The Agony

[Annie]

Thanks!

My son just ordered it on Netflix, I'll post again once I see it!

[helenazar]

Annie, I have this film and I saw it. It's kind of weird and confusing (even though I understand Russian), and I can't say I liked it that much. I don't really even know how to describe it...

[azrael7171918]

It seems to be in Russian, made in 1975 and not released until 1985. It looks like the most detailed and thorough account of his life, and probably closest to accurate, anyone ever made. I would LOVE to see it (especially with English subtitles!) Has anyone seen this? Do you know how I can get a copy?

http://www.uoregon.edu/~kimball/Agoniia.htm

This film is still for sale on AMAZON for 26.99 but you can get used copies thru them as well. It is a region 1.

azrael

[helenazar]

This film is still for sale on AMAZON for 26.99 but you can get used copies thru them as well. It is a region 1.

azrael

IMO, this movie may be worth about $5, just for curiousity's sake, but definitely not worth any more than that.

[Annie]

Thanks! I'm glad we're not paying for it. It should be entertaining just to see what they do with the story, though I'm sure it will probably irritate me for being inaccurate.

[azrael7171918]

I feel it was a courageous thing for the producers and everyone involved. The government could have done alot worse than shelve the film. It was the same kind of courage that those who went looking for the grave had.

I saw this in the theatre at the time it was released in the States. To portray Nicholas as anything but bloody. These people are to be commended for their work.

[Robert_Hall]

I have it as well. I'm with Helen, it is pretty much trash but wirth about $5 in curiosity value.  I remember seeing in the theatre when it came out  went away puzzeled by it- why did I waste our time on this?'. Then, later on, buying it  wondering the exact same thing again!

[RogerV]

<<Digging back in the cobwebs of my memory>>  I think I rented this movie about ten years ago, maybe a little longer.  It's hard to remember a lot of details except for the fact that the way they presented much of the story wasn't much like how I had learned it from my own research.

I tend to notice odd details-- In one scene I noticed an instantaneous water heater mounted over a sink, and these definitely were not available in Revolutionary Russia.  There was also a scene where someone brought a telephone to Rasputin on a very long cord, and this also would have been extremely unusual.  Also, it was the type with a crank, and when you're finished talking, you have to turn the crank to signal the operator to take down the connection.  Simply hanging up wouldn't accomplish this. 

They tended to present the Imperial Family in the worst possible light, and have the Empress saying how much she hated Russia.  Whatever her many faults were, Alexandra definitely did NOT hate Russia!

[Grand_Duchess_Aminta]

I found this film on youtube. Has anybody seen it? What do you think then? Well my opinion it is quite good, but the way how Nicholas is presented is a little bit aver a top. It looks like he didn`t have any close relations with his family. It is quite interesting how the actor plays him. To me it gave an odd feeling. There is something very strange about this film.

The link is here where you can watch it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g3fhASVeYM

[nena]

I think I saw some about that movie on Russian website. It is about Rasputin, IF, Revolution...looks like similar to me.

See:
http://hellorussia.ru/tv/agoniya.html
Filmed in 1981.

[Imperial_Grounds]

I have it on dvd, i bought it for the extra's(footage from the re-burial of the IF in 1998, and some publicity newsreels from 1913 recreating 300 years of Romanov-rule over Russia) but the movie turned out to be great on its own, the soundtrack and the way the story is told, the only thing I didn't like was the portrayal of the Imperial Family, and it seems the Soviet's were nice with their portrayal in this movie, and that it was forbidden in Soviet-Russia because of the IF's portrayal. I didn't like the fact that Alix at times spoke, and prayed, in German and that at the end she states to hate Russia, while we know she didn't hate the country and didn't spoke or pray in German either.

But on it's own right it's a good movie, it is different and strange but good.

[markjhnstn]

The main 3 characters in the movie are Rasputin, Anna Vyrubova and Nicholas. You only see Alexei and Alexandra in maybe one or two scenes and OTMA don't feature at all apart from being background figures at the funeral and one winter outdoor shot at the beginning.

Considering it was made in the Soviet Union in the seventies, it is surprisingly sympathetic to the portrayal of Nicholas II.

Definitely a shade more bizarre and strange than the HBO version starring Alan Rickman but definitely worth watching if you can get it.

You could almost treat it as a prequel to Romanovs: A Crowned family

[pavel2]

One scene caught my eye: Rasputin is heading to see Alexandra and there's a shot of the palace. They show what is definitely Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, as it must have looked in 1975. What raised my curiousity is how different it was from now: the flag was the "new" tricolor scheme, and there were the gates and trees around the palace. Also, isn't it true that the tsar's family stayed in the Alexander Palace?

Does anyone know the source of the differences? I am guessing the flag which is currently on the palace is true for the Catherine period, while later it was changed to new colors, as in the film. However, I doubt the gates were put there just for the shoot.

Click on the url, if the inserted image appears cropped, as it does for me:

http://i32.tinypic.com/28juq1.png

[pavel2]

This may work better:

http://i29.tinypic.com/2vxkbk3.jpg

[Silja]

Considering it was made in the Soviet Union in the seventies, it is surprisingly sympathetic to the portrayal of Nicholas II.

But definitely not to Alexandra. I was disgusted by her portrayal in this.