Galina
The 3.5 hours long TV series "Ovod" (Gadfly) (1980) is the second Russian adaptation of Ethel Lillian Voynich's novel set in 1840s Italy under the dominance of Austria during the time of revolt and uprising. The novel and the film tell the romantic and tragic story of Arthur Burton and his transformation from naive, idealistic, and deeply religious young man into a passionate revolutionary, the talented journalist - author of the critical stinging articles signed Gadfly, and the uncompromising enemy of the church and especially of the Cardinal Montanelli, his Godfather and former teacher whom he used to love and respect as his closest friend and spiritual guide. The film should be seen for the incredible work of Andrei Kharitonov who gave a great performance in the complex, selfless, and exhausting role of Arthur/Gadfly. It is difficult to believe that Gadfly was Andrei's debut on the screen, and that his 20th Birthday happened on the first day of shooting. As the film progresses, Andrei Kharitonov reaches incredible heights in exploring the character of Arthur. The third chapter of the film - the confrontation between Arthur and Cardinal Montanelli (played by Sergey Bondarchuk, the famous Soviet actor/director, the creator of epic "War and Peace") takes a good movie into the realm of greatness, and it is mainly due to Kharitonov's completely losing himself in a tortured passionate man who all his life had dreamed of the father, thought that he had been betrayed by his father and when given the last chance to confront him, begged his father to choose between God's son and his own son. Arthur's accusation and denial of Christ - "What had he suffered that I had not?!" makes the blood chill. Perhaps, it did not take Andrei too much effort to play young Arthur, naive, romantic, beautiful golden boy loved by everyone around him, active and willing participant of the movement that had its goal in fighting for freedom against the tyranny. To play Gadfly, is a different story. How could he possibly have known about life's betrayals, bitter disappointments, and tragic losses, physical and mental tortures at the age of 20 with the face that only promised love, devotion, fame, and success? Whom did he actually play? He did not read 'Ovod" as a young boy (unlike many of us in our childhood in the former USSR). He said in one interview that his mom had had a very good collection of books and did not consider "Ovod" a particularly good book, the statement I have to agree with now. He was not fond of the book but his talent as an actor had transcended over the weakness of the material and created a character of incredible power and passion. Andrei is the main reason to see and enjoy otherwise good but not particularly memorable movie. Another reason is of course use of Mozart music - you can't go wrong with Amadeus.In conclusion, I want to thank my dear friend and Namesake whom I met on IMDb boards. She has been a longtime admirer of Mr. Kharitonov's talent and she insisted that I saw the film and sent the DVDs to me. I am forever grateful to her for the chance to enjoy one of the most brilliant film debuts I can think of.
