Prince Igor (1969)

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Blistering performances.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Prince Igor is not one of the Russian masterworks, but it still has a simple but decent story and beautiful music(the Polovtsvian dances and Vladmir's recitative and aria being the most well known, and deservedly). This Prince Igor film from 1972 directed by Roman Tikhomirov is excellent, if not quite as good as The Queen of Spades and especially Eugene Onegin. The acting is not as subtle or incisive as that of Eugene Onegin, but Igor and Vladmir are commanding and very little feels out of place. Visually, it is just splendid, high on spectacle but never feeling overstuffed. There are so many standouts, but the staging with archers and spear-men on horseback in the Polovtsvian dances really worked well, as did having Fly away on the Wings of the Wind set at dusk under torchlight and Vladimir's and Konchakovna's love-duet filmed absolutely beautifully on a moonlit riverbank. The scenery, photography and costumes are all wonderful. The drama is never dull either, while musically it is vigorous, powerful and sensitive all when needed with well judged tempos, great orchestral playing and robust chorus singing. The dancers are excellent too. There are some cuts to the music, but the crucial parts are still intact and very well performed. Igor, Vladmir, the Khan and Konchakovna are all convincingly sung and acted. Overall, a must see still though I do recommend Queen of Spades and Eugene Onegin over it. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I've never had so much high-brow fun watching a movie. More operas should be made into movies. This was at its earthy best, and the Borodin music was just so right for story of more primitive times. It was sort of like a spaghetti western set to music, and I mean that in a good way. Think what some of the opera-composing greats could have done with "A Fistful Of Dollars" and you have some of the feel of this spectacle, though of course the story was far different. The acting wasn't all that great, but that isn't the most important aspect of an opera, even one put on film. The music, the passion, the spectacle, those are what I look for. I mean, this had Mongol hordes in full regalia, horses, horses and more horses. Much better than seeing it on a stage. This was a lot of fun to watch.