Ochi chernye (Engl.: Dark Eyes) (Fr.: Les Yeux noirs) (Black Eyes) [Очи черные]

Dark Eyes can be expressed as a film that arises in greatness in the landscape of Russia –a story that never quite ends in thousands of miles of imagination to regain a love that was lost in a nostalgic desire of melancholy....The film was directed by Nikita Mikhalkov, who has a wonderful talent to convey such a love story that sweeps across the beautiful houses of both Russia and Italy in a magnificent film image of travel.This is a rare film of quality that might have otherwise felt dated by its period drama...but it is a story of love that will never grow out-of-date in changes to its shifting scenery: A love that is unmoveable like a mountain – only changing in nature and season of time – and a love that cannot be separated in an extended landscape of endless thought....The film is not as stunning as ‘The Barber of Siberia’ in epic proportion, but is not unlike that film in its allurement of mystique of storytelling -of a lost love that draws itself into the past and present as though time itself were one of an imaginary thought of reality - only age will eventually capture love lost souls together in times end?Macello Mastroianni is a wonderful actor and excels in his light and comical portray of the Italian whose life is easy going, and has the time and wealth to enjoy his leisure in the film’s haunting theme of love....and the beautiful film score is by Francis Lai!‘Dark Eyes’ has world class status -with Nikita Mikhalkov as the master, film director, and Marcello Mastroianni as the exceptional actor: a combination that in itself is remarkable! It is a film of my personal choice...the film must have been very difficult to make in both Russian and Italian languages...

There seems to be a problem with the DVD. It only plays with a voice over in Italian or Russian, even with the English subtitles. So there is no way of viewing it in its original form with just subtitles. A technical issue spoils what should have been good viewing.

This is one of my favourite films ever. Based on Chekhov's short story The Lady With the Dog, it tells the bittersweet tale of the impoverished Italian nobleman Romano, a hopeless wastrel and womanizer, married to a woman he does not love anymore. During a stay at a spa resort he meets a woman he falls passionately in love with, and whom he follows all the way across Europe to Russia.The inimitable Marcello Mastroianni plays Romano in an Oscar nominated performance. Directed by Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov, he takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride of moments of exuberant joie de vivre that will make you laugh out loud with delight and others of deep melancholy that will move you to tears.The film is visually absolutely stunning, much of it shot in creams and pastels. An absolute masterpiece. An English dubbed version does not seem to be available, so unless you understand Italian and/or Russian you will have to settle for subtitles. The original score by Francis Lai is also worth mentioning and compliments the gorgeous visuals beautifully.One word of warning: The film was filmed in Italian and Russian. This DVD with Russian cover text is destined for the Russian market and the audio is a Russian dubbed version. As is often the case with Russian dubbing, at least back at the time this film was made, the entire dialogue is spoken by one single voice (in this case that of director Nikita Mikhalkov himself, and very nicely too), over the still audible Italian voices. This may be irritating for some viewers. However this version is one that was cinematically released in many countries back in the 1980s with various language subtitles. I have owned various different DVD editions of this film, and they all had this particular rather odd audio version, some with subtitles some without. Take it that you're buying a Russian film with English subtitles and don't be put off by the strange voice over dubbing, and you should enjoy this film very much. Or check out the Italian released DVD "Oci Cernie" which has Italian audio and English subtitles.