Cinq soirées

Nikita Mikhalkov's adaptation of Bolodin's 1958 play "Five Evenings" is a wonderful Chekhovian film on interrupted love, dashed hopes and dreams, and unfulfilled happiness. This poetry of everyday life is put together with extreme flair by Mikhalkov who elicits pitch perfect performances from all of his cast members while assiduously using the cinematic means at his disposal to their expressive maximum. Such mastery of style becomes apparent after realising that although the film takes place exclusively indoors, there isn't the slightest tinge of filmed theatre. The subtle but brilliantly effective use of music, along with some innovating editing contribute to strengthening of the the emotive power of a film that occasionally reaches moments of transcendence.