DARK EYES. Directed by Nikita Mikhalkov; written by Alexander Adabachian and Nikita Mikhalkov; produced by Sylvia D'Amico Bendico and Carlo Cucchi for Island Pictures. Starring Marcello Mastroianni and Elena Sofonova. Unrated (a little nudity, some sexual references).
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Fans of Mastroianni won't want to miss Dark Eyes. It shows the master actor at his best, as the central character in a gentle, bittersweet and slightly surrealistic story of impossible romance.
Other moviegoers, on the other hand, may want to think twice about this one. Dark Eyes is full of atmosphere and memorable, eccentric characters. But it also has foreign movies' typically slow pace and roundabout, sometimes spare, narrative technique. In addition, the dialogue is dubbed, and the mismatch between moving lips and the words' sounds is a distraction you never quite get over.
Romano (Mastroianni) is past his prime, working as a waiter on a cruise ship. He passes the time before serving dinner by telling the story of his life, or at least part of it, to Pavel, one of the ship's passengers. Married to a wealthy, beautiful woman (played in the flashbacks by Silvana Mangano), Romano would seem not to have a care. But he suffers from mysterious ailments, or so he says, and feels the magic has gone out of his marriage.
Taking the cure at a glamorous spa, he meets Anna (Sofonova), a beautiful young Russian who seems mysteriously unhappy. Only after their first romantic encounter, and her subsequent hasty departure (she is married, after all) does Romano realize that she is the love of his life.
His search for her, and what happens after he finds her, make up the rest of Romano's story to Pavel. But the actual plot isn't as important as the characterizations and the atmosphere of the story. There are shots of beautiful scenery in rural Russia, and a comic interlude where Romano, who speaks no Russian, winds his way through the bureaucracy in search of a travel permit.
My favorite section of the movie, though, is the time at the spa. Not only do Mastroianni and Sofonova make a charming couple, but life there is shown with a bizarre touch that is entertaining and quite funny.
The odd combination of Russian direction and story inspiration and that Italian's Italian, Mastroianni, gives Dark Eyes some additional interest. The plot and characters are taken from Anton Chekov, and the influence of this master storyteller is as much responsible for the movie's appeal as Mastroianni himself.
In fact, after seeing Dark Eyes, I'm not exactly tempted to run out and rent videos of Mastroianni's earlier movies. What I may do, instead, is get a book of Chekov's stories from the library. I'd like to meet some more of these sad but interesting people.
March 16, 1988