Nicholas and Alexandra
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Movie Reviews of Nicholas and Alexandra
Movie Review: A wonderful indictment of incestuous monarchies
Summary: 4 Stars
Nicholas and Alexandra is a great movie. It is great not only for the costumes and the acting but also for the depiction of the tragedy that befell the Russian people due to the ineptness of Tsar Nicholas II and the stupidity, gullibility and lack of sense of his wife, Alexandra.
Nicholas and Alexandra were probably the two stupidest people ever to be put in positions of absolute power in history.
Nicholas was the son of Tsar Alexander III and Princess Dagmar of Denmark, later Empress Maria Feodorovna. Alexander's (called Sashsa by family) father, Alexander II tried to institute reforms in Russia. He was murdered by a bomb thrower in 1881. Alexander III responded by revoking all reforms and crushing all dissent in Russia. As the nineteenth century approached its end, the life of the average Russian peasant was worse than ever. Alexander III died in 1894 at age 49. His son Nicholas became Tsar and a husband at the same time.
Nicholas was married to Alexandra, daughter of a minor German prince but, more importantly, granddaughter of Britain's Queen Victoria. Nicholas himself was related to Victoria's family because his mother, Dagmar of Denmark, was the sister to Princess Alexandra who was married to Edward, Prince of Wales. Edward's sister, Alice, was the mother of Nicholas's wife, Alexandra. Edward became King Edward VII of Great Britain. He was "Uncle Bertie" to both Nicholas and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. This relationship is not portrayed in the film.
The film concentrates on three things: 1. The love Nicholas and Alexandra have for each other; 2. Alexandra's fear, guilt and paranoia regarding her son Alexis's hemophilia, and ; 3. the collapse of Russia under the pressure of internal dissent and World War I.
Nicholas and Alexandra obviously loved each other very much. Their love was blind and stupid. Nicholas, as Tsar and Autocrat of all of Russia, failed to secure the welfare of his people, opting instead to follow his wife and her crazy priest, Rasputin.
Alexandra cared little for Russia and its people. She was a German princess. Her only concern was for her son to whom she had transmitted hemophilia. Because of inbreeding hemophilia was very present in the monarchies of Europe in the late 19th century. Alexandra's grandmother, Queen Victoria, gave it to her daughter Alice who gave it to Alexandra who gave it to her son. Alexis's hemophilia, and the search for a cure, consumed Alexandra. She worshipped the Siberian peasant, Rasputin, because she believed he could help. Rasputin manipulated her and she manipulated Nicholas, as weak a monarch as there ever was.
Finally, the film shows how Lenin and the Bolsheviks rose to power. It was all avoidable. The Tsar refused even the most modest of reforms. His troops slaughtered demonstrators at the winter palace. In exile during WW I Lenin became even stronger.
Russia was not ready for WWI. The film shows this in dramatic fashion with the great Sir Laurence Olivier, as one of Nicholas's ministers, pleading with the Tsar to avoid war. Nicholas, the product of inbreeding married to and subject to a wife who was equally the product of inbreeding, ignores his minister. Russia marches off to war in 1914 with disastrous results.
Russia collapses and Nicholas is forced to abdicate. In the chaos Lenin and the Bolsheviks take power. The Tsar and his family are prisoners. Civil war erupts in Russia and Lenin fears that the Tsar will be used by his opponents to take power away from him.
The film ends with a great climax: the murder of Nicholas and Alexandra and their 5 children in a basement in Siberia. It is a great tragedy. We are meant to feel sad for the Romanov family.
While the murder of the Tsar and his family in so ignoble a fashion is tragic, the fate of the country that he led was far worse. Nicholas II had many opportunities to turn his country around. He failed every time. His son's hemophilia, while certainly a family tragedy, need not have affected the monarchy. As Tsar he could have easily overturned the edict enacted by Tsar Paul in 1796 that only males could inherit the throne. Nicholas failed to do this because Alexandra insisted that her son be the next Tsar.
Because of this Nicholas sold everything to Alexandra's obsession with curing Alexis, a cure that was not possible.
This led to the rise of Rasputin, and disaster.
"Without Rasputin there could have been no Lenin."- Alexander Karensky
The film is great as far as it goes.
WalterS
Movie Review: Making History Live
Summary: 4 Stars
One of the most beautifully crafted and moody epics to come out of Hollywood (or, to be accurate, Britain), "Nicholas and Alexandra" has never acquired the reputation it deserves. Released at a time when big budget spectaculars were considered passé, hostile contemporary reviews have shaped the film's reputation. While hardly perfect, the film nonetheless provides a reasonably accurate, if politically conservative overview of pre-revolutionary Russia and does an excellent job of individualizing the two monarchs. The two central, completely convincing performances are by relative unknowns Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman. Several first-rate actors (Laurence Olivier, Eric Porter, Ian Holm, Alan Webb, Harry Andrews, Irene Worth, Jack Hawkins, Michael Redgrave, John McEnery, Curt Jurgens and others) support them in small parts and manage to make us forget their familiar presences to concentrate on their characters. The actors are cushioned by Yvonne Blake and Antonio Castillo's lush costumes and Richard Rodney Bennett's symphonic score in an elegant jewelry box crafted by designer John Box, cinematographer Freddie Young and director Franklin Schaffner.
The film has two major failings. First, it is just a touch *too* sympathetic to the monarchs. Quite apart from the lack of any evaluation of their short-comings as leaders, there are too many scenes calculated, presumably (and questionably), to demonstrate Nicholas "learning" from his mistakes. Second, in the effort to dramatize a complex historical moment, there is simply too much of it. We jump from the Russo-Japanese War to the 1905 Russian Revolution to Stolypin's reforms, to Rasputin's influence, to the First World War, the Februrary Revolution, the October Revolution, and on and on. In this rush to include everything, little other than the monarchs' lives is dealt with in any depth and the efforts to depict the revolutionaries are particularly awkward.
One of the most notorious scenes in the film, commented upon by more than one contemporary review, is a brief early moment when Lenin says to a journalist, "Pay attention, you're about to see the birth of the Bolshevik party." That's about the level of the political evaluation, and one can understand why the scene, along with about ten minutes elsewhere, was cut in subsequent theatrical and video release. (On the other hand, the characterization of Lenin as an intolerant prig, however uncomprehending of his political ideas, does ring remarkably true.) The DVD restores these excisions. The transfer is considerably warmer than Columbia's previous video releases, and is 16:9 enhanced.
I recommend the disc to anyone interested in the subject or the capacity of films to make history live for audiences. Apparently like several other reviewers here, I first saw "Nicholas and Alexandra" in its initial theatrical release and loved it. I immediately read Massie's book after seeing it, which was the first step in what has proven a life-long interest in the period. Despite its failings, it is a testament to the film's power that it can exercise this level of fascination over viewers' imaginations.
Movie Review: Nicky And Alicky - Interesting Piece If Somewhat Flawed
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a beautifully filmed epic, but let me forewarn you that it's not always accurate (but then, few are). Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman excel as the doomed Imperial couple, whose love for each other and their children is touching, but whose incapability to rule their country makes them appear insensitive to their subjects. Tom Baker as the infamous Grigory Rasputin fits the bill for the role, and he even manages to insert bits of humor in this much portrayed character. The incomparable Sir Laurence Olivier is impeccable in his turn as Witte. One of the most memorable scenes is the murder of Rasputin, again, somewhat fictionalized but highly watchable and entertaining. Martin Potter (Prince Felix Yussopov) is fascinating and repellent, while Richard Warwick (RIP) as Grand Duke Dmitry is boyishly and deliciously captivating. Irene Worth as the Dowager Empress is so natural, and the majority of the characters (I've noted some exceptions below) came off very well. The reconstruction of Bloody Sunday, WW1, and the execution were expertly presented.
However, several scenes (some not included in the video release, but restored on DVD) are fictionalized or downright false. On the DVD, for example, the part where Grand Duchess Tatiana (the late Lynne Fredrick, RIP) exposes herself to a Bolshevik guard in Ekaterinburg is fabricated and ridiculous. The supposed 'attempted suicide' by Alexei was again misrepresented - the actual incident which occurred at Tobolsk was accidental. Yakovlev (Sir Ian Holm) is portrayed as a hating, nasty man, when in actuality, he treated the Czar and his family with the utmost respect, despite his membership with the Bolsheviks. Jacob Yurovsky (Alan Webb) is shown to be a kind, elderly gentleman, which he was most certainly not. The Imperial daughters were not given much to do, and their characters were never fully developed. We pretty much had to guess which daughter each actress was portraying (until the climax), and the actresses did not resemble the real people at all!!! The eldest daughter was too dark-haired, thin-lipped and sharp-featured (not to say that she was unattractive), while the second was the wrong physical type, the third again had hair that was too dark, wrong body type and was too short. The youngest was too tall, and her hair was too light. And those 70s hairstyles!!! I guess I'm too picky, but considering the excellent job of casting with the main characters, they were way off here!!!
On the whole, worthwhile viewing, but I recommend that people read biographies of the Romanovs before seeing the movie, and try to get it on DVD if possible. The final scene is hard to watch (at least I thought so) and on the DVD print watch for 'movie mistakes'!!! But don't miss it. And oh, those costumes and locations!!!!!
An interesting note: John Wood, who plays Colonel Koblinsky here, later played Prime Minister Stolypin in 'Rasputin: Dark Servant Of Destiny'.
"Take your girls - or, your boys - frolic in the provinces, but get him out of here!!!!!"
Movie Review: The Turning Tide
Summary: 4 Stars
When I was a teenager I read a lot of novels & afterwards when I saw a Hollywood movie version of the same books, I was normally disappointed. Why were some of the greatest scenes & dialog missing? The movie "Nicholas & Alexandria" is a "Turning Tide" for many reasons...
1st turning tide: watching the movie before reading the book
I saw the movie before reading the book by Robert K. Massie that it was based on, & thought the movie was great. The characters were very real, they were acted by professional Shakespeare & theater actors rather than the standard "Mega Personalities" which always gets in the way of historical dramas. The scenes looked "Real" enough, even if photographed in Spain rather than Russia, but second thought, maybe I don't know what Russia "Should" look like. I was once trapped in the Moscow airport on my way to Kiev Ukraine, so I saw some Slavic lands from the air. Returning to the film after a few years I was surprised to figure out that Rasputin was played by Tom Baker, the 4th Dr. Who, who indeed was a Benedict monk in his early 20's. Then I read the book by Robert K. Massie & a few history books...
2nd turning tide: after reading the book & the fall of the Czar state
...the movie fell a part; the best parts of history were missing or rearranged. Specially Rasputin's death; there was no dancing transvestite at Prince Yusupov's cellar, & Rusputin didn't crawl away from the room, but ran shouting "I will tell the Queen Alexandria on you" with the Prince firing several shots before hitting him. The Prince's friends did not hit Rusputin's body with chains after he was down, but the body was tied with ropes & lowered into an iced river. Believe it or not, Rusputin died from drowning rather than the poison & bullets.
The shooting of the Tsar's family had more servants in the firing line & was more gruesome; several people survived the first volley & were chased around with bayonets. Prince Alexis was the last to die with two bullets in the head from a reloaded pistol. Several other bizarre yet important events that would of made great scenes are totally missing from the movie...
Yet somehow the movie did "Flow" & if you wanted a historical drama rather than a movie it would last way too long like a Wagner opera. Reading some other reviews, the Tsar's family did speak mostly English, & both Nicholas & Alexandria had English & German relatives. Tsar Nicholas couldn't believe that "Cousin Willie" the German Kaiser, was going to war against him, & Alexandria was a carrier of hemophilia from Queen Victoria's blood line. Therefore to watch an enjoyable yet a historical wash over of the "Turning Tide" of Russia, this DVD will not let you down. Enjoy.
Movie Review: CD version necessary to understand fame/power karma
Summary: 4 Stars
If you are interested in knowing what challenges monarches and other powerful people face, this movie is a great beginning. You may or may not be interested in Russian history or even world history, but this particular story greatly encapsulates the emotional, physical and political issues faced by two powerfully-born adults and their children. Other reviews at this site are terrific for their critical perceptions of this movie and its strengths and weaknesses, so I will not go into too much detail to "sell" anybody on the action or dialogue, or historical accuracy. Suffice to say this movie -- in its unedited version (crucial for DVD) does in fact tell it like it is (or was). Nicholas and Alexandra were two human beings who happened to be born into the Western dynastic system still prevalent at the turn of the 20th century. They were responsible, in an almost Biblical sense, for the destiny of Humanity, only they opted out, and were then executed. This would be considered "romantic" if Humanity did not have such an overwhelming need for Leadership by designated heroes. The DVD version is critical to see the full relationship between Alexandria and Rasputin as a surrendering of power, and also to see Rasputin in his full decadent expression (which must be positively repulsive to Russian history revisionists.) It is also necessary, in an emotional and historic context, to see the "failure" of Nicholas -- that he could no longer carry the responsibility of the godhead. It is also relevant to see the execution of Rasputin at the hands of the two hop-head fairies who were also in line to inherit this godhead, and that they themselves had dreams of American incorporation. Alexia (Nicholas and Alexandra's only son, who also happened to be a hemophiliac) hates his persecutors with a very personal, adult hatred -- those who persecuted the Romanov dynasty were people who hated themselves and took that hatred out on the leaders they loved and despised. They loved their leaders, and despised their need for leaders. If you purchase this movie, whatever your reason or interest, please buy the DVD so that it is unedited (meaning uncensored) so thatyou may judge for yourself.