for Natalia but he knows that nothing can happen because of his loyalty to her husband. With Natalia and Veras fighting for Alexei's emotions, it's soon made obvious that there is something strange happening in the household, which leads to Alexei having to make a life changing decision. I honestly found the movie quite boring because it takes a long time for anything to happen. All of the actors didn't do anything amazing, and I couldn't really see the point of Ralph Fiennes character, who just seemed to be hanging around most of the time. As I'm not a big fan of period dramas, this movie really didn't do anything for me and I can totally understand why it slipped under the radar. Boring!

Round-Up: This movie was directed by Vera Glagoleva, who has mainly made movies for a Russian market. She sadly died on the 16th of August 2017, at 61 years old. Although I wasn't a fan of this movie, it certainly looked authentic, and I was impressed with Ralph Fiennes accent, which was spot on throughout. At 54 years old, he really didn't look his age and with a many hits to his name, which include Spectre, the Grand Budapest Hotel, Skyfall, the Harry Potter franchise etc, he is one of those actors which don't get the recognition that he deserves. I doubt that this movie will boost his reputation but it certainly proves that he is a versatile actor, who is willing to take on projects out of his comfort zone.

Budget: ?2,860,000 Worldwide Gross: N/A

This movie is in the genre of drama, starring Ralph Fiennes, Sylvie Testud, Aleksandr Baluev, Larisa Malevannaya and Anna Vartanyan. 2/10