Put celebrated actor Laurence Olivier in charge of directing an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's "Three Sisters", and there's a guarantee of quality seldom seen in the stage-to-screen tradition. Preserving his work on the material for the Royal National Theater, Olivier shows immense respect for Chekhov's writing and the needs of cinema with this endeavor, part of the American Film Theater's efforts during the 1970s to bring theater to the masses.
Nearly a thousand miles away from their beloved Moscow, Chekhov's Three Sisters live in virtual exile. Olga, a schoolmistress, attempts to support her siblings and the home that is the sole legacy of their late army officer father. Masha finds relief from her empty marriage in an affair with a passionate young colonel. Irina, the youngest, wills herself to return the affections of an ardent suitor in the hopes that he will whisk her off to the city before it is too late. Intoxicated by yesterday's triumphs and heedless of tomorrow's disasters, the Three Sisters are left to sift through the debris of their shattered dreams on the eve of the social and political upheaval that will transform Russia forever.
Olivier delivers a lengthy but alert interpretation of "Three Sisters" that benefits tremendously from a game cast, which includes Joan Plowright, Alan Bates, and Derek Jacobi. The ensemble is committed to the powerful emotionality of the play, but they join Olivier's interest in screen construction, mindful of the bigness of the frame and the power of the close-up, adjusting performances to preserves intimacies otherwise impossible to achieve in a theatrical setting.
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