Dark Themes Such as Desperately Seeking Housing: A Film Review of “The Master and Margarita”
By Stephen Wilson, one of our reporters abroad
Hailed today, Jailed tomorrow.
-- Russian Writer Pavel Bazhov
.
.
“Oh, Nikanor Ivanovich,” the unknown man exclaimed affectionately. “What's an official or unofficial person?”
“Everything depends on your point of view, Nikanor Ivanovich, it's all so subjective and hazy. Today Today I am an unofficial person, and tomorrow, look it- official! Or it can happen the other way around, Nikanor Ivanovich. And how!”
--Dialogue from the novel, pages 95-96 of 'The Master and Margarita', Mikhail Bulgakov. Translated by Michael Karpelson, London: Wordsworth Classics, 2011.
.
.
"For a week, we did not even know if they would ban the movie. There was real discussion about that.”
The themes of Stalinist censorship in the film played out in real time in modern day Russia. And those events recalled the life of Bulgakov himself, whose novel was published decades after his death. I was just marveling at the irony of it all, because it was kind of copying what happened to the book and Bulgakov in his time.
“The people who were going after me and the propagandists didn't realize how much they were co- playing characters from the movie," declared Michael Lockshin, who directed the film “The Master and Margarita,” which is currently being shown throughout Russia. The film was actually completed in 2021 just before the start of the Special Military Operations in Ukraine.
Lockshin's outspoken opposition to the conflict in Ukraine and his calls for peace provoked a hysterical over reaction from many staunch supporters of the Russian state. The unfortunate film director has been subjected to an angry and aggressive campaign where he received death threats, calls for his arrest and a ban on his movie. Lockshin, like the Russian writer Boris Akunin, was ludicrously labelled as 'a terrorist' who has discredited the Russian Armed Forces. The film, where one of the central themes is on censorship of literature, has come out just at a time when Russian writers are being censored and in some cases imprisoned.
Consider, for example, the Russian writer Boris Akunin, an author of detective novels, who lives in London has recently had all his novels withdrawn from bookshops. His works are now banned in Russia. A Russian playwright, Svetlana Petriychuck, and a theater director Zhenya Berkovich are in prison on charges of 'justifying terrorism.' Petriychuck had written a humanistic play called 'Finist the Brave Falcon.' The play was performed and won two Golden Mask awards last year. A Journalist called Kseni Subchak stated the case starkly indicated 'rampant ignorance' as the play in fact had an anti-terrorist message.
This case itself reminds you of Bulgakov's predicament. The playwright wrote to Maxim Gorky declaring -
“All my plays are banned, not a single line of anything I have written is being published anywhere. I do not have a single finished work, nor is a single kopek of royalties coming in from anywhere, not a single agency or individual has responded to my letters. In short, everything I have written in 10 years has been destroyed” {See page 251, Mikhail Bulgakov and His Times, Progress Publishers, 1990, Moscow.}
It is worth noting that it has been long believed that it is bad luck to make a film or play based on Bulgakov's novel 'The Master and Margarita.' If people make such a film they get bad luck. Things go wrong on the stage, actors become ill and all kinds of strange events occur. The novel has been compared to Shakespeare's Macbeth. All kinds of reasons are offered for this belief.
Some claim that Bulgakov was implacably opposed to the novel being performed on the stage. Other people claim the play 's connection with magic make it lethal.
It is as if the play is cursed. For instance, the film Director Michael Lockshin has hardly had a pleasant time in Russia. However, he can be consoled by the fact the film has turned out to be a box office hit!
The book, 'The Master and Margarita' represents a cult novel. A Russian businessman Yevgeni told me "As a Russian you feel obliged to read this novel. I tried to read it but it is not my cup of tea. I gave up after half an hour. My friend recommended I should go and watch this film just to see how it is shot in such a stunning way. He told me they had made the film just look like the 1930's."
The plot of the novel 'The Master and Margarita' tells of how the devil, in the guise of a German professor of black magic, called Woland, decides to visit Moscow in 1929. He along with a lively motley entourage such as a huge black cat, a choirmaster, and other characters visit Moscow to see whether and how the people have changed. During his visit he fosters a whole trail of chaotic events where his followers play all kinds of cruel pranks on people where they are punished, buildings are burnt down and people go missing. During this time a writer known as the Master has been writing a novel about the crucifixion of Christ titled Pontius Pilate. The book tells how Pilate feels immense guilt at failing to save the life of Christ. But the publishers refuse to publish his work. He is persecuted by officials and critics and even driven insane. His lover Margarita attempts to rescue him by making a pact with the devil. So there are three narratives in this novel: the narrative of Woland, the narrative of Pilate, and the drama surrounding the romantic encounter between a censored writer and Margarita.
This novel is complex. It assumes the form of a sharp satire, a deep probe into the relationship between good and evil and a dark sense of humor. It can be read as a philosophical and psychological novel of how people fall apart. Therefore, making such a film from three narratives represents a tremendous feat.
Whatever the shortcomings of this film I think it is well worth watching. The scenes of the film are beautifully shot and look superb on the huge screen. The main actors who play the master and his lover especially convey the intense suffering they are going through as well as their desperation. August Del plays Woland wonderfully.
I asked a 25-year-old Russian, Victoria, why she liked the novel and film. Victoria stated, "I like Russian literature. The works of Russian writers are powerful. When I read the novel 'The Master and Margarita' at the age of 15, I was quickly moved and impressed. It became my favorite novel. What I like about the novel is it is very philosophical and deep on many levels. You can't divide the world into black and white. People are very contradictory and each person is mysterious.
Bulgakov was a very mystical writer. There is a legend that when he was young a gypsy predicted that he would marry three times. His first wife would come from God, his second would be worldly and his third wife would come from the devil. It is clear that his third wife is the prototype of Margarita.
When I watched the latest film I first had some reservations. I felt the new film was not as deep as the second film {a previous film was directed by Vladimir Bortko}. When we watched this film, we stopped believing in the events of the film and that they could happen in reality. The plot describes the novel 'The Master and Margarita' being written in a psychiatric hospital as if Bulgakov is the master. The film sounded like a cheap soap opera.
I thought the 2nd film was deeper. But I changed my mind. The three characters who played the Master, Margarita and Woland acted very well. Woland is perfect !"
The film succeeds in conveying the intense loneliness of the main characters. All the characters feel like fish out of water. Pontius Pilate is without genuine friends and has nobody he can talk to but his dog, the master feels alone after being abandoned and betrayed by his colleagues and Margarita is devastated by losing the master. At the beginning of the novel, someone asks Woland "Have you come alone or with a spouse?" Woland answers, "Alone, alone. I am always alone.'" He says this bitterly {page 42, ‘The Master and Margarita,’ London: Wordsworth Classics, London, 2011}. Part of the loneliness arises from the characters feeling misunderstood by others.
The novel and film both succeed at capturing the tense atmosphere of fear where people are deeply distrustful of others and keep themselves to themselves. The first chapter titled 'Never Talk to Strangers' succinctly sums it up.
One of the darkest themes of the novel is in the words of Woland, on how 'The housing question spoils' people. Apartments are so expensive in Moscow that some desperate people are prepared to go to great lengths to steal them.
But how much is this novel simply fiction? Is there any truth about some of those events mirrored in the novel? I think the novel is of course, fiction but nevertheless still reflects the terrible atmosphere of those times. For instance, in the novel the author writes about criminal gangs who set out to hypnotize people so as to steal their money. There were such gangs operating in the 1930's.
The local district the Patriarchy Ponds is viewed as an accursed district where terrible things still happen. The previous name of the district was called 'Goat's marsh.' One legend claims that many centuries ago terrible ritual sacrifices of people were performed by pagan priests there. According to other legends the district was haunted by a huge goat who would walk up to herds of cattle and deprive animals of their milk. After this mysterious goat came up to a person's house, the dwellers would either fall ill or die. For centuries local people believed that the devil haunted this area. In the 18th century, horse-drawn carriages refused to go through this district and when they did they went berserk. Birds even avoided this area. The local people were so afraid of those bizarre vents they appealed to the Orthodox Church to come and consecrate this locality. Renaming it was part of the process of cleansing the area. But strange events have carried on well into the 20th and 21st centuries.
People have claimed to have seen a ghostly cat, a ghostly goat, and a mysterious phantom army truck that vanishes into thin air. There are all kinds of sightings of ghosts here. In this area, locals also complain of getting headaches, chest pains and high blood pressure. This could be due to the lingering influence of toxic gases arising from the pond. People often faint in this district. So in the first chapter of the book when one character Berlioz complains of horrible headaches and is afraid of having a heart attack he is not alone. Some local people continue to complain about experiencing such unpleasant sensations. The brilliant Russian storyteller and expert on Russian ghosts, Irina Sergievskaya, in her book, ‘Mysterious Moscow’ {Eskmo, Moscow, 2011} wrote about the background as well as the legends coming from this area.
In one of the scenes of the film Pontius Pilate asks Christ “What is truth?” Christ answers, “The truth is that you have a headache and have lost faith in yourself and people.” I think this is one of the saddest lines in the film where the film with fidelity follows the novel. I would like to think that this film would serve to console some people who are losing their own faith in themselves and others.
After all, the film director himself has described the success of this film as 'a miracle.’ And apparently, miracles still happen!