An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano (1977)

Неоконченная пьеса для механического пианино

One summer day at a country estate, a clever schoolteacher who once promised so much meets his first love again.

Plays from Mosfilm's official YouTube channel. Subtitles start in English; use the CC and ⚙ buttons in the player to change them. Open on YouTube ↗

Year
1977
Director
Nikita Mikhalkov
Starring
Alexander Kalyagin, Elena Solovey, Oleg Tabakov, Yuri Bogatyrev, Antonina Shuranova, Nikita Mikhalkov
Genre
Drama, Comedy
Running time
1 h 41 min
Based on
Early works by Anton Chekhov, mainly the play Platonov
Language
Russian, English subtitles
Studio
Mosfilm

About the film

Guests gather at the estate of Anna Petrovna, a lively general's widow. Among them is Mikhail Platonov, a village schoolteacher who was once the brightest young man around. He is now 35, sharp-tongued and disappointed with himself.

Then he meets Sofia, the woman he loved when they were students, now married and very respectable. Over a long day and a short night, old feelings, jokes and regrets come to the surface.

Mikhalkov builds the film from Chekhov's early writing, especially the unfinished play known as Platonov. It is funny, sad and beautifully acted, one of the finest Chekhov films ever made.

Did you know?

  • The script draws on Platonov, a play Chekhov wrote as a young man and never published.
  • Alexander Kalyagin's performance as Platonov is regarded as one of his greatest.
  • The music is by Eduard Artemyev.

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