In March of this year, I had the long awaited pleasure of watching a truly haunting and magnificent film. It had such an impact on my emotions that it took me several days to recover from the experience, for the story involves a heart breaking love story between two star crossed lovers in nineteenth century Russia. The film I am referring to is, of course, "The Barber of Siberia".
Let me begin by stating that I am a huge fan of Ms Julia Ormond who played the part of the ill-fated "Jane Callaghan". With a certainty I would have watched "The Barber of Siberia" due to the very fact that Ms Ormond was appearing in it, had the film been awful, which of course, it was not. Julia Ormond is sure to please in her film roles in general, but I am not such a loyal fan to be blind to some of her less than excellent films such as "The Baby of Macon". However, the same cannot be said about "The Barber of Siberia". Yes, certainly, Julia contributed to the excellence of the film, but it is a beautiful piece of work in its own right.
The "Barber of Siberia" provides an alternative insight into Russian culture so seldom seen in the "West". Most of the films distributed to cinemas in Britain and in Europe in general are Hollywood productions. Inevitably, the themes dealt with in most Hollywood films are from an American perspective. Anyone who has seen an American film, at all, will appreciate this. There is a tendency to represent Russians as unsympathetic characters with cold, callous and treacherous personalities. As a former student of film studies imagine my astonishment, one fine afternoon in a film studies seminar group, to discover that the popular theme of alien invasions in American films is a variation on the Capitalism v Communism theme - very common in American film production during the Cold War era. As this is not an article on politics I shall leave the reader to guess whom the Aliens were supposed to be representative of. So when I say that "The Barber of Siberia" provides an insight into Russia and her culture, the reader will appreciate the meaning that is intended here. The characters are presented with emotions and feelings with which the viewer can identify with or at least recognise. The cultural scene is colourful and very much alive - a vibrant culture in late nineteenth century Russia. Why do I find this so surprising? Well, my image of Russia has been rather black and white in the past. I blame this partly on American film representations of Russia. It has partly to do with the fact, of course, that Russia shielded itself from the world too for so long. Having read much Russian literature of late and watched "The Barber of Siberia" along with a few other Russian films I have discovered a rich and wonderful culture to be explored. Russia is a truly beautiful and enigmatic country that needs to be understood not judged. I am drifting away from the theme of this article, a critical analysis of "The Barber of Siberia", but I want the reader to understand where my interest in Russia stems from and why I feel the way I do about what you are to read. I would like to begin with a discussion of the way that the film was edited. I had slight problems with this, but it is my only criticism, I can assure you…
"The Barber of Siberia" explores the fate of the star crossed lovers Jane and Andrey set against the backdrop of Tsarist Russia. Andrey is a young cadet officer and loyal to his Tsar and country. He is clearly a young man of honour. He meets and falls in love with the beautiful Jane, a roguish character, but full of feminine charm. Their fate is sealed. One expects the film to focus on their love story and the impending doom. However, much of the film concentrates on aspects of the story that I felt, personally, to be irrelevant to the main plot. I am speaking of the drinking spree of the Major-General. For almost half an hour we are compelled to watch him down one vodka after another accompanied by a "burp" each time. Then we are privy to the after effects when he must take a bath in a snow hole to cool himself down whilst revealing a most unattractive figure and a bawl head. I appreciate that this is intended as comedy and indeed, I confess that I did laugh. However, this was before I knew that this piece of footage was included at the expense of more important scenes, these having been cut from the final version of the film for distribution. These more important scenes are to do with Andrey's journey to Siberia in a train packed with convicts, his experiences of hard labour and Jane's futile attempts to find him. The decision to cut these scenes from the film, in my opinion, leaves a feeling that one has only seen half of the film even if it is nearly three hours long. The decision to cut these scenes gives the film a clipped effect. I have been told that the full version is six hours long and indeed, this is a long time to sit through any film. Therefore I can understand the reasons that lay behind the decision to edit "The Barber of Siberia". However, I cannot understand why it was edited the way that it was. Less time could have been given to the "vodka scenes" and the "snow hole" scenes and more to the story of Jane and Andrey. It makes me feel that the producers were unsure whether to market "Barber" as a comedy or a tragic love story. This is the film's failing. It is difficult to decide what it is about if you are only a casual viewer.
However, with all its faults I love this film and I got my first glimpse of Oleg Menshikov too. I had never heard of this charming actor before despite the fact that he has done a wealth of films in the past. It was, indeed, a treat to watch him. I kept thinking that I was eager to know more about him. And I did find out more about him. What follows is my own tribute to the actor Oleg Menshikov…
Oleg Menshikov has got to be the sexiest and most gorgeous man alive. His eyes are the windows to his soul. I believe that his eyes can tell you an awful lot about the man. Usually the adverb "sparkling" is used to emphasize shining, bright, blue eyes, but on this occasion I use the term to describe Oleg's brown eyes. They literally sparkle. He has beautiful, brown eyes with an earnest, serious, profound, enigmatic expression in them. At the same time when you study the eyes you see a warm personality full of love and humour. His eyes seem to smile at you even if his face is serious. I could talk about his eyes all afternoon, but I am not here to do that. I am here to discuss his acting abilities and his role as Andrey Tolstoy in "The Barber of Siberia". I have learned from my good friend Kate on her excellent page dedicated to the actor that Oleg trained as a comedy actor and indeed, he put his comic talents to good use in the film. He had me rolling about the place with laughter, particularly in the early film scene when he got drunk on the train with the mischievous Jane Callaghan (Julia Ormond). Then there is the more earnest side to his acting. He proves that he has the ability to be taken seriously as an actor too. I mention his eyes again because they play such a crucial role in his ability to convey the kind of character he is portraying to the cinematic audience. If you have any doubts about this, watch the film again for a while and you will see what I mean. This is particularly significant in his final scene when he is in the Siberian forest watching Jane drive away for the last time. He conveys several emotions without moving a facial muscle with his ability to "speak" with his eyes. His eyes are the windows to his soul.
Oleg Menshikov is a very good representative for his country in the "Western world", not that I am suggesting that Russia owes the "west" any kind of explanation for herself. Indeed, I believe that only a culture such as Russia's could produce a talent like Oleg Menshikov. There is something fundamentally Russian about him and this is very good. In the "western" world the representation of the Russian has been as bleak as that of the country. Russians are usually spies; rather unlikeable characters; treacherous; callous; without any redeemable features. Oleg Menshikov turns all of these preconceptions of the stereotypical Russian upside down. The "Russian" is after all a human being with emotions and feelings that the cinematic audience can relate to. WHAT A SURPRISE! "Barber" is a wonderful success in this respect. I believe that Oleg Menshikov has been offered film roles in the wonderful film capital of Hollywood in the USA. I understand that he turned them down because they were the parts of "bad" Russians in American films. Indeed, Oleg made the right decision to refuse to bow to Hollywood. Oleg would have done a disservice to his country had he been lured by all that Hollywood glamour. Well done Oleg!
However, the problem remains that Russian representation is still manipulated by American films. Russia is still seen as a negative force in the world, as a country to be regarded with suspicion and treated with caution. I am forgetting that this is not an essay about politics, but there is always a political element in every film and I believe that "Barber" has its political message for the western world. "Look! We, too, have a splendid and wonderful country, a rich culture to be enjoyed. We, too, have talented and enviable actors to be admired". But "Barber" conveys this message in a distinctly Russian way, which is of course, absolutely right. Oleg, too, plays his character in a distinctly Russian way. He is, afterall, Russian and it would seem mere common sense that one cannot hope to play a Russian without an insight into the Russian culture, but this has never stopped the Americans. Oleg has done a service to his country by playing a character who oozez positive qualities and who is not Ameicanised to suit American sensibilities. What I am trying to say is that "Barber" is a Russian experience, a positive Russian experience without western contamination. Some Russians would probably disagree with this and considering that a lot of the dialogue is in English, they have a point. But for me "Barber" is different to anything that I have ever watched before and that is why I feel that it is a positive Russian experience.
No commentary about the film would be complete without a few words dedicated to the music of the film. I can think of many things to say about the music - sweet, enchanting, haunting, sad, emotional - indeed, the music captures the emotions of the characters very well. On the 'Julia Ormond Undefinitive Page' owned by Jack MacKintyre I commented when I first heard the music to the film, having just bought the CD, that I did not think that it was as easy to listen to, as sweet or pleasant to hear, as the music to "Legends of the Fall" another film in which the actress Julia Ormond appeared. I loved to listen to the music from Legends and still do, but there is something distinctly different about the music of "Barber", something in the melody that captures the mood of the moment so well, that cannot be said about the music of "Legends". The music of "Legends" has been used again for another American movie about a giant gorilla called "M! ig! hty Joe Young", a moving comedy, and it works well, but I do not think that "Barber's" music could be borrowed for another film. It belongs to "Barber" and the meaning should be destoyed were it ever to be used out of context. So I take back my former comments and say that "Barber's" music is as sweet as any music ever written and my reasons for believing that it can never be heard out of context are that, indeed, the first time that I heard the sound track, I had not had the pleasure to see the film itself and could not, therefore, appreciate the true value of the music. There is also something distinctly Russian about the melody and of course, this is only natural for a very Russian story.
"The Barber of Siberia" is a film that represents Russia in a very positive light, revealing a rich and colourful culture to the outside world as well as a talented and intelligent people so long hidden to the Western world. I have read comments that the director 'sold out' to the west when he made "Barber". I cannot comment whether this is true or otherwise, but let me tell the reader that I have never seen a film like "Barber" before, that appeals so much to the hearts of the audience, that is filmed in so unique a way and whether the director sold out to the west or not, he did it in a distinctly Russian way. I lent my own video tape of "Barber" to a friend the other day to watch the film and she said 'I have never seen a film like it before'. Considering that she and I have grown up watching the films churned out by America I think that this says it all. Let me end my commentary by stating that it is my hope that Russia will continue to show the West her multi-talented, rich culture by producing films of this calibre. And of course, if all Russian men are as handsome as Oleg, Russia should see an influx of Western women in the not too distant future.