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One could never overestimate the importance of Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master I Margarita on forming of generations of Russian intelligentsia.The work is so important, that I would seriously advise anyone interested in reading any further to first familiarize himself, by checking references to it. You can start with this Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_Margarita
It certainly gives you the gist of the book and the situation surrounding its writing and publishing.
I remember being given a copy of the magazine, with all the omitted parts hand-typed on cigarette paper (the standard Samizdat vehicle…) inserted in it. You were not supposed to show it to anyone…
With that history and importance, it is natural that the latest Vladimir Bortko’s film would be met with much anticipation and trepidation. After all, his earlier work, “Heart of a Dogâ€, also based on Bulgakov’s story, was a smashing success and has become an icon of Soviet satire, a film marked by as much with superlative performances as well as tight following of the story line. That tradition of staying as close as possible to the original remains Bortko’s trademark. His version of Dostoyevsky’s Idiot carries the same seal, by all accounts (it is still in the pile of “To view soon†films on my shelf).
Master I Margarita is a complex film, with three story lines intertwined in a masterful collage. One could start describing his reaction to the film with the choices of actors. Perhaps the most controversial is the role of Woland, played by an aging Oleg Basilashvili. Many people expressed their reservations… but I simply loved his performance. He brought depth, and also significance to this role, that I would not expect an actor of a smaller caliber to do. With this role Basilashvili secured for himself a place in history of theater and cinema acting. He dominated every episode in which he was present, and his Satan, torn by doubts and desperation shall remain in your memory for long, long time.
Kirill Lavrov would not be my intuitive choice for the role of Ponti Pilat, but my doubts quickly died as soon as he entered the screen. Lavrov comes with heavy baggage in my book, having been a communist chief of his theater, but all that was quickly forgotten, and there was no doubt the selection was perfect.
It is little wonder that the best and the strongest scenes in the movie are all centered around him.
Of other actors involved… there are several very good ones, but Alexsandr Abdulov deserves special mention as Koroviev, and also Vladislav Galkin as poet Bezdomny.
Looking back at the film as a whole, I have easy time figuring out where the director’s heart belonged. The Pilat scenes simply project the highest level of emotion and philosophical depth. Bortko is obviously heavily influenced by the story of Christ, and he enjoys building those simple yet poignant episodes. The artistic means are simple and yet the effect is profound – you simply can’t turn away. Like a spear, the Pilat line goes through the movie, and you find yourself longing for another episode. The scene between Pilat and his security chief is simply amazing, in spite of no mystery existing, the tension is palpable and addictive, and you feel sad when it is finally over.
If Pilat and his doubts are highly spiritual, Woland is as close to Earth as it comes. And what else do you expect a Satan… a *good* Satan… be? What else is the evil besides… well, evil and cynicism? How about sense of humor, intelligence and wit… and heart? And the desire to do good things every once in a while? Basilashvili’s Woland is not your cardboard devil, he’s got a soul, something completely out of place with reality. In life one seldom encounters pure evil, and Woland is a masterful representation of such conflicts. You can’t help but fall in love with that character.
It is ironic that the weakest story line – both in the book and the film – has to do with the title characters. It almost looks like they were added as an afterthought, as the means of justifying the catchy title. They and their fate did not grab me in the book, and even less in the film. Was that due to the actor selection? Yes, in part. Both actors seem to be unable of truly deep performances, resorting instead to supposedly profound still shots, but as they don’t have much to say this quickly becomes tedious.
The Bulgakov’s story remained unfinished, and I suspect it was the character of Master and Margarita that kept bothering him. We shall never know, of course.
Many episodes in the film will leave lasting impressions in the viewer. Things like the Berlioz line, the Woland’s fest, Pilat’s trepidations have that incredible staying power. But of course a 10-episode mini-series would put heavy burden on the best director, and Bortko runs out of steam towards the end. The last episode is simply not what one would expect from him… it becomes endless regurgitation of previous scenes and statements, none contributing anything new, and in fact watering down the effect from them. The Gaft’s speech simply has no place in this wonderful movie, it breaks the flow and cheapens the whole experience. And the incredibly well done scene of Pilat’s and Ieshua’s walk didn’t have to be reused.
Master I Margarita the book was perhaps the most significant Russian book of the 20th century. The film has all the right elements of becoming one of the most significant events in Russian cinema. Its effect is profound and deep, the range of emotions it produces is broad and it is bound to resonate in people who normally consider themselves non-religious.
Perhaps coincidentally, with all the hysteria surrounding the Da Vinci Code, this film presents a wonderful counter-balance. Also based on a biblical story, it demonstrates a completely different approach, free of show business mentality, spiritual and philosophical, while also managing to be entertaining.
I feel certain ambivalence reviewing this film that is not even available with English subtitles. Why waste bandwidth on something regular readers here might never see?
I guess the answer lies in the nature of the effect the film has on a viewer.
It also goes without saying that one must be familiar with the book before attempting to see the film. Several translations are available, as discussed in the linked article.
I know I should have stayed away from trying to cover such an important work – I don’t even have time to properly organized these assorted thoughts… but as this is not my day time job, take it for what they are, and if the only thing you walked away with is my level of excitement over this film, this would justify my time.
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Topic - Master & Margarita - Victor Khomenko 07:40:53 06/06/06 (0)
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