why unknown?
Why does this movie seem to be virtually unknown?
sharewhy does "unfinished piece for the player piano" seem to be virtually unknown? that's an easy one. it's "too nuanced," "too subtle," in essence "too good" to appeal to the vast majority of movie viewers........
i wasn't being entirely sarcastic just then, but, all sarcasm aside, the film was released in the united states in 1979 by the obscure (and almost certainly underfunded) "satra" company. it was rereleased in 1982 by corinth films, a larger, somewhat financially stronger company. corinth was able to get "unfinished piece" into arthouses, where it achieved something of a cult reputation. but corinth didnt have the resources to build the film into a major arthouse hit, and in later years the company concentrated not on theatrical releases, but on releasing films via vhs and dvd. during the late seventies and early eighties, the us tail seemed to wag the international dog,and if a film wasn't an arthouse hit in the us, it was unlikely to develop much of a repution in the world at large. "unfinished piece" was probably quite popular in russia and in the soviet union in general, but it wasn't publicized enough to become a major hit (or even an arthouse hit) in the west. sad, but true. as far as i am concerned, "unfinished piece for the player piano" is an important film, one of the classics of late twentieth century russian cinema. (but then again, i'm a sucker for anything by chekov.)
Jonathan Becker