The Master and Margarita (Various)

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blindside8zao · #1 Post by **blindside8zao** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 2:06 pm

Has anyone by chance seen the new 2005 adaptation? Or even the 1972? Or any adaptation? I'd be more than pleased to hear there's something at least half-way interesting available.

Handsome Dan · #2 Post by **Handsome Dan** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 6:14 am

For what its worth, I'd love to hear about this as well. I remember seeing trailers for the Russian mini-series about a year ago and thinking that it looked mindblowingly great. M AND M is one of my three favorite novels, and I am dizzy with anticipation. I'm not familiar with any 70s adaptation - anyone have any more info about this?

Just remember: manuscripts do not burn!

Dan

Miguel · #3 Post by **Miguel** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 9:57 am

I'd also be interested to know more about M&M adaptations.

Related, the Russian dvd of Heart of a Dog, also based on a Bulgakov novel, is great and has English subtitles. The movie is amazing. A friend brought it from Russia, so I'm not sure it's available online.

Rufus T. Firefly · Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:07 am

I've seen a version, but it was over 20 years ago now - screened on TV here in Oz, must have been SBS - so I can't be of any help. All I can remember that there was nudity at the end, which I seem to recall was in the book (even longer since I've read it). I have no idea which version it was, but I guess it was the Petrovic version, not the Wajda, as it was obviously dubbed even though not in English. Great book which I discovered in my teens and read 3 times in as many years.

blindside8zao · #5 Post by **blindside8zao** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 11:09 am

did Wajda do the polish mini-series?

I remember thinking heart of a dog would make a good movie.
And yes, there's plenty of nudity in MandM. I believe all of the females present at Woland's party at the end are nude, not to mention margarita and hella.

Ashirg · #6 Post by **Ashirg** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 11:47 am

Miguel wrote:Related, the Russian dvd of Heart of a Dog, also based on a Bulgakov novel, is great and has English subtitles. The movie is amazing. A friend brought it from Russia, so I'm not sure it's available online.

Unfortunately, most stores now list unsubtitled disc from Krupniy Plan, but I found the subtitled disc from Twister here. The listing at Amazon is more expensive. This is the best adaptation of Bulgakov to date, but some people may be puzzled by the historical content of the film.

Rufus T. Firefly · Thu Oct 26, 2006 11:52 am

No, Wajda's Pilatus und Andere is a TV movie also from 1972 based on the book, but only on the biblical section (I should have read the synopsis before posting). So it must have been the other 1972 version I saw. There are several TV versions of it but I saw it in the early 1980s, so it can't have been any of them.

I found the 1975 Italian movie of Heart of a Dog, directed by Alberto Lattuada, to be a bit of a bore and not at all like the story. The Russian version sounds much better.

blindside8zao · #8 Post by **blindside8zao** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 1:28 pm

curious about Wajda's Pilate only adaptation. Perhaps political conditions in that part of the world would have made it difficult to include the rest of the book in the adaptation.

Rufus T. Firefly · Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:17 pm

blindside8zao wrote:curious about Wajda's Pilate only adaptation. Perhaps political conditions in that part of the world would have made it difficult to include the rest of the book in the adaptation.

It was actually made for German television, and despite losing the Russian sequences appears to have been banned in Poland. There are some comments from the director and mixed contemporary reviews on his website.

JFarina · #10 Post by **JFarina** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 7:10 pm

russiandvd.com has a five disc release of the 2005 mini series for sale. No english subs, unfortunately.

There's a 4-5 minute clip on the site (the ballroom scene) worth taking a look at, here

John Cope · #11 Post by **John Cope** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 6:40 pm

Just wanted to mention that I'm about half way through the 2005 Bortko version and have been enjoying it immensely. Having said that, I have only a vague familiarity with the source novel, which undoubtedly assists in my unqualified enjoyment. I'd love to hear from anyone else who has seen this, especially if you've read the book. I must admit that what surprises me about it most is how smoothly the piece works as a whole. I didn't expect that this kind of multi-tiered, densely textured literary piece would translate so compellingly to episodic television. Of course, then again maybe it doesn't. This is where my ignorance of the book probably helps. And there are certain moments, such as Margarita's transformation sequence, which, though clear cut enough on the surface, seem to heavily suggest a debt of origin to a very particular strand of Russian literary tradition with which I'm totally unfamiliar. It's moments like that when I experience the nagging sense that this could all just be a very solid superficial adaptation. Still, the mixture of political satire, romantic drama, magic realism and biblical exegesis is consistently remarkable.

The recent English subbed CP Digital release features an excellent optical transfer (and I really like Bortko's fluctuations between vivid color and a kind of desaturated sepia) but the subs themselves are something of a mess. They're either a second behind or omitted altogether or rife with misspellings. Nevertheless, the series is strong enough on its own merits to overcome such deficits of presentation. Highly recommended.

bottled spider · #12 Post by **bottled spider** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 7:11 pm

John Cope wrote: I'd love to hear from anyone else who has seen this, especially if you've read the book.

While I haven't seen or read The Master and Margarita, I found Bortko's serialization of The Idiot as exhilarating as the novel, and that's notwithstanding some badly garbled subtitles.

I see he has a recent movie, The Conqueror. Anybody seen it?

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