Years later, when Jeanne reminisced about the events of 1885, she started writing at the window from the train heading for Russia, as if it all started when she met the cadet who could sing the wedding of Figaro and the famous writer of the same name. Tolstoy begins. In the chaotic opening, Jenny sings Carmen to scare away all the cadets who broke into her box, and Tolstoy, with a bagel, is left behind by his companions in the door. Tolstoy turned to look at Jenny, and the two strangers were somehow related, but no one knew what fate had in store for them next.
Life has taught Jenny to never despise everything that happens by chance. In order to come to Russia and help Graham to invest in new inventions, she came to the military academy with a photo of Tolstoy left in the carriage. It was an unintentional coincidence that was out of control. Jenny approached General Radloff, the headmaster of the military academy, incognito as Graham's daughter. Her familiar lies and flattering smile easily won her the favor of Radloff. At this time, she didn't know at what moment the young cadet named Tolstoy fell in love for her alone.
The grand market, the traditional Shrovetide, the dancing gypsies, the bears and people drinking vodka, caviar cakes, the half-dead peasants fighting in the snow and ice, and the battle of the military cadets when they graduated and were inspected by the Tsar... In the movie The recurring images overlapped with all the Russian impressions in memory. It is such a country of great sorrow and joy, even if the glory of the imperial period is gone forever, it is still so proud. While these episodes were judged in Russia as exaggerated in favor of the imperial era, they did indeed suit the tastes of foreign audiences. The role of Tolstoy undoubtedly fits the director's ideal image of a Russian teenager, with a high chin, a straight back neck, and a stubborn and gentle look in his eyes. It is the age of being so young that he is fearless, and perhaps it is because of his youth that Tolstoy's willfulness is particularly moving. Even when he loses his mind and destroys everything, people can't bear to blame at all. Because everyone knows that such impulses are precious, and they will never come again.
"I've told so many lies that I don't even remember what's true and what's false. It's only when I'm with you that I understand what's true." When Jenny confided to Tolstoy The emotional aftermath was out of control, she said.
Did I ever doubt that the love Jenny gave Tolstoy was mercy? Pity Tolstoy's immature, mad love. That easy-to-retract smile seemed to make everyone fall into a trap. I once thought that if Jenny had changed a little bit for love and persisted a little bit, would it not have pushed Tolstoy to collapse? I also thought about it, maybe Tolstoy has a little bit of secular thinking that love can be mixed with a little impurity, so he doesn't have to make himself bruised? However, youth is bound to be riddled with mistakes like cheese, but not all cheeses are forgiven because of their youth. Jenny's love is not as unbearable as I imagined, but after experiencing the troubled youth, it has changed from hard and fragile to soft and devious.
During a break between Figaro's wedding performance, Tolstoy accidentally overhears Jenny's confession by pretending to be General Radloff. Destroyed unsuspectingly. He ducked everywhere, ran into the rain and prayed to find a corner where he could escape from reality. He didn't say anything, but people understood everything. With frightened eyes, he was caught from the rain and returned to the stage to continue the performance. He took the violinist's bow and swung across the audience to the general. So far, everything was irreversible.
Love brings power and dies power. Just as our footsteps have been heading in our respective directions from the beginning, no one can stop Tolstoy, let alone the serious Russia of that era. Tolstoy was sentenced to seven years of hard labor and five years of exile in Siberia for the attempted assassination of the archduke. He stubbornly took all the charges without any excuse. Jenny tried to catch up with him to explain all the reasons, but couldn't. It was not until 1895 that Jenny was allowed to travel to Siberia for ten years. When she groped to Tolstoy's house, she saw nothing but the swinging crib and the pile of apples. It was like a collapse, a collapse of powerlessness, and Jenny understood that she was late.
At the end, Jeanne takes a picture of Tolstoy as a young man to the barracks of her son who was punished for stubbornness. Little Tolstoy's face closely overlapped with Tolstoy's decayed and vicissitudes face in the vast land of Siberia. Tolstoy looked at the carriage that Jenny whipped away, and lit a cigarette illegally. What can no longer be found on this face is the traces of youth, but love still has not died.
"Sometimes we think life has betrayed us, but it's a long time later that we've betrayed ourselves." When all was well, Jenny sat beside Tolstoy's wounded and recuperated bed. Say it to him, and say it to yourself.
Those unbearable feelings in life, you and I will never be spared.
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