Zhena Chaikovskogo

History cannot be simply reconstructed in cinema. Advanced period pieces are always – subtly or explicitly – fantasies, constructions, figments of the imagination. Kirill Serebrennikov, the famous Russian film, theatre and opera director, therefore embraces all the stylization techniques at his disposal to stage this “true story”, the tragedy surrounding the disastrous marriage between composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his poor spouse, the pianist und former seamstress Antonina Ivanovna Miliukova: for him, it is merely a bond of reason; for her a liaison of pure love. As Serebrennikov concentrates on his heroine’s escalating psychological crisis, an increasingly surreal historical panorama unfolds: Tchaikovsky’s secret homosexual lifestyle that Miliukova long fails to understand begins to drive her literally mad.
Powered by a fearless and furious performance by actress Alyona Mikhailova, TCHAIKOVSKY’S WIFE is a bombastic concoction. The intensity of Mikhailova’s acting is the prerequisite for the glaring hysteria that seizes the film early on: Tchaikovsky angrily rising from his coffin during his own funeral to get even with his obstinate wife sets off the narration. It only gets wilder from there. (Stefan Grissemann)

Kirill Serebrennikov: RAGIN (2004), PLAYING THE VICTIM (2006), YURI’S DAY (2008), CRUSH: 5 LOVE STORIES (2009), BETRAYAL (2012), THE STUDENT (2016), LETO (2018), PETROV’S FLU (2021)