The Cherry Orchard

Rating:
Summary: Chekhov's final masterpiece comes to life
Review: Anton Chekhov's final play THE CHERRY ORCHARD (1903) comes to life in a wonderful film that truly exhibits the shear beauty that Chekhov imagined when penning this work. The film is well acted and the chemistry top knotch. It truly is a wonderful ensemble piece with excellent performances. The only trouble is it is a little lengthy and the screenplay fails to capture the intents of the original author at times. Nevertheless, it is well worth your time to drift away into the lives of some of the most interesting characters in turn of the century Russian theatre.

Rating:
Summary: Uttery depressing
Review: I will first admit I watched this movie for Gerard Butler (Phantom of the Opera, Dracula 2000). But of course watched the whole movie. The characters are all insane! The mother never seems to really understand that she's goin to lose everything because of her previous foolishness with money until the house is bought by her older daughter's suiter, who plans to tear the whole place down. The uncle tries to be helpful, but even he's clueless until it's too late. Even Gerard's character is cruel. And the ending is utterly sad because it shows how thoughtless they all are. I will leave out why, because I want the watcher to see what I mean. This is truely a sad and depressing movie.

Rating:
Summary: Hard to Like
Review: If Woody Allen were to do another satire of Russian Lit (viz a viz Love and Death), he could do no better than to fashion it after this abysmal offering. I love Checkhov. I don't claim to have known him personally, but trust me, this is no Checkhov. I have no clue what the director was after: Comedy? Farce? Melodrama? Soap Opera? Well, he has followed several of those threads, but actual Checkhov? Nay, nay, I say.
To have assembled such a promising cast and to get such risible performances out of them must surely be some sort of achievemant in it's own right. I don't believe they give Oscars out for that, but they do give Harvard Lampoon Awards.
BEK

Rating:
Summary: THE CHERRY ORCHARD FOR BEGINNERS
Review: Maybe it helps to be unfamiliar with Chekov's work and therefore have no preconceived notions, but I found this British made drama to be absorbing and quietly powerful in depicting the sadness and futility of pre-revolution Russia. The story of a once wealthy family slowly accepting their loss of prestige and slendor blooms like a beautiful but lonely rose, and thankfully the depths of the drama never get very sloppy, sentimental, or even tragic.

Rating:
Summary: Chekov's Prophetic Play brought to the screen
Review: This is a study of Russia at the turn of the 20th Century and focuses on the three typical classes of the period. The Russian Aristocracy, The rising Middle Class and the future of Revolutionary Russia are all implied in characters that gather at the estate of Ms. Rampling who celebrates amid the knowledge that the estate will be sold to pay debts. It is a long play and therefore a long movie(137 minutes). You have to be a literature fan to appreciate it and I would not suggest it to anyone who has not read the play or is not familiar with Russian history. Each character is longing for something beyond what is the current reality and it is a story of the death of a way of life and hints at change not necessarily for the better. It is beautifully filmed! It is also very quiet and you have to keep your ear tuned to the conversations. If you love Chekov, you will want to see it but you may or may not fall in love with it.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful screen adaptation of the Chekov play
Review: Two points to make:

First, this adaptation of the play for the screen is absolutely first rate. Some scenes were added at the beginning to help the viewer understand the subsequent action. The rest of this movie was mostly faithful to the Chekov text, although the director took full advantage of not being bound to a stage. The end result is mesmerizing. I really felt as if I were at close hand, watching the characters trying to make sense of their lives and losses. Yes, the action is slow moving, but in the best possible sense.

Second, I have rarely seen a movie where action and soundtrack merged as flawlessly as in "The Cherry Orchard". The incidental music is Tchaikovsky's "Meditation" and "The Seasons" and is played by Vladimir Ashkenazy. One word: superb.

This is a movie that rewards repeated viewing.