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An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano

Play trailer An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano 1977 1h 43m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 93% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
In early 20th-century Russia, a general's widow named Anna (Antonina Shuranova) hosts a weekend gathering of friends and family at her country home. As the guests relax and debate social issues, a romantic affair starts to bloom. Mikhail (Aleksandr Kalyagin), a married schoolmaster, spots former lover Sophia (Yelena Solovey) among the guests, and the two promptly fall back in love. Now the lovers must choose between their current domesticity and a new life of passion.

Critics Reviews

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Bruce McCabe Boston Globe 04/27/2018
Nikita Mikhalkov's obliquely titled An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano is a magnificent film, a marvelous, transcendent and totally fulfilling viewing experience. Go to Full Review Paul Attanasio Washington Post 01/04/2018
"An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano" is buoyed by a cast that is uniformly excellent... Go to Full Review Janet Maslin New York Times 06/30/2011
4/5
The film, only very loosely based on the early Chekhov play Platonov, is perhaps even closer to Chekhov than Chekhov was. Go to Full Review Molly Haskell Vogue 02/26/2020
Decidedly, it is Chekhov who has inspired the timeliest film of the year. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Petros T 07/08/2023 "Neokonchennaya pyesa dlya mekhanicheskogo pianino" carries you away with the acting, the characters, their interactions, the dialogues and the striking choices in the cinematography. It succeeds in capturing Anton Chekhov's spirit and in proficiently juggling the many characters and all the different moods, from funny to moving and from thought-provoking to batshit crazy. It's an expertly orchestrated journey through a powerful storm of emotions that keeps raging even when it seems to abate. See more 04/01/2016 Titolo italiano: Partitura incompiuta per pianola meccanica See more 04/01/2016 Apres des meandres qui nous secouent d'un personnage a l'autre, d'une personnalite a l'autre, le film devient poignant jusqu'au bout. See more 04/01/2016 You want to see how Russians view Chekhov? This is the movie to watch. I'm told this is the last Movie Mikhalkov made purely for the Russian audience - he went International after this. Also - the DVD has, as an extra, B&W footage of Olga Knipper talking about Chekhov. Come on!!! it's worth buying just for that alone! See more 04/01/2016 Una obra maestra. Nadie entiende la obra de Chejov mejor que Mijalkov. See more 04/01/2016 Basada en un texto de Chejov, ¿que podía salir mal? Basto con seguir la obra del ruso, agregarle buenas interpretaciones y voila... una pelicula como pocas. See more Read all reviews
An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano

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Cast & Crew

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Nikita Mikhalkov

Director

Aleksandr Kalyagin

Mikhail Vassilyevich Platonov

Elena Solovei

Sophia Yegorovna

Antonina Shuranova

Anna Petrovna Voinitseva

Yuri Bogartyrev

Sergey Pavlovich Voinitsev

Oleg Tabakov

Pavel Petrovich Shcherbuk

Movie Info

Synopsis In early 20th-century Russia, a general's widow named Anna (Antonina Shuranova) hosts a weekend gathering of friends and family at her country home. As the guests relax and debate social issues, a romantic affair starts to bloom. Mikhail (Aleksandr Kalyagin), a married schoolmaster, spots former lover Sophia (Yelena Solovey) among the guests, and the two promptly fall back in love. Now the lovers must choose between their current domesticity and a new life of passion.
Director
Nikita Mikhalkov
Screenwriter
Aleksandr Adabashyan, Nikita Mikhalkov
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Russian
Runtime
1h 43m