My Tender and Affectionate Beast (1978)

Just perfect...

Fresh and Exciting

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

There is a lot to admire in Emil Loteanu's film My Tender and Affectionate Beast aka Moy laskovyy i nezhnyy zver (1978). First of all, the music by Evgeniy Doga, especially the Wedding Waltz, lives its own life, has become very popular and often performed piece in Russia, and is truly amazing. Camera work is very attractive, so are costumes, sets, and landscapes. Very famous and talented actors play principal characters. Among them -Oleg Yankovsky, the narrator, the tender beast of the title, Kirill Lavrov, a weak and corrupted count, and Georgiy Markov, the middle-aged widower who had hopes for new love with the girl of his dreams. The 17 years old Galina Belyaeva was as close to Chekhov's young femme fatal, at least by the her appearance, as it could be - she was the same age as her character, and she was very beautiful and poetic. Her first appearance in the film in front of three men, the principal players of the future drama, makes you understand why all three literally lost their minds and would pay any price (no pun intended ) to have and to keep her.I've been a huge Anton Pavlovich Chekhov's fan since my youth, and I think of him as one of the best writers ever, in any languages. The novel Drama at the Hunt or A Hunting Accident that the film is based on is a pure Chekhov with so much humor, irony, sarcasm, and subtleties. Chekhov wrote more of the parody on the criminal drama-romance which the film substitutes with the real bloody drama. Their intention to go for a melodrama reflects in the title of the film. Even though I prefer the novel that I've read perhaps ten times, My Tender and Affectionate Beast is a very good and enjoyable film which I recommend without hesitation.

Russian aristocracy in her decadent glamour. Almost every frame is beautifully shot and movie fulfilled with magnificent music. The actors are playing professionally in best tradition of the old Soviet theatrical school. Story is simple. Based on the classic novel. Friendship, love, greed, death and pay-off. The main characters are a young detective, his friend and a beautiful young lady. She seems to be looking for money and enjoys flirting with rich men. Married and fooled old guy and in the same time promising her love to the young one. Her character is more complicated than it seems at first. She, I believe, loves young detective with all her heart but strong desire to be rich and powerful drags her towards old aristocratic money bags. She had been poor all her life and had been dreaming to be in the center people attention since her childhood. The final is dramatic and everybody pays for their sins. A-grade movie. Included in Golden collection of Soviet cinematography.

This film takes place in the 19th century countryside in Russia. It's a sort of a suspense story, but more of a tragedy with a beautiful poor country girl and three men who take interest in her.It's a very nice adaptation of Chekov's story. It's strongly atmospheric and needs concentration to be fully appreciated. If you like a lot of action you'll probably get bored.Acting is good and cinematography is beautiful, and even if the past is captured very realistically there's also almost a magical feeling to the whole movie.

I'll never forget the wedding waltz (by Evgeny Doga) from this movie... Almost every woman in Russia likes this film and this beautiful music. My grandmother, my mother and my girlfriend like it very much.