LULURURU,
Thank you for your insights. As someone who has put much time and research into the lives of Alexei Nicholaevich and Pierre Gillaird, I would have to say that you almost hit the nail right on the head(I don’t mean this as sarcastic or an insult. I sincerely appreciate what you wrote.).
I rarely post on this forum. However at times I become very compelled to do so. This is one of those times.
The main thing that inspired me to research and write The Testament, a screenplay about the lives of Alexei and Pierre, are the countless questions of the true nature of their friendship. As I moved deeper and deeper into this wonderful story, I discovered an untold drama at its epicenter.
In addition to what I previously wrote on this thread, I would like to add another aspect of it as well as add to what lulururu said.
In the United States, among the fans of sports there are, what we call fair weather fans. These individuals only cheer for the winning and chic sports team. If Pierre’s motives were anything but genuine, he would have left when the IF fell from power, just like Derevenko(The sailor, not the doctor). Then the question becomes, were Pierre’s motives genuine from the beginning? Well that’s up for much debate. I for one think that they were. However, as Pierre got to know more and more about Alexei, those motives became exponentially more genuine than they were before.
By lulururu saying that he would need to understand Russia in order to be an effective leader, is, like I said almost hitting the nail right on the head. You were almost there lulururu. In Pierre’s own words as written in his memoirs, ‘he is sensitive to the suffering in others, simply by the fact that he has suffered so much himself.’ Alexei already had the personal experience to lead Russia into the 20th Century. Pierre saw that this difficult foundation was already in place. That is why, in addition to a genuine friendship, he was not a fair weather fan. He knew Alexei could be an excellent leader for Russia. That is why he worked so hard to give Alexei the knowledge to attain this goal.
How do we grow as people . . . through our life experiences. How do we become more productive in society . . . through knowledge. Knowledge can be gained through studying and reading books, yet life experiences are gained through rare acts of fate or God.
I'm adding this as a last minute addition: There was a point, I don't recall off hand when this occured, but Alexei became very uncomfortable when some Russians bowed before him--Pierre witnessed this and is described in his memoirs. In addition to what I previously wrote this also had a profound influence on the nature of Pierre's relationship with Alexei. In this simple act of nervousness, I am compelled to believe--as written in the screenplay-- that this furthered the conviction of Pierre. What Russia needed at this point in history was a leader who understood the sufferings experienced by decades of survitude(sp?--typing right now like shooting from the hip without spellcheck--I love the hell our of some spell checking those red lines are awesome), also at this point in history they wanted and desired--the Russians that is--for a leader who was not above them, but who was their equal. Alexei's nervousness when being reveared(sp?) was a definite indication of someone who could have lead the Russian People into the 20th Century in a peaceful way so as to avoid the suffering of decades of oppressive communist dictatorship and restored not only faith in the monarch but faith in themselves as a country; something that was quite deficient(sp?) during the cold war. After the spelling disaster of this paragraph, without Microsoft word spellcheck my name is Aaron Glaeser and I am not smarter than a fifth grader. LOL!
Anyway, back to the point at hand. The main thing that separated my screenplay from other film attempts regarding the IF was that I ripped them from the history books and gave them their emotions and feelings back. That is why I have the entire screenplay told(The begining and the end) from the 1960s in the year the Pierre died(Titanic style). His tragedy here is that not only did he loose friendships when the IF was assassinated, he saw all of his efforts over 13 years turn out to be in vain, plus he know what Russia could have been under the leadership of a Tsar Alexei II, yet witnessed the suffering of a nation at the hands of the communists.
Aaron
