Oci Ciornie (Dark Eyes) (1987)
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100% of critics liked it
(8 reviews) -
89% of users liked it
(491 ratings)
Oci Ciornie was an international co-production tailored for Marcello Mastroianni. It received good reviews in Italy and France, and Mastroianni was awarded "Best Actor" at the Cannes Film Festival. However, some in Russia felt that director Mikhalkov (who previously received wide acclaim… More Oci Ciornie was an international co-production tailored for Marcello Mastroianni. It received good reviews in Italy and France, and Mastroianni was awarded "Best Actor" at the Cannes Film Festival. However, some in Russia felt that director Mikhalkov (who previously received wide acclaim for another Chekhov adaptation, (An Unfinished Piece for the Player Piano) tried too hard to cater to foreign tastes rather than to convey Chekhov's mood. So this film conveys more of a foreign idea what Chekhov is about rather than a Russian one. In the story, Romano (Marcello Mastroianni) is living the life of a "kept" man in that he is the penniless husband of a rich aristocratic woman who supports him. Whenever life at home becomes too difficult for him, he goes off to some spa or other for a "rest cure." In addition to resting, the clownish fellow flirts shamelessly with the women he finds at these resorts. During one of his restorative excursions, he meets a shy Russian woman named Anna, whom he is much taken with. When she leaves to return to her life at home, he resolves to follow her and woo her there. With a great deal of buffoonery and ingenuity (such as pretending to be a manufacturer of a special kind of glass), he gets a visa to travel into Russia. There, he finds her unhappily married to a minor official, and before he leaves for Europe he promises to return and marry her. When he gets back home, he finds that his aristocratic wife is experiencing a genuine crisis (her family has lost its money), and he soon forgets about Anna and his promises to her. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Directed By
- Nikita Mikhalkov
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Art House & International, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Sep 9, 1987 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Marcello Mastroianni received a well-deserved Oscar nomination (his third) for playing an aging womanizer in Nikita Mikhalkov's charming fable based on Chekhov's stories.
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Jon Niccum, Lawrence Journal-World
A fine performance by Mastroianni
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Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Has the ambiguity of a dream that gently reflects on the different shades of love.
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Cast
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Marcello Mastroianni
as Romano
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Marthe Keller
as Tina Romano's Mistress
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Yelena Safonova
as Anna Sergeyevna Governor's Wife
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Pina Cei
as Elisa's Mother
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Vsevolod Larionov
as Pavel Russian Ship Passenger
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Innokenty Smoktunovsky
as Governor of Sisoiev
- Paolo Baroni
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Roberto Herlitzka
as Lawyer
- Oleg Tabakov
- Yuri Bogatyrev
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Silvana Mangano
as Elisa Romano's Wife
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Dimitri Zolothukin
as Konstantin
- Lyubov Rudneva
- Olga Voshchilina
- Carola Stagnaro