I think that phrase corresponds in latinized Russian to Gone With The Wind, the book and film based on events of the American Civil War. I mention it as a way of describing The Road to Calvary with a few words more familiar to English-speaking viewers. Obviously there are very great differences between the two stories, but I like the analogy as a quick introduction to my take on the latter film. This is a very big production in every way.
Not knowing Russian, I have to assume subtitles in English are accurate and true to the original script. If so, I find no fault with it it on either technical or artistic grounds. It is a massive mini-series beautifully staged and produced with great skill.
Given a dozen main characters within the context of very real historical events in the old Russian empire after the fall of the tsar, taking place amid a hundred million inhabitants in the geographically largest country in the world, the story is however a gallimaufry of odd personal coincidences involving those characters. It makes one's head spin to see how they keep meeting, parting, meeting again, and generally stumbling over each other in what is clearly a fictional fantasy. You can predict with ease each of these overlapping events.
That is the single objection I have with the film, which is otherwise an engrossing and memorable addition to international cinema.
Sometimes longer is in fact better.
Review of The Road to Calvary
