MovieChat Forums > Onegin (1999) Discussion > Why did Onegin

Why did Onegin

posted 14 years ago by boolingallee
6 replies | jump to latest

decide that he loved tatyana after all? 6 years later?

[–] z_amy 14 years ago

My guess is that it had to do with the realization that he now wanted to be emotionally intimate with her-- whereas before his travels and before he had killed Lensky, he had thought he was too much of a playboy to commit to something like a stable relationship.

Then after the duel he cut himself off from everyone, punishing himself.

When he saw her he already felt that the time of punishing himself was over. And maybe he had the realization that he had been so self-absorbed when he first knew her that he missed his chance, and that made him sad.

I'll have to watch it again to remember, but I believe he explained some of this in the letter he wrote to her.

[–] boolingallee 14 years ago

ah, yes that all makes sense.
I remember him seeming almost to enjoy hurting tatyana in the beginning. Then in his letter later on saying he cut himself off from his heart and everything that mattered, and what a mistake it was. One can't survive that way very long. And since he knew that she once loved him she seemed like a sure bet to open his heart up to now that he was ready. I wonder if it was so much her that he loved, or just the desperation to connect with somebody.

[–] z_amy 14 years ago

Yes, it seems he was ready to open up... As for whether he really loved her, it seems at the beginning he admired her looks and her character, and found her more inspiring than her sister. However, I wondered too if his devotion at the end didn't seem colored by his self pity and the desire for something out of reach...? It makes for a good tragedy, anyway.

I'll have to pull out the book again and compare.

[–] vicky_lc2001-1 10 years ago

I think Tatyana was fairly young when he first saw her. He was enamored with her but no more an elder brother has for a younger sister. He was much older than her and very experienced, she on the other hand was very young, innocent and naive. 6 years does a lot to turn a young girl into a mature young woman, it is very understandable for him to be struck by seeing her as a young woman as opposed a young girl, a child in his eyes.

Wasn't there a similar song to this story?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfZeLs-awEY

Global Warming, it's a personal decision innit? - Nigel Tufnel

[–] lamont-hard 10 years ago

What I did not get was why he did not try hard enough to deescalate the action leading up to the duel. He obviously new someone would get hurt. Then loses when he kills the guy. There was nothing to even be risking there lives for. It was a misunderstanding and he knew it. I felt worse about him doing this than being told to go, there is nothing for you here.

[–] slimone (7996) 7 years ago

Onegin was a complex character indeed. The film dealt with so many of his issues, and in the end he realized he had wasted a lot of time and that it was to late. Sad.