Chicago Tribune Article

November 14, 1999

ON HIS 200TH ANNIVERSARY, PUSHKIN FINALLY GETS HIS DUE IN THE WEST

The father of Russian literature is being given a birthday makeover in the West with top poets and Hollywood heartthrobs all jumping on the Pushkin bandwagon.

This month sees the release of "Eugene Onegin" the movie, based on Alexander Pushkin's classic novel in verse, and the publication of a collection of his poems, reworked by top writers of today.

Better late than never, say Pushkin devotees, who this year celebrated the master's 200th birthday.

Indeed, descendants of Pushkin, who was so prodigious he gave away plots to Gogol and has inspired more than 4,000 pieces of music, are relieved the master is finally winning the respect in the West that is routinely afforded back home.

"There is not a man, woman, child or taxi driver in Russia who cannot quote Pushkin, and usually with tears in their eyes. This couldn't be more different from how Germans treat Goethe or we treat Shakespeare," Marita Crawley, Pushkin's great-great-great- granddaughter, said.

"Pushkin virtually single-handedly created the Russian literary language, so it really is about time that people discovered him in the West and actually read him," said Crawley.

Realistically it will be Ralph Fiennes the movie star rather than Ted Hughes the late poet laureate who spreads the word.

While American Liv Tyler is the leading lady, "Onegin" the movie is very much a British family affair.

Starring Fiennes, who won fame in "The English Patient," the film is directed by his sister Martha, the music is written by brother Magnus, and girlfriend Francesca Annis has a cameo role.

Fiennes says he has been "haunted" by the Onegin story since discovering it at drama school in 1984 and even tried to learn Russian so he could get to the heart of a big-hearted man.

"Changes of time, place, custom, manners and language can alter our perspective on a great writer, but they cannot extinguish the power of his words on the page," Fiennes said. "Our film, however wayward, is a response to that power."

An unknown to many, Pushkin is all but a god in his native Russia, which celebrated his birthday with rapture in June.

"He is the father of Russian literature. All the poets and prose writers who came after him acknowledge their debt," said Elaine Feinstein, an acclaimed Pushkin biographer and herself a poet.

"What an amazing man he was. What a dramatic life he led. Most poets lead rather boring lives but his was immensely exciting. This was an intriguing, paradoxical figure."

The paradoxical poet also has won a new lease on life from 19 of the world's best contemporary poets, from Britain to New Zealand, Ireland to the United States.

The group has come up with a contemporary slant on the Romantic master, mixing translation with interpretation as they rework tender lyrics and bawdy romps alike.