Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)

[lovy]

The abdication scene - I don't know what to say about it. You probably might find it heart-breaking but at the same time, a smile might come on your face because I just found it over-done.
    I thought Nicholas was a bit of a wimp then, and I thought Alexandra as a person who did not comfort. Why didn't she go up to him, but then reaches out to him
    Wasn't the real thing when Nicholas and Alexandra fell into each other's arms? Alexandra told Nicholas that the husband and father was infinitely more precious to her than the tsar whose throne she had shared? And then Nicholas cried on her breast? But according to Massie's book, he wrote that Nicholas cried "like a child." Maybe Nicholas was really that wimpy???

[Caleb]

As much as it apalls me that someone was laughing at the  scene portraying the apalling & criminal execution of Nicholas, Alexandra & the children, people are allowed freedom of speech & opinions. However, there are somethings that should be said either more diplomatically, or not at all. I'm not saying that the person's comment was polite, or not the best to say here, but, I myself, as an American, am elated to enjoy freedom of speech & ideas. (This is my opinion)

[Janet_W.]

I agree, Caleb! The freedom to state one's opinion is very, very important. And along with that, the freedom to question why someone is so terribly intent on ripping something to shreds, particularly if that person hasn't a background in, say, screenwriting, acting, and/or film production.

Another tactic, of course, is to allow uninformed comments to sway in the breeze. Have you ever noticed that criticism usually tells us far more about the commentator than it does about the object being criticized?  

[azrael7171918]

There were two at the time the film was released.

One was a magazine no longer in print called AFTER DARK
This one actually talked about what really happened during the filming.
It seems that the girls began to cry. It was said that 2 of them would start and they would calm them down and the other two would start. During this time Roderic Noble became very hyper and would run up to one of the girls and hit her.I remember it was a crew member who was interviewed for the article because he said that it unnerved the crew they had tried to make them a family for 9 months and now they were too much a family. He also went on to say that when they finally finished filming the girls broke down again.

The article where the girls were interviewed was an old SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE. They had great photos of the actresses even showed how you could do your hair they way they were wearing it.
I loved the nightgowns they wore and always wanted one like it.

What I was wondering is if in the film RASPUTIN with Alan Rickman anything of the same kind of behavior occured.
Just watching the scene the girls looked so nervous like they expected something to happen to them. I loved seeing Sir Ian reach back to take Anastasia's hand to calm her.

I believe I still have the articles but I don't know how to scan them and put them on the computer.

In reference to Lydia Bellingham she was interviewed for a newspaper article in Moscow and said the night before they filmed the final scene she took the girls out to dinner to discuss the scene with them.

I often wonder how actors and actresses get thru those types of scenes. Lynne Fredericks went on to play Catherine Howard shortly after. To portray someone who actually lived and died a young and horrible death must be nerve wracking.

Azrael

[Laura Mabee]

Azrael,
Those articles sound very interesting! If you could tell me the year and month they were published that would be really great. I'll see if I can get my hands on them to scan.

[ARfreak]

Please do Laura Mabee.   I would love to read those.


P.S. Which G.D. did Roderic hit and why on earth would he do that do you think?  

[azrael7171918]

Please do Laura Mabee.   I would love to read those.


P.S. Which G.D. did Roderic hit and why on earth would he do that do you think?  

I can't find the articles right now.

The article didn't say.  I think it was his way of dealing with the scene the same as the girls breaking  down  a boy especially at that age would react differently.

Azrael

[ARfreak]

How old was Roderic Noble when they filmed N&A?
Just wondering

[Mashka_Angel]

I love all the romance scenes, especially the one when N&A are in the garden and another one is when they're dancing! I was just curious about the one with Alix and Rasputin!

[Mashka_Angel]

The execution scene is DEFINITELY heart-breaking - ESPECIALLY when the music comes on. I really feel like crying when I hear the theme song for N&A.

[Mashka_Angel]

I would rate this movie 3 out of 5.

[jenjen]

Hey, I am new here, so if this has been asked please forgive me.  Is there any difference between the Nicholas and ALexandra VHS then the DVD version.  I have the VHS version and I wonder if the DVD is worth buying.  Does the DVD have any extra scenes and are the extras any good?  Thanks a lot.

[azrael7171918]

MAJOR difference!!! Fourteen minutes from the original release have been restored. Along with trailer, bios, and a featurette narrated by Lynne Fredericks and showing the actresses playing the girls rehearsing and just checking out the sets and costumes.

Finally the whole movie!!!!

Azrael

[azrael7171918]

 I found the ending scene so disturbing that when it came on tv I couldnt' even watch the film. I found even if I passed a theatre that was running it I had to look in the other direction.

I still remember being in the theatre it was a Friday night in the days before multiplexes I was 15 at the time. During the whole scene where the family is waiting I could feel the blood leave my face and I was grasping the arms of the seat and shaking.

To be perfectly honest I lost my faith in God that night How could he let this happen to these people who put such faith in him?

It had been the first time I had ever seen the cellar sequence on film and I believe it really shocked me brought everything home.

Of course over the years you begin to think more about what happened and you read more. To this day I feel they were given a gift in their death as they all died together.
Even though there is no reason the children should have died. I think it would have been very difficult for any of them to survive without the others.

Basically I hope no one did survive that night. Can you imagen the guillt and loneliness a lone survivor would have gone thru?

Azrael

[anna]

Besides the differences named by Azrael, there is also a difference between the region 1 and 2 DVD version. Region 2 doesn't have the featurette, something I don't understand why. I would like to see it very much.