User Reviews

"The Theme" is a film that had to stay on the shelf for almost ten years because of its "theme". Mikhail Ulyanov plays Kim Yesenin, a disillusioned and cynical playwright who uses the system by writing the conformist plays and enjoys the benefits of being the officially recognized and appointed "great Soviet writer" but who in reality has been used by a system and spent all the talent he ever had in writing the plays that had no artistic value whatsoever. Bitter irony lies in the name of the character: Sergei Yesenin was a real life enormously talented, widely popular and beloved Russian poet who committed suicide at the age of 30 in 1925 because he could not fit in the Soviet Russia. Kim Yesenin in the movie suffers the writing block and arrives to the small provincial town with a friend and a young mistress in search of inspiration. He meets an attractive, intelligent and well educated museum guide named Sasha (Inna Churikova never looked so beautiful and sophisticated and I finally understood why Panfilov always had been fascinated by her face, never conventionally pretty) who used to be a big fan of his earlier works but has a lot of unflattering things to say about his officially praised outings. Sasha is in love with a talented historian who had made a very difficult and life changing decision to emigrate from the Soviet Union. He had lost his job by becoming a dissident and had to work as a gravedigger to support himself while waiting for permission to leave the country. Those who never had to emigrate from their country knowing that they might leave forever and never be allowed to go back to see their loved ones and the places dear to their heart again would not fully understand why Panfilov's film had to stay on the shelf for almost ten year after it was completed. It was released only during the "perestroika" in 1987 and I saw it then. I respect Panfilov for his siding with the real artists rejected by the system but his film is not only a courageous statement against the conformity suffocating cultural life under the Brezhnev regime which would be later called "period zastoya" or "stagnation", it is a memorable work of cinema with very good performances from his muse, Inna Churikova, Mikhail Ulyanov, and supporting cast.

First time I saw this film a couple of months ago I liked it, but in recent weeks I've watched it over again and have found it outright genius. This films has one of the best scripts ever. I'll say right now that this film will be a love or hate.

I love the mood, atmosphere, and the location. I think there are to songs used throughout the film, very effectively and just at the perfect times, one is a piece by Shubert (so they say in the film) and the other an instrumental/vocal song probably written for the film. I've never liked a film where the character thinks to himself and we hear his thoughts as much as this one. The writer rambles around the old snowy town, thinking, and we hear his thoughts. This is how the film works: his thoughts are never hidden from us, we hear his voice whatever he may be doing.

Incredibly well calculated cinematography. I love the pacing, the shots, so completely natural and perfect for the story. My favorite scene, like I'm sure many other's, is the 20 minute dinner scene. I can't begin to describe it but the dialogue is so well written, acted and shot. This scene has the funniest and saddest moments, and great characters. BTW, this film has absolutely no credits at the beginning of this film, it jumps straight into the story, I love that. Finally, I'd compare this movie, and i don't like to compare movies, to Bressen's "Diary of a Country Priest" and Tarkovsky's "Nostalghia". In all three film we hear the main character's thoughts. it's much closer to "Nostalghia" because the guy's a writer and because his narration is present tense, where as "Diary.." is retro-spective. Visually TEMA (I like using the Russian name because it's spelled the same in English and Russian T-E-M-A) can't be compared to either film though again the deep depressed existentialist mood is closer to Tarkovsky. Again, love or hate. If you like film where the time flows naturally and character's actions are realistic, and the story itself is honest and deep, if you don't mind a lot of excellent dialogue (say Manoel De Oliviera's "Um Filme Falado/A Talking Picture") and an immersive ride for the main character's odyssey you might like this. This film would be best watched very attentively, without distractions, the sound up, dark room, or simply as comfortably as possible, because it has such deep thoughts. Incredible film, purely. I haven't gone into the story much because I can't say much to make explain it's brilliance, one should just take a chance and seek it out.

Banned for several years after being completed in 1979, this is one of the truly great Soviet films that was released during the perestroika policy. A Chekhovian tale of playwright's incompetence and lack of inspiration is mixed very skilfully with critical social comments. The movie resembles the ones of Ingmar Bergman, even though it's not as painstakingly open as the Swedish director's. Panfilov uses very long shots which don't actually resemble Tarkovsky's shots, because the mystical symbolism is completely missing. Panfilov also uses the stereotypical expression of Russian hospitality to a good comical effect. Vodka is being consumed all through the film.

Of the few Russian movies I have had the pleasure of seeing, this is the record-holder. I saw it more than ten times, partly to learn the language, but I remember being quite thrilled with it back in 1990. I like the gloomy mood and the artless artful cinematography.

Visually and dramatically this is the dullest film I have seen in quite some time. As a typical example, one scene in a dining room, which runs over thirty minutes, consists of exactly three shots: one medium close-up of our lead character, one medium close up of the female he is infatuated with, and, I kid you not, over 15 minutes of footage from a camera placed ACROSS THE ROOM featuring one character with her back to us and another occasionally blocked from view. The majority of the film is in medium to long shot with (yeah, I'm still not kidding) endless voice-overs from the lead character describing his self-loathing and the pointlessness of existence. As you might guess pacing is not considered a major part of the cinematic art by Panfilov and Co. but if a somber, reverent study of self-pity (er, the sufferings of the artist) set against a frozen landscape (oh, the symbolism!) is your cup of borscht, hey ... (actually I wouldn't wright anything at all about this movie but I consider it my public service for the month to warn whatever other foreign film adventurers that might stumble upon this iceberg).