Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)

I liked this one alot. It was a bit stagey, the pacing and atmosphere a tad stately, but all the same it was an engaging look at a period of history that I have a great interest in

It kind of was a bit by the numbers, just ticking through all the important bullet points that one would find in any Russian Revolution text book... But at the same time some of the performances were very human and that made the history lesson quite compelling

The actor who played Nicholas in particular impressed me. His performance was at once regal, naive and weak. Yet he also (in his performance at least, not so sure about the real Tsar) seemed to care about his reponsibilities to the people, it's just that he got caught up like the rest of the European ruling elite in antiquated notions of glory and duty. The result was the first world war, and for Russia at least, revolution.

It had fantastic scenery, and some really good moments. I think I was most impressed by how it handled the ultimate fate of the Romanovs. You got a real sense for what it must be like to have your final days played out in uncertainty, not knowing if you're going to escape, get shipped off for a show trial.. or shot.

When they are awoken and told to go wait in the basement (for some reason..) it gave me a really sickening feeling. The film handles it brilliantly. We wait in that room with them. They don't know for sure what's coming, and maybe that's what makes it so awful. The camera stays with them in silence for a full 3 minutes, as the Tsar sits there looking exhausted and broken, but trying to remain strong for his family. The shot of the clock by the door, ticking away, had my heart in my throat. What would it be like to sit there watching a clock, wondering how many more revolutions the second hand had left before someone came in to end your life?


Ugh

Good filmmaking though. It's a real epic, with an intermission and everything.


---INTERMISSION--

We're back.

I decided my post needed an intermission

Anyway, I've been on a Russian Revolution kick lately and this was recommended to me by a Chewer. It definitely hit the spot... All the same, I think there is alot more drama and madness left to be mined from this subject, and I think a really kick butt HBO miniseries could be great. This one felt a bit restrained in terms of how far it could go, but I guess that was a product of the era

PS Tom Baker was fine as Rasputin, but still also a bit restrained. I liked him more as the movie progressed though

His death scene was kind of a let down. They shortened his death, which is half the reason Rasputin is so famous. They cut out alot of the coming back to life stuff, which was a shame

PS Brian Cox as Trotsky! LOL

I have to head off right now but just wanted to say I added FALL OF EAGLES to my netflix queue! Might get it by the weekend if I'm lucky, but I have alot of other stuff on my plate right now to watch

PS Great comment about how that shot of the Romanov's looks like some sort of bizzaro family portrait. Really great filmmaking, it's gut wrenching stuff

PS I agree that they were trying not to go too over the top with Rasputin and were trying to let his supposed charisma show through, but he was more creepy and servile than compelling, IMHO. I still liked the performance, I just would have liked to see more from him, that's all

Eh, yes and no. I have no problem using them when they're needed (like at the end of a sentence mid paragraph), but if it's the end of a paragraph I actually do find them a little distasteful and odd looking. Just a little dot at the end there followed by nothingness. Something about that really bothers me


I think that my paragraph breaks alone should indicate the end of a sentence

PS I used to have a desktop where I'd spill stuff on the keyboard all the time. Usually a spill would result in a few keys going dead. There was one time (for about 3 months) that I was without a spacebar, a couple of letters, both shift keys adn caps lock (along with a few other keys I can't remember)

i.ended.up.typing.like.this.till.friends.got.sick. of.talking.to.me.on.IM.like.that.and.purchased.me. a.new.keyboard

I think the other part about that portrait like set up that's so devastating is how they're kind of clinging to their 'royalty'. They look like they've gathered to meet some foreign dignitary or something, which is kind of a sad irony. I would have been totally freaked out in their situation, IMHO (although no one knows what really went on, so the fact that they met their end with such composure could be an invention of the film)
Anyway, as I was saying yesterday, I do think that any film about the end of the Tsars should avoid making Rasputin a parody (something that could be hard to avoid). But at the same time I think that his supposed magnetism really was not captured in N+A. They avoided making him a joke, but didn't exactly capture what made him interesting (IMHO)


I will check out your video as soon as I'm able to!

Couldn't get through FALL OF EAGLES. The video quality is below that of a VHS tape on it's last legs. I literally can't see what's going on most of the time

Don't worry about the lack of Romanov stuff, Soylent Green. I quite enjoyed what I saw. My problem was just the transfer. In some shots it would be fine but in others I couldn't tell who was talking or what was going on. My vision is already not great (I got glasses a few months back but have, for the most part, avoided wearing them even at home) so the picture quality was just unworkable for me

Maybe if a better transfer comes out some day I'll give it another shot. Stewart as Lenin sounds too good to pass up