samkan
ASSASSIN OF THE TSAR is riveting stuff and by far the best depiction of the murder of the Romanov aristocracy in 1918. The method is interesting; i.e., using the "recollections" of a modern schizophrenic who believes he was the original assassin (as well as the assassin of Nicholas' father in 1886). Some may be troubled by the seeming lack of explanation for the inmate's "fantasy" not to mention his treating doctor's descent into the same fantasy. This viewer was content with the suggestion of guilt and duty in modern Russia about the historical events which at a minimum are shameful and at worst a mindless snuff of heritage and culture. But I absolutely missed the significance of the "lost little girl". There is precious little written about this film. I'm just the fifth COMMENTER and only the second American. I'll either have to dig or, better, watch the work again!
T Y
I saw this c. 92 in a limited festival release, and then it disappeared for 17 years. For a long time, to my disappointment, it didn't even show up under MacDowell's name here on IMDb. But I'm glad I've tracked it down and just re-watched it (Netflix). It is (surprisingly) just as good as I remember it. It moves with deliberation and resorts to no emotional leg-pulling. It is uncolored by the subjectivity that movies frequently trowel on to hook an audience. It is meditative throughout, not concerned with spiking your adrenaline every ten minutes. The fictionalized framing device is OK enough, but it doesn't intrude as the movie builds to its inexorable, distressing finish. You watch as an infamous event approaches, and the two story threads converge on the assassination of the entire Romanov family. The audience I saw this with was glued to their seats. Nooone is completely sympathetic. No one is completely unsympathetic. No moral judgment is passed on the Romanovs, or for that matter, the assassin Yurovsky. They are just unlucky people caught up in a certain moment.It is the perfect mid-career role for MacDowell. He was lucky to get such an interesting part. (It's a Russian production.) But he does a great, unshowy job.
Armand
A touching film about errors, duty and colors of fear.Interesting poem about the nooks of reality, the shadows of dreams, the dust of old hours and the ghosts of some gestures.Exploration of history and its chimeras with the Russian manner to see, describe and show the essence of a sick world at twilight of emotions.The talks between doctor and the victim of a terrified past are not only a subtle catharsis form or an exploration of truth but exercise to discover the roots of last form of original sin, the taste of truth, the rules of past, the marks of victim's respiration. Not a reflection in old windows but escape of spirit beyond the games of destiny or malicious accident. The characters are reflections of a strange era, specters of ambiguous desires and actors of a mad god. And only propriety, only way to be yourself is memories collection as shadow of a lost soul.Show of memories, ladder of past, puzzle of facts and illusions, "Tsareubysta" is a very profound and subtle exercise to define the time and its shadows without shadows, masks or regrets.
MARIO GAUCI
This is an intriguing and generally engrossing parable which eventually becomes confusing and with the point of it all, ultimately, remaining obscure; it also makes some interesting (though not exactly novel) comments on class, notoriety and about the way history tends to repeat itself. Malcolm McDowell turns in a good performance as a mental patient who believes himself to be the assassin of two Russian Czars; so far so good - but, then, his psychiatrist (for no very good reason) is a dead-ringer for Nicholas II! I haven't watched that many recent Russian films but this one seems to be fairly indicative of their content, style and overall quality - even if made by a director whose work I wasn't familiar with.
AD
