An Unfinished Piece for the Player Piano

Director: Nikita Mikhalkov
Cast: Aleksandr Kalyagin, Elena Solovey, Evgeniya Glushenko
Soviet Union, 1977, 103’, color
Russian with Turkish subtitles

Evoking the tenor of an Anton Chekhov comic tragedy (from whose works, including the unfinished play Platonov, the original screenplay for the film was inspired), An Unfinished Piece for the Player Piano is an understated, elegant, and compassionate articulation of personal disappointment, emotional resignation, and regret. Early in the 20th century, family and friends gather at the country estate of a general's widow, Anna Petrovna. Sofia, the new wife of Anna's step-son, recognizes Misha (Alexander Kalyagin), the brother-in-law of one of the widow's admirers: a few years earlier, they had been idealistic lovers and now she can't believe he has settled for a dim wife and a job as a teacher. Amidst parlor games and idle talk of women's rights and peasants' capabilities, Sofia and Misha rekindle their love. Will they flaunt convention, abandon families, and run away to pursue lost dreams?