Nisha Rathode (Editor)

Uncle Vanya (1970 film)

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
7.4
/
10
1
Votes
Alchetron7.4
7.4
1 Ratings
100
90
80
71
60
50
40
30
20
10
Rate This

Rate This

Director
  
Andrey Konchalovskiy

Language
  
Russian

7.2/10
IMDb

Duration
  

Country
  
Soviet Union

Uncle Vanya (1970 film) movie poster

Writer
  
Anton Chekhov
,
Uncle Vanya
,
Andrey Konchalovskiy

Release date
  
1970

Uncle Vanya (Russian: Дядя Ваня, Dyadya Vanya) is a 1970 film adaptation of the Anton Chekhov play of the same title and directed by Andrey Konchalovskiy.

Contents

Uncle Vanya (1970 film) httpsimagesnasslimagesamazoncomimagesI5

Uncle vanya 1970 great scene sergei bondarchuk innokenti smoktunovsky


Plot summary

Serebryakov, a retired professor and his beautiful, much younger second wife, Yeléna, visit their country estate, which funds their urban lifestyle. Vanya, brother of the Professor's first wife, who manages the farm estate, and the local Doctor Astrov, both fall under Yelena's spell, while complaining of the endless ennui of their provincial existence. Astrov is an experienced physician who performs his job conscientiously, but has lost all idealism and spends much of his time drinking. Sofya, the Professor's daughter by his first wife, who works to keep the estate going with her uncle Vanya, meanwhile suffers from lack of esteem over what she sees as her own lack of beauty, and from an unrequited love for Dr. Astrov. Matters are brought to a head when the Professor announces his intention to sell the estate, Vanya and Sofya's home, to achieve a higher income for himself and his wife.

Cast

  • Innokenti Smoktunovsky as Ivan "Uncle Vanya" Voinitsky
  • Sergei Bondarchuk as Dr. Mikhail Lvovich Astrov
  • Irina Kupchenko as Sofya Aleksandrovna Serebryakova
  • Irina Miroshnichenko as Yelena Andreevna Serebryakova
  • Irina Anisimova-Wulf as Mariya Vasilievna Voinitskaya
  • Yekaterina Mazurova as Marina
  • Nikolai Pastukhov as Iliya Ilich Telyegin
  • Vladimir Udalov as A peasant
  • Vladimir Zeldin as Professor Aleksandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov

    • Critical reception

  • The New York Times wrote, "this "Uncle Vanya" is an exceedingly graceful, beautifully acted production that manages to respect Chekhov as a man of his own time, as well as what I would assume to be the Soviet view of Chekhov as Russia's saddest, gentlest, funniest and most compassionate revolutionary playwright...For the most part, the film proceeds at Chekhov's own pace as the camera, which has the presence of a household intimate, follows the action in close-up, sometimes overhearing scenes from adjoining rooms, sometimes, as if by chance, becoming so involved in the action that it doesn't remember to give us an establishing shot until a scene is almost completed...Because there have been so few screen adaptations of Chekhov's plays seen here, it doesn't mean as much as I wish it did to say that the new Russian film version of "Uncle Vanya," which opened yesterday at the Regency Theater, is probably the best filmed Chekhov I've ever seen."
  • TV Guide noted "a slow but insightful version of Chekhov... The film is wordy and somewhat claustrophobic in its near-exclusive use of indoor locations. Bondarchuk is not only one of the top post-WW II Russian actors but also a respected director, who directed War and Peace, the eight-and-a-half-hour, $40 million epic version of Tolstoy's novel. This was the first US release for Andrei Konchalovsky, who would go on to work in the US on films such as Runaway Train; Shy People; and Tango and Cash.

    • References

    Uncle Vanya (1970 film) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA

    Uncle Vanya (1970 film) IMDb Uncle Vanya (1970 film) themoviedb.org