With Anthony Hopkins not only making his maiden directorial outing, but taking the lead role and penning much of the score, this new translation of Chekhov's scathing satire Uncle Vanya should be a joy to behold. Sadly, this version proves disappointing, stripping its East European forebear of all its pivotal blackness and leaving behind only bleakness.
The story itself remains pretty much intact: tyrannical professor Alexander Blathwaite (Phillips) arrives to spend the summer at his country estate, which is looked after by his eccentric brother-in-law Ieuan (Hopkins) in his absence. In tow is his bored, beautiful young wife Helen (Burton), who quickly becomes the object of desire for every male in the vicinity, including Ieuan and traumatised local doctor Michael Lloyd (Gawn Grainger).
There's no denying that Hopkins is as adept behind the camera as he is in front of it; the acting is faultless, the pace leisurely, and it looks lovely, decked out against the lush Welsh countryside. But very little actually happens; people wander about lamenting lost loves; familial conflict rears its head; supporting characters bumble around in the background and when Ieuan finally cracks and turns vigilante against his errant brother-in-law, the ensuing storm, amusing as it is, proves to be of teacup proportions.
Hopkins, as always, is note-perfect, although with the piece's awkward tragi-comic tone and unnecessarily downbeat ending, it's hard to know whether to treat his character as a bumbling old buffer or a poignant anti-hero.