There is a lot to admire in Emil Loteanu's film My Tender and Affectionate Beast aka Moy laskovyy i nezhnyy zver (1978). First of all, the music by Evgeniy Doga, especially the Wedding Waltz, lives its own life, has become very popular and often performed piece in Russia, and is truly amazing. Camera work is very attractive, so are costumes, sets, and landscapes. Very famous and talented actors play principal characters. Among them -Oleg Yankovsky, the narrator, the tender beast of the title, Kirill Lavrov, a weak and corrupted count, and Georgiy Markov, the middle-aged widower who had hopes for new love with the girl of his dreams. The 17 years old Galina Belyaeva was as close to Chekhov's young femme fatal, at least by the her appearance, as it could be - she was the same age as her character, and she was very beautiful and poetic. Her first appearance in the film in front of three men, the principal players of the future drama, makes you understand why all three literally lost their minds and would pay any price (no pun intended ) to have and to keep her.
I've been a huge Anton Pavlovich Chekhov's fan since my youth, and I think of him as one of the best writers ever, in any languages. The novel Drama at the Hunt or A Hunting Accident that the film is based on is a pure Chekhov with so much humor, irony, sarcasm, and subtleties. Chekhov wrote more of the parody on the criminal drama-romance which the film substitutes with the real bloody drama. Their intention to go for a melodrama reflects in the title of the film. Even though I prefer the novel that I've read perhaps ten times, My Tender and Affectionate Beast is a very good and enjoyable film which I recommend without hesitation.
I've been a huge Anton Pavlovich Chekhov's fan since my youth, and I think of him as one of the best writers ever, in any languages. The novel Drama at the Hunt or A Hunting Accident that the film is based on is a pure Chekhov with so much humor, irony, sarcasm, and subtleties. Chekhov wrote more of the parody on the criminal drama-romance which the film substitutes with the real bloody drama. Their intention to go for a melodrama reflects in the title of the film. Even though I prefer the novel that I've read perhaps ten times, My Tender and Affectionate Beast is a very good and enjoyable film which I recommend without hesitation.