A Woman Loved (2013) is set in Saint Petersburg, Russia, from 1980 to 1995.
Oleg Erdmann is a young Russian filmmaker of German descent. He is a poor
26-year-old student living in a communal flat with fifteen other people. He is
obsessed with Catherine the Great (1729-1796).
The novel is about Oleg’s attempt at writing a screenplay about Catherine
the Great’s life. In doing so, there are many obstacles. Oleg’s girlfriend Lessya
has read the first eleven pages of his screenplay and hates it. His fellow
students tease him about the potential length of the film.
His university lecturer thinks Oleg’s film project is too ambitious –
politically, financially, and historically. Catherine’s life has too many
dramas – from German princess to Russian empress, her lovers, her desire to
dominate, the coup d’etat, the murder of her husband Peter III, her rise to
power, her son, her expeditions to foreign lands, too many biographical details
– too many characters, too many walk-on parts. Too much detail won’t be good
for the film, his teacher advises – and drop the horse! However, his teacher
has some good advice: ‘try to fall in love with a present-day Catherine the
Great.’
Oleg’s research and ambition is relentless, despite the criticism,
including the pedantic comments from members of the State Committee for
Cinematic Art. Nevertheless, Oleg moves from screenplay to production.
Has he fallen in love with a modern day Catherine? Is that even possible
given his filmmaking obsession?
This is an interesting well-written way to introduce the history of
Catherine the Great, the challenges in portraying true historical facts versus
biographical fabrications, the pressure of other people’s expectations, and the
obsession to portray Catherine’s ‘real’ character.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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