THREE SISTERS

A small Russian town in the provinces, at the end of the 19th century. After the death of their father, the three sisters Olga, Maša, and Irina and their brother Andrej have only one goal: To finally leave behind the dull provinces and move to Moscow. In her dreams, Irina already pictures herself in Moscow’s high society and her brother as an honorable professor at the university. But two years pass and none of the siblings has made it to the big city. Andrej now works for the town council and is unhappily married to naive Nataša. Maša is married as well, but has an affair with married army commander Veršinin. Irina is being courted by two men at once – but she cannot make up her mind whom to prefer. When the town is struck by a conflagration, the smouldering interpersonal conflicts flare up as well. An open argument takes place between the sisters and Nataša; when Irina finally decides to accept Baron Tusenbach’s proposals of marriage she has to find out that he has been killed in a duel by his rival, Major Soljonyj. Laurence Olivier’s strictly accurate film-adaption is characterised by theatrical aesthetics. Nearly all roles are cast with actors from his legendary National Theatre Company.