Historical Movies - A study guide - Czarist Russia

[oman]

I am trying to find movies that fit in with my daughters various history classes. Right now, Czarist russia.

She is a teenager, and she is fussy, so even though she will tolerate older and blacker and whiter movies, what we need is something that might fit in with the modern sensiblities of the slightly insane teenage female mind.

Ivan the Terrible part 1 and 2 is all I have now. Any recommendations?

[GringoTex]

I am trying to find movies that fit in with my daughters various history classes. Right now, Czarist russia.

She is a teenager, and she is fussy, so even though she will tolerate older and blacker and whiter movies, what we need is something that might fit in with the modern sensiblities of the slightly insane teenage female mind.

Ivan the Terrible part 1 and 2 is all I have now. Any recommendations?

The perfect Russian czarist insane teenage mind film:

The Scarlet Empress

http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=109

[Excape Goat]

I can think of two well-known movies on Czarist Russia, but I cannot give any review. One I actually never saw.... the other I hated it.

Nikita Mikhalkov' who won a Oscar for the movie "Burnt by the Sun" directed a movie about Alexander III called "Barber of Siberia". I never saw the movie. The review of the movie was not good. Some called it a propaganda for Russia.... well, it was a nationalistic movie. It generated plenty of news when it first came out.

"Russian Ark" got some internatiuonal recognization when it first came out. Basically, th movie was about a narrator walking through the Winter Palace (now the Russian State Hermitage Museum) in St. Petersburg. He basically encounted different historical figues in the museum and walked through famous segments of Czartist history. The movie was one single take. The camerman walked through the palace while the actors and actresses acted out th scenes as he approached each room without ever stopping the camera. I was somehwat into Russian history, but I still could not get what was going on. It just showed people running around and talking about topics that I was not familiar. I fast-forwarded the entire movie.

[Owen Gohl]

Here are a few films that focus on Tsarist Russia, mostly its last 100 years. A mini-series on Peter the Great was produced in the mid-80s but it's not available on video. I didn't list Doctor Zhivago as that's more concerned with the Revolution. All of the following are available in various formats.

The Scarlet Empress (1934). Marlene Dietrich as Catherine the Great:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025746/


War and Peace. Two versions, Hollywood (1956) and Soviet (1968). There are a number of versions of the Soviet film, some running over 8 hours:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049934/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063794/


Rasputin and the Empress (1932). I believe this was the only film in which all three Barrymore siblings appeared together. Lionel played Rasputin:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023374/


Nicholas and Alexandria (1971). The last Tsar, based on Massie's book, as was the Peter mini-series:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067483/


Anastasia (1956). Myth, not history:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048947/

[Ghost]

http://russian-crafts.com/dvd/movies/6305257450.jpg

OK, so it may be pre-czarist (I'm not sure of exact dates involved) and getting a teen-ager to watch it could be the equivalent of herding cats, but it's one of the best movies ever made, so I thought I would mention it.

[oman]

Dang, I am sorry about the Peter the Great not being on video. That looked like a front runner.

Thanks for the hints, all.

[HerthaBerwyn]

Recommend 'Nicholas and Alexandra'; 'The Battleship Potemkin'; 'Tarus Bulba'

'Russian Ark' I thought was unwatchable

[bigredfutbol]

"Russian Ark" was pretty tough going. But the ending ten minutes--a long tracking shot through the entire building with something like 980 costumed actors choreographed to perfection--was pretty breathtaking.

[Caesar]

Russian Ark was brilliant and I won't hear a word against it. One of my favourite films of all time.

[bigredfutbol]

Russian Ark was brilliant and I won't hear a word against it. One of my favourite films of all time.

It just seemed there were too many cultural references I wasn't getting. I didn't dislike the movie, I just felt ill-equipped to get anything out of it.

I don't mind that I sat through it. Especially since that final shot was magnificent.