Tango
My parents finally got a copy of the "Master and Margarita" mini-series on DVD, and over the last couple of weeks I've been trying to sit through it. I think I've now seen most of the first half. I can't be bothered with a proper review, but I have one rhetorical question:
How is it possible that this brilliant, witty, sparkling, scary book has been turned into something so boring?
Not only does everyone sound like their day job is in the mafia, but it's incredibly badly directed and edited -- scenes start too early and end too late (in other words, uncinematic editing), poor lighting, bad camerawork... For example, the facade of the Varietes is obviously "cardboard" -- nothing wrong with that, but why film it from an angle and make it so obvious? Not that this is important, but these things contribute to the sense of watching a very poor production.
But perhaps the thing that irritated me most of all was the use of sepia/black-and-white for the regular Moscow scenes. I realise there is a theory that the "real" story is the book-within-the-book, but must it be forced on the viewer through such crude means? The book relies on the Moscow scenes for most of the dynamism and humour, and it is those scenes that are supposed to hit us hard. They are not supposed to look outdated. When we see black-and-white, we think "this is in the past, it does not apply to me". And that defeats the entire point.
How is it possible that this brilliant, witty, sparkling, scary book has been turned into something so boring?
Not only does everyone sound like their day job is in the mafia, but it's incredibly badly directed and edited -- scenes start too early and end too late (in other words, uncinematic editing), poor lighting, bad camerawork... For example, the facade of the Varietes is obviously "cardboard" -- nothing wrong with that, but why film it from an angle and make it so obvious? Not that this is important, but these things contribute to the sense of watching a very poor production.
But perhaps the thing that irritated me most of all was the use of sepia/black-and-white for the regular Moscow scenes. I realise there is a theory that the "real" story is the book-within-the-book, but must it be forced on the viewer through such crude means? The book relies on the Moscow scenes for most of the dynamism and humour, and it is those scenes that are supposed to hit us hard. They are not supposed to look outdated. When we see black-and-white, we think "this is in the past, it does not apply to me". And that defeats the entire point.
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01.05.2006 в 19:38Да, кстати, а закономерностей использования сепии я так и не выявила.
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01.05.2006 в 21:23Sorry to hear they did such a bad job dramatising it! As I said before, M&M has such potential to be a great movie/mini-series... but I can see just how easy it would be to totally screw it up. It does sound weird that they'd film the Moscow scenes in black-and-white... especially since that's the vast majority of the book. And in this day and age, even the excuse that b&w film is cheaper doesn't hold much water. *shrug*
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02.05.2006 в 11:09В сериале есть несколько замечательных эпизодов (ближе к концу)
Да, и вначале есть некоторые моменты, которые очень даже неплохо получились. Бездомный пишущий письмо в милицию, например. Но в целом, нудно и местами просто тошно. Сначала я думала, что это может быть из за того, что экранизируют четко по тексту. Но нет - "Гордость и предубеждение" с Фиртом ведь тоже было по тексту, но насколько лучше снят фильм! Так что и М&М, наверное, можно снять прилично... Теоретически. Но я тоже больше не хочу экранизации. Вот сняли бы таганский спектакль на фильм (просто как представление, из зала), я бы купила.
XenaAmber
I think there is a subtitled version, if you buy the licensed DVD -- the one my parents have is a Russian-only one, but they only borrowed it from friends. I'm not sure they'll still have it when you're here, but if they do, I'll be happy to watch some with you.
The sepia tone is their idea of "creative cinematography" (even advertised on the back as a "feature"). The only scenes in colour are some of Voland's antics, and the Jerusalem scenes (but those are in yellowish tones). It's really ridiculous. It would be like "Phantom" being filmed in reverse -- the 1919 scenes being in colour and the entire film in black and white. So annoying. Especially so because it imposes the currently trendy pro-religious reading of the narrative onto the viewer, at the expense of the incisive social commentary on humanity in general and individuals in particular.