Onegin: Ralph Fiennes Proves to Be as Cold as a Russian Winter




By Ted Murphy
Hollywood.com
2000





Ralph Fiennes is fast becoming THE actor to hire to star in period romantic dramas based on important (and arguably unfilmable) literary works. Having proven his mettle as The English Patient and in The End of the Affair, adapted from the Graham Greene novel, the actor has turned to Pushkin's tragic hero in a film version of the Russian classic Onegin. He perfectly captures the ennui of this rou‚, a man of high station but without purpose, a profligate who passes his evenings at the theater or with his latest mistress. With his almost regal bearing and costumed to the nines by John Bright and Chloe Obelensky, Fiennes certainly looks the part. The problem is that he excels in projecting the chilly aspects of the character; when he is called on to be passionate and full of humor, those aspects seem to be out of the actor's grasp.

Oh, I know there will be countless women who will claim otherwise but look at his oeuvre: Amon Goeth in Schindler's List, Oscar in Oscar and Lucinda, Almasy in The English Patient. These are characters that lack warmth. Technically one cannot fault Fiennes as an actor but there is that curious lack in all his work. One might have thought that this director might have been able to tap into some other side to him -- but then perhaps that side doesn't exist. Perhaps what one sees on screen IS a manifestation of the real Ralph Fiennes. If so, more's the pity. This director--his younger sister Martha--is a noted commercials and music video director in England and she brings some of that panache to this film. Despite never having directed a feature film, she proves a capable director, at ease with camera placement and movement and wise enough to surround her stars with performers of grace and note (i.e., Toby Stephens, Lena Heady, Martin Donovan, the greatly under appreciated Harriet Walter, even Irene Worth shows up in an incisive cameo). As the leading lady, the Fiennes siblings settled on Liv Tyler in what is a rather surprising but almost successful choice. Tyler has a coltish beauty and grace that fits the character of Tatyana. Almost like the old clich‚, she gives him sex appeal and he lends her class.


Ralph Fiennes as Evgeny Onegin
c Samuel Goldwyn Films


A stunning girl-woman, Tyler captures the spontaneity of the character and is quite believable in her impulsiveness. She pours out her love for Onegin in a letter which he cynically dismisses her feelings. At the screening I attended some of the women in the audience swooned over this mismatched pair. Indeed, one is supposed to root for them to get together but I was left unmoved, particularly in the penultimate scene.

There is much to admire in the production values (the already cited costumes, the marvelous cinematography of Oscar nominee Remi Adefarasin, the opulent and detailed designs of Jim Clay and art director Chris Seagers). The story (which has served as the basis of an opera by Tchaikovsky) contains the requisite tragedies--a duel between friends, unrequited love--and it is easy to see the potential the Fiennes siblings saw. Nevertheless, that key sense of passion is missing between the two leads and dilutes the fine work of everyone else. Tyler struggles and almost pulls it off until the deep emotions required of her for a final parting fail her. Ralph Fiennes should reconsider playing all these pent-up frustrated types or he will find himself trapped. As for his sister Martha, she clearly has talent and I await her next opus.




 

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