AllMovie

The Man of Music in this Russian biopic is composer Mikhail Glinka. As portrayed by Boris Smirnov, Glinka was not only the favorite tunesmith of the Russian military, but also a tireless crusader against the excesses of the corrupt Romanov regime. The composer's best-known operas--Ivan Susanin, Rusian and Ludmila--are tributes to the indomitable spirit of the Russian peasant. For those uninterested in the propaganda elements of Man of Music, the film offers elaborately staged highlights from Glinka's most famous compositions. In its own way, the film can be regarded as the Soviet equivalent to Hollywood's Yankee Doodle Dandy. Directed by Grigori Alexandrov, Man of Music (aka Glinka) features Alexandrov's wife Lyubov Orlova as Glinka's chief inspiration, his sister Ludmilla.