Movie makers don't always get it right, but casting directors usually do. This HBO drama did its best to get most things accurate, and casting is top notch with Alan Rickman a perfect choice that eliminates the melodramatic elements of previous Rasputins, particularly Lionel Barrymore in MGM's 1932 epic. When Rickman explodes in anger, it's usually in a drunken rage, and makes a fool of himself, so he's far from perfect in his hoodwinking efforts even though he ably talks his way out of it. Tom Baker as Rasputin in "Nicholas and Alexandra" is a better fit, but he's supporting there so this is that film's Rasputin, just more fleshed out.
With Ian McKellen as Czar Nicholas and Greta Scacchi as Empress Alexandra, the casting is top notch, and their children including Freddie Finlay as ailing prince Alexi are beautifully portrayed. As they play outside their huge palace in the snow after Alexi has had a miraculous breakthrough in his battle with hemophilia, you can't help but feel joy and sadness in knowing what their fates will be. Usually cast as villains, David Warner and John Wood are terrific in smaller roles, their actions based more on fear of the actions of whom they consider a bad influence than on nefarious intentions.
I take movie maker's visions of history as a generic lesson of what could have transpired, only angered by blatant untruths which this fortunately lacks. As told through the ghostly Alexi as if he continued to see the world after he was murdered, it's a haunting narrative. The gorgeous sets, props, costumes and hairstyles do seem fairly accurate but like Von Sternberg's "The Scarlet Empress", they indicate an audacious living for the royals that slowly arroused the ire of a starving country. Truly a grand document of the last years of Russian rule under the Romanov's and a reminder that the best movies recently have come from cable subscription TV.
With Ian McKellen as Czar Nicholas and Greta Scacchi as Empress Alexandra, the casting is top notch, and their children including Freddie Finlay as ailing prince Alexi are beautifully portrayed. As they play outside their huge palace in the snow after Alexi has had a miraculous breakthrough in his battle with hemophilia, you can't help but feel joy and sadness in knowing what their fates will be. Usually cast as villains, David Warner and John Wood are terrific in smaller roles, their actions based more on fear of the actions of whom they consider a bad influence than on nefarious intentions.
I take movie maker's visions of history as a generic lesson of what could have transpired, only angered by blatant untruths which this fortunately lacks. As told through the ghostly Alexi as if he continued to see the world after he was murdered, it's a haunting narrative. The gorgeous sets, props, costumes and hairstyles do seem fairly accurate but like Von Sternberg's "The Scarlet Empress", they indicate an audacious living for the royals that slowly arroused the ire of a starving country. Truly a grand document of the last years of Russian rule under the Romanov's and a reminder that the best movies recently have come from cable subscription TV.