Tchaikovsky's wife

I'm always excited to see a production of sumptuous costume drama. It's notoriously expensive and difficult to pull off, and in the time of cheap shortcuts everywhere, 'Tchaikovsky's Wife' stands out for its consistency and authenticity of its style and production design.

Drama-wise, as the title implies, it's almost all about Antonia, the wife's perspective... and her perspective is extremely simple - her obsession for Tchaikovsky. The 2 and a half hour run is all about her anxious and gradually more manic and bitter obsession, and you can imagine it wouldn't be a very happy and even somewhat exhausting journey.

Tchaikosky as a character largely serves as her object of obsession rather than a full multi-dimesional person. He is definitely portrayed as rather cruel and frivolous (and real Tchaikovsky indeed was when it came to his wife), but he's also not depicted as a simplistic evil - there are fleeting moment of his human depth as in the 2 photo session scenes. And I can understand why they avoided using Tchaikovsky's music much (apart from Antonia playing the melody of the famous letter aria from 'Onegin'). The beautiful and emotional music of Tchaikovsky, the representation of his genius, would have shifted the weight of the film from Antonia to Tchaikovsky.

Despite it being a grueling journey, it didn't feel boring thanks to the sumptuous production design and rather theatrical style. From the very first scene of the dead Tchaikovsky rising to taunt Antonia for daring to come to his funeral, one should understand this was not to be a conservative and realistic depiction of drama. Yet there definitely were some scenes that rather stood out like a sore thumb - Antonia presented with a bunch of muscular young men (or indeed more dramatic reprise of it at the end) or her lover masturbating himself in his blood stained death bed feel the director being overtly ambitious.

Overall I appreciated the film... though I'm not sure if I want to go through it the second time.

Just Got out of a Screening of Tchaikovskys' Wife.

🙇 In my Lifetime, It's One the Greatest Films Ever Made. Such a Flawless Watch.

(This is a Review of the Film)

• 💗 Alyona Mikhaylovas Performance was Outstanding.

• 🌓 The Lighting And Contrast was so Perfect, it was Literally Perfection in Lighting, so many of the Scenes. It was Constantly Beautiful to watch. The Darkness with the Light 🌓

• 🎬 The Direction Was Masterful. Every Moment did what was needed of it and Every Performance performed exactly how it should.

• 🎭The Symbolic Moments During Scenes were Excellent Additions.

• 💃The Beautiful Costume Design was in Absolute Harmony with the Film.

• 🎥 Also, the Cinematography was Constantly Gorgeous to Watch. That Arri Alexa LF Camera is Crisp.(Plus you add the Stunning Costume Design and Perfection in Lighting and it was just.... Mwah👌

There's SO MANY Stunning Shots, I'll name 2 which are both in the Same Scene -

1. 👠 Just shortly after the Train ride to St. Petersburg, Antonina and Tchaikovsky are Walking Slowly through the Street and the Beautiful Bright Backdrop of the City is Behind Them and the Streets are Bustling and Antonina and Tchaikovsky look Great in their Outfits.

2. 💃Is in the Same Scene, it's the Wide Shot of Antonina and Tchaikovsky with his Associates and Antonina looks Stunning in the Red Outfit.

🎥 I Love Watching Different Shooting Styles and The Technical Aspects of Filmaking.

• 📟 Home Video Style(BlackBerry)
• 🔱 Heavy Visual Effects, Blue Screen and CGI Heavy Films(Aquaman 2, Antman 3)
• 🦇 Other Stunningly Shot Films(The Batman 2022, The Revenant)
• 🎨 Super Artistic Visions(Poor Things, The Peasants)

• 🎥💃🎬📜 🎨🎭 And then We Have Tchaikovskys' Wife, which is Another Singular Vision within Filmaking(Yes, there are Some Visual Effects). It's just Constantly Beautiful To Watch with the Cinematography Coupled with the Costume Design. On top of that The Screenplay, Artistic Flourishes and Direction Was Impeccable.

So Who's Fault Was it in all of this?

🤷 Was it Antoninas Fault? -

• 😬 She Really Didn't Know What She was Getting herself into did She? Even though she was Clearly Told both Plain And Clearly, as well as Subtly throughout so many Moments.

• 💭 Did she consciously delude herself? Or was She that Naive?

• 💘 Did her Love for Him Blind her?

• 🤔 Or did She Consciously Let her Love Blind Her?

• 🚫 She Was Plainly Told by him, that he Would Not Love her as her Lover, but as her Brother. Did she not Understand That? Or again, did the Love Just Blind her that Badly?

🤷 Was it Tchaikovskys Fault? -

• 🤑 And what about him? He knew it was a Mistake from the Get Go, and he turned her down....... But then of course, he thought about that Money she offered him 💰 and what he could do and fix with that Money, as he was in a dire Situation.

👉👈 It's Both of Their Fault in my Opinion. They Should Never Ever have Been a Couple.

I Love the Direction of this Film -

1. 😣 Antoninas Decline was Bad. She went from Bright and Lovely to Damper, then Damper then Dimly Lit, then Absolute Darkness and then Eventually Absolute Destruction. It was Terrible to see. And you can't help but think "She Could of Avoided all of this, just Simply by Choosing a Different Man". She just never Processed within her mind, that no matter what she did, no matter how Sexy she Made Herself, No Matter How Good She Looked, it was Pointless. Tchaikovskys Desires aren't towards Women.

2. 🎹 The Scene when the Servant Woman is Accused of stealing the Money and The Screaming and Madness going on around Tchaikovsky and Tchaikovsky Sits down and Gently Plays the Piano, which Soothes him, but when his Wife touches his shoulder, it interrupts him and he leaves the room, again further showing that sigh......he doesn't Love Nor even Care about this Woman, like at all. It was Saddening.

3. ⚡ The Scene when Antonina is with Tchaikovskys Sister and Kids are there. And Tchaikovskys Sister explains again Plainly to Antonina, that Tchaikovskys Desires are towards Men. And then The Thunder Goes off ⚡ Signifying that This Truly is the Case Antonina, you must Process this(lol, I'm really getting into this because the Actress Alyona Mikhaylova puts in such a Performance, she Displayed what Seemed to be Sheer Naivety, it was Rough to watch) And then immediately right after that, the Fishbowl Symbology, that she is Married to a Man of Great Fame in Russia. Im sure many People Knew the Deal(which is actually Displayed multiple times throughout the film), and that Their Relationship Together was Under The Watchful Eye.

4. 💰 The Lawyers and the Money Men, they added and Performed Perfectly within the Film, that one Particular Short Lawyer with the Snarky Dialogue Towards Antonina Showed Just How Preposterous the Whole Situation was, and that Antonina needed to get out of it immediately, even by Underhanded Means.

• 🎨 I Also Loved so Many of the Artistic Choices the Writer and Director made within this film, in Particular -

• 🚂 The Train Station one Take Scene, with Antonina waiting for Tchaikovsky to come Back which we visibly see it was Sunny 🌞 when she see him off onto the Train and in the one take, she goes and sits down and then goes back onto the Platform, we visibly see that it is now Raining as she asks For Tchaikovsky.

• 💃The Scene when Antonina "Meets" Tchaikovsky after a Performance and "Speaks" with him after some Time. The Dialogue and from what I saw the Subtle Fierceness and Intensity in Emotion between the Two was so Strong in that Scene. The Lead up and Pace and Build to that Particular Scene was absolutely Perfect. 👌And again the Artistic Choice that Demonstrates that Antonina is Delving Deeper and Deeper into Madness.

• 😊 The "Dream" Scene in that Beautiful Forest with a Tchaikovsky who seemed to Have Actual Affection Towards Antonina. So many Nuances Between Antonina and Tchaikovsky in that Scene and they also had "Their Offspring" there too. I didn't quite Catch all of the Nuances but I will Watch another Screening of this Film when I can.

• 👯📰 The Ending Dance Sequence, as we see Antoninas Brain in Complete and Utter Chaos in the Abyss.

Overall, this is one of the Greatest Films Ever Made Across the Entire Spectrum of Cinema.

This was advertised at my local cinema as a Comedy Drama. Well, there's no comedy in it.

In 1877, Tchaikovsky married Antonia Miliukova. Six weeks later they separated, although they remained legally married until the composer's death. This is the story of that marriage and its aftermath, told from Miliukova's point of view. It's clear from the outset that she's an unreliable narrator of her own life, and we can never be sure how much of what we see is real, and how much is happening in her head. This is made clear in one early scene (probably the best scene in the film) which does at least pack a surprise.

The rest of Miliukova's descent into madness is shown in a way that is intended to shock, rather than surprise. There's a lot of frankly gratuitous nudity depicted in a manner which is (presumably deliberately) as subtle as a brick and as tasteful as a colonoscopy.

The performances of the two leads are good, the cinematography is excellent, the set designs are interesting and the level of surreality is dialled up to the max.

The problem for me was that Miliukova was not in any way portrayed as a sympathetic character, and it's not very easy to warm to Tchaikovsky either. The only really likeable characters are the roguish Bochechkarov, and a gossipy woman whose name I missed, who get all too little screen time.

The sound-track is atmospheric, but features none of Tchaikovsky's music, which was a disappointment.

An interesting film, but not really an entertaining one.

Love dream turning into obsessive illusions Extreme blinded talent ignores the other The unknown revealed No one knows about creative paths, only the Artist The others will always be spectators and will be then fulfilled by true art.

What is happiness?

Film Sound is crucial and what touched me most. It punctuates all different and contrasting moments. Decor and photography very good It reminded me the drama of Camille Claudel but the protagonist, Antonina, was not here an artist or her virtue was not having anything.

What is genius, creativity and what what is banality and normality?

Unexplained love.

Tchaikovsky's Wife is a period piece with masterful narrative. First and foremost this is not a pure fiction, based on archival documents on the life of Tchaikovsky in 1870s. The director puts a mere focus on composer's wife whose transformation goes from devoted lover to blind obsession and self destruction. This never-chosen narrative has so many side plots enriching the film enormously. Marriage in its society imposed form can be an unnatural act with disastrous consequences as we put as witnesses. Tchaikovsky's Wife is a rare gem, a true masterpiece. Acting, cinematography, music and period details are exquisite. Must see.