MovieChat Forums > The Kreutzer Sonata (2008) Discussion > 99 Minutes I'll Never Get Back

99 Minutes I'll Never Get Back

posted 15 years ago by DerLeser
4 replies | jump to latest

First, this "adaptation" of Tolstoy's novella strays far afield from the author's themes, to its eternal discredit. Second, while I have not seen Mr. Huston in any other role, he is woefully miscast, and all but unwatchable in this film . Third, the radiant and talented Elizabeth Rohm must be sitting somewhere tonight, pondering just how it was that she attached herself to such a third-rate project.

I've seen hundreds of lower-budget films over the last twenty years that were memorable: Breaking and Entering, The Anniversary Party, Elegy, The Girl In The Cafe, A Girl Cut In Two, Starting Out In The Evening, to name just a few. Unlike those, The Kreutzer Sonata is totally forgettable.

[–] TemporaryOne-1 14 years ago

Well for me the film was 99 minutes that I loved and can't wait to watch again.

Bernard Rose rigidly stuck to the themes and heartbeat of the novella. He hit on everything Tolstoy hit upon. Most of the narration comes straight from the story, even though Tolstoy's language has been updated to reflect 21st century contemporary vernacular.

Danny Huston is brilliantly cast, he's raw and debauched and freighted and magmatic yet old world and aristocratic, he's a living and breathing Tolstyian character. He has portrayed similar types of characters before, and to perfection. I would rank his performance in The Kreutzer Sonata as one of his top five performances of all time, and those top five are some of the greatest performances I've ever seen from an American actor. He literally crucifies every role he's in.

I don't know how many low-budget films I've seen, but I do know that this film is one of the best English-language films of 2008.

Best films of 2008, purposeful order, foreign language listed first, English language listed second, documentary last:

35 Rhums (2008)
Nanayomachi (2008)
Üç Maymun (2008)
Delta (2008)
Shirin (2008)
Die Welle (2008)
Milh Hadha Al-Bahr (2008)
Låt Den Rätte Komma In (2008)
Plus Tard (2008)
Le Silence De Lorna (2008)
I Skoni Tou Hronou (2008)
Etz Limon (2008)

Franklyn (2008)
Two Lovers (2008)
The Kreutzer Sonata (2008)
Frozen River (2008)
Revolutionary Road (2008)
Adam Resurrected (2008)
King Lear (2008) (TV)
Hunger (2008)
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
The Reader (2008)
Body Of Lies (2008)
Tess Of The D'Urbervilles (2008) (TV)
How To Be (2008)
Twilight (2008) [yep]
Blindness (2008)
Little Ashes (2008)

Of Time And The City (2008)
Food, Inc. (2008)
The Soviet Story (2008)
Roman Polanski: Wanted And Desired (2008)

[–] cflr 14 years ago

This is a terrific and compelling film.

[–] scofflaw3 11 years ago

Does it portray marriage as legalized prostitution?

[–] mwesley-200-580249 11 years ago

I love it when people watch a film and clearly cannot see what is in front of their nose and then start a thread to tell people how bad it is - watch the movie last night and it is SUPERB! Stirring,powerful,disturbing,acted and shot with brio,with an incredible dark finale - brave,erotic,intoxicating,one of director Bernard Rose's best films! Ignore the above.