Kirill Serebrennikov's 'La moglie di Tchaikovsky' explores composer's marriage and homosexuality

Kirill Serebrennikov's film 'La moglie di Tchaikovsky' (Tchaikovsky's Wife) premieres in Italian cinemas on October 5, 2023, distributed by I Wonder Pictures. The film focuses on the marriage between composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his former student Antonina Ivanovna Miljukova, set in late 19th-century Russia. Tchaikovsky, a homosexual, entered a sham marriage to quell rumors, leading to personal crisis and depression. The story is told from Antonina's perspective, highlighting her obsessive love and eventual madness due to rejection. Serebrennikov notes that Soviet-era censorship suppressed Tchaikovsky's private letters and diaries, creating a sanitized image of the composer. The film contrasts with Ken Russell's 1971 'The Music Lovers', which focused on Tchaikovsky's psychological profile and his death from cholera after drinking contaminated water. Serebrennikov emphasizes the limited rights of women in Tsarist Russia, where divorce required court permission.