''Dark Eyes'' ( it, Oci ciornie; russian: Очи чёрные; ) is a 1987 Italian and Soviet film. Set in Italy and Russia in the years before the First World War, it tells the story of a married Italian who falls in love with a married Russian woman. Starring

Marcello Mastroianni Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian film actor, regarded as one of his country's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of Italy's top di ...

and

Yelena Safonova Yelena Vsevolodovna Safonova (russian: Еле́на Все́володовна Сафо́нова; born 14 June 1956 in Leningrad) is a former Soviet and a Russian actress. She is an Honored Artist of Russia (2011). She was made famous by the 198 ...

, it received positive reviews from critics.

Plot

At a table in the empty restaurant of an Italian ship, Romano is sitting drinking. Pavel, a middle-aged Russian on his honeymoon cruise, enters and the two men strike up a conversation. When Romano says he once went to Russia because of a woman, Pavel asks to hear his story. From a poor family, he qualified as an architect and married a rich woman who inherited a bank. With little to do, on pretence of illness he took a holiday on his own at an expensive spa. There he met Anna, a Russian woman on her own, who told him she was from a poor family and married a rich man for security. After one night together, she left Romano a letter and disappeared back to Russia. Deciding that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, on pretence of exploring business opportunities he travelled to her remote town. While her husband was hosting a reception for the distinguished foreigner, Romano pursued Anna around the outbuildings and caught her in the henhouse. He said, if she promised to wait for him, he would come back to claim her. Rushing back to Italy, he found that his wife's bank had collapsed and bailiffs were stripping their palatial house, which was up for sale. Holding the letter she had found, she asked if he had a woman in Russia. He said no, and the two were reconciled. Later she inherited an unexpected legacy and was able to resume their opulent lifestyle. Pavel says his wife had left an unhappy marriage in the provinces and it took a long time to convince her to trust him and marry again. At this point, the ship's cook comes in and curtly orders Romano to lay the tables for lunch. Pavel goes to look for his wife, who is Anna.

Source material

The film was adapted from (or rather inspired by) four

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

's stories, notably ''

The Lady with the Dog "The Lady with the Dog" (russian: Дама с собачкой, translit=Dama s sobachkoy) is a short story by Anton Chekhov. First published in 1899, it describes an adulterous affair between an unhappily married Moscow banker and a young married ...

'', by a Soviet-Italian team that included

Alexander Adabashyan Aleksandr Artyomovich Adabashyan ( rus, Алекса́ндр Артёмович Адабашья́н; born August 10, 1945, MoscowSuso Cecchi d'Amico Suso Cecchi D'Amico (21 July 1914 – 31 July 2010) was an Italian screenwriter and actress. She won the 1980 David di Donatello Award for lifetime career. She worked with virtually all of the most celebrated post-war Italian film directors, and ...

and

Nikita Mikhalkov Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (russian: Никита Сергеевич Михалков; born 21 October 1945) is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union. Mikhalkov is a three-time laureate of the ...

. The latter directed. The title refers to a famous Russian song.

Cast

as Romano Patroni *

Silvana Mangano Silvana Mangano (; 21 April 1930 – 16 December 1989) was an Italian film actress. She was one of a generation of thespians who arose from the neorealist movement, and went on to become a major female star, regarded as a sex symbol for the 19 ...

as Elisa, Romano's wife *

Marthe Keller Marthe Keller (born 28 January 1945) is a Swiss actress and opera director. She is perhaps best known for her role in the film '' Marathon Man'' (1976), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Career Early years Keller studied ba ...

as Tina, Romano's mistress *

Isabella Rossellini Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini (born 18 June 1952) is an Italian-American actress, author, philanthropist, and model. The daughter of the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and the Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, she is noted ...

as Claudia, Romano's daughter *

Pina Cei Pina Cei (born Giuseppina Casini; 13 June 1904 – 1 February 2000) was an Italian stage, film and television actress. She appeared in more than thirty films from 1933 to 1995. Life and career The daughter of the stage actress Luisa Cei, she ma ...

as Elisa's mother *

as Anna Sergeyevna, the Governor's wife *

Innokenti Smoktunovsky Innokenty Mikhailovich Smoktunovsky (russian: Иннокентий Михайлович Смоктуновский; born ''Smoktunovich'', 28 March 19253 August 1994) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. He was named a People's Artist ...

as the Governor of Sysoyev *

Vsevolod Larionov Vsevolod Dmitriyevich Larionov (russian: Всеволод Дмитриевич Ларионов; September 11, 1928 in Moscow, RSFSR, Soviet Union – October 8, 2000 Montecatini Terme Montecatini Terme is an Italian municipality (''comune'') of c. 20,000 inhabitants in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy. It is the most important center in Valdinievole. The town is located at the eastern end of Piana di Lucca ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, in the Volga town of

Kostroma Kostroma ( rus, Кострома́, p=kəstrɐˈma) is a historic types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russia, Golden Ring of Russian cities, it is lo ...

, and in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

(

Vladimir Palace The Vladimir Palace (russian: Влади́мирский дворе́ц, Vladimirsky dvorets) is the former palace of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Alexander II. It was one of the last imperial palaces to be constructed in S ...

, Peter and Paul Fortress).

Reception

Critical response

''Dark Eyes'' has an approval rating of 100% on

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 9 reviews, and an average rating of 7.84/10.

Awards

Mastroianni received the award for Best Actor at the

1987 Cannes Film Festival The 40th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 19 May 1987 in film, 1987. The Palme d'Or went to the ''Under the Sun of Satan (film), Sous le soleil de Satan'' by Maurice Pialat, a choice which was considered "highly controversial" and the prize ...

and was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...

. Safonova was awarded the David di Donatello as Best Actress. Costume Designer Carlo Diappi was awarded the Ciak d'oro (Golden Ciak).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dark Eyes (Film) 1987 films 1987 in the Soviet Union 1987 drama films 1980s Italian-language films 1980s Russian-language films Films based on short fiction Films based on works by Anton Chekhov Films set in Russia Films set in the Soviet Union Films shot in Russia Films directed by Nikita Mikhalkov Films with screenplays by Suso Cecchi d'Amico Films scored by Francis Lai Soviet multilingual films Italian multilingual films 1987 multilingual films Soviet drama films Italian drama films Films with screenplays by Nikita Mikhalkov 1980s Italian films