Moscow during the Stalinist dictatorship. Playwright Nikolai Maksudov rehearses his new play about Pontius Pilate, but when the actor playing Jesus Christ says: "Every government is a form of violence against people", theater owner Berlioz cancels the premiere. A woman, Margaret, saw the rehearsal and becomes close with Nikolai. Satan, in the form of gentleman Woland, has his henchmen Azazello and Korovyev eliminate all of Nikolai's opponents: Berlioz dies when he slips and a streetcar cuts off his head; a newspaper critic who wrote a negative review without even seeing the play is attacked by Woland's black cat; Azazello kicks and kills Bobov, who took away Nikolai's apartment. Nikolai is sent to a mental asylum, but is freed by Woland's powers. Woland demonstrates a magic trick in the theater, giving the audience money and clothes, but then taking it away and leaving them naked. The play is reinstated, but Nikolai and Margaret drink Pilate's wine and die.
It is an oddity that the Yugoslav-Italian co-production "The Master and Margaret" by Aleksandar Petrovic is only the 2nd film adaptation of Ukrainian writer Mikhail Bulgakov's eponymous novel that gained cult status—and is a restructuring of "Faust". Several later film adaptations tried to transfer the novel to the screen, but failed creatively. Petrovic's version is shortened and condensed, with several omissions, but still has its moments due to Bulgakov's satirical sharpness when tackling the themes of artistic (self)-censorship, corruption by evil and fear of dictatorships. His main allegory is that, in this edition and setting, Stalin is Satan, here played by the mysterious henchman Woland, who seems to embody the Soviet secret police and their inexplicable whims when attacking people randomly. One hilarious moment appears when Nikolai and Berlioz are arguing in a cafe, Berlioz mentions that "Jesus never existed", and all of a sudden the mysterious stranger Woland opens the door and sits at their table to talk to Berlioz: "If I heard correctly, you said that Jesus never existed?" - "Yes, you heard correctly." - "Bravo, bravo, bravo! Allow me to thank you, from the bottom of my heart!" After the wild conversation, the confused Berlioz leaves the cafe, and Woland turns around to say: "Jesus existed, I saw him. I was there!" Another clever moment appears when Nikolai is interrogated by the committee for his play about Pilate and Jesus, because the text could be used by the enemies, upon which he poses the question: "Why would the truth serve our enemy?" Bulgakov used the novel to appeal to Stalin to leave him alone, to allow him to write without fearing that his art will be banned for not being appropriate. The conclusion feels a bit incomplete and vague, though Woland's magic tricks used on the audience in the finale are so insane and bizarre they have to be seen.
Grade:++
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