Dark Eyes

Marcello Mastroianni’s performance illuminates this period piece about a buffoonish philanderer who falls for a young Russian woman. Elisa: Silvana Mangano. Tina: Marthe Keller. Anna: Elena Sofonova. Directed by Nikita Mikhalkov. Based on stories by Anton Chekhov. Also known as “Oci Ciornie.”, Set in Russian and based on the short stories of Anton Chekhov, this drama is essentially a showcase for the talents of distinguished Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni who plays a young dreamer who gives up his aspirations of becoming an architect when he takes the easy way out and marries a financier’s daughter. The trouble comes when he encounters a beautiful Russian girl at a resort and falls in love.