hugobolso-1
in this story with lot of historical mistakes. There are two big miniseries in the 90 about Catherine The Great, the second one with Catherine Zeta Jones was much better. Zeta Jones character was cult but intringuing, while Ms. Ormond (even when she shines with her beauty and acting skills) is little more than a damsel in destress. However there is a thing that save this miniseries for the total melodrama. And that's it Vanessa Redgrave as Elisabeth Petrovna. She really rules, and she looks young, the Empress Elisabeth died in her early fifties, while she met Catherine in her last thirsties. And Redgrave look young, passionated and energic, the quite opposite of the pale version of Jeanne Moreau who was too old for the role in Zeta Jones miniseries.
aussiebrisguy
Young Catherine is superb. It may not be totally 100% accurate but it is sweeping and powerful drama. The cast are superb and it is fantastic to see that it was actually filmed in real settings in Russia. It is wonderful to see the magnificent Catherine Palace at Tsarskoe Selo used. There are many wonderful actors in this drama. I think my favourite must be Vanessa Redgrave as the Empress Elizabeth. She is superb. Julia Ormond is also wonderful in the lead role. At the end of the film I wanted to see her continue in the role with more of Catherine II. Mark Frankel is such a dashing Gregory Orlov. It is so sad that he was killed in an accident so young. He had much to give as a performer. Reece Dinsdale is suitably made as the Grand Duke Peter while Maximilian Schell is fantastic as King Frederick the Great of Prussia. I particularly liked Marthe Keller as Catherine's mother Johanna. She is a wonderful actress. Anna Kanakis and Franco Nero are deliciously evil as Count and Countess Voronstov and Christopher Plummer is superb as the British Ambassador. Katharine Schlesinger is grotesquely wonderful as the whorish crippled mistress of Grand Duke Peter. Harmut Becker as Catherine's father and Laurie Holden as Princess Dashkova are also very good. John Shrapnel is also excellent as the Russian Orthodox Archimandrite Todorsky. All in all if you like sweeping romantic drama with lots of interesting characters, Young Catherine is well worth seeing. I know I enjoyed it.
alicecbr
For all us costume drama lovers, this one really fits the bill: splendiferous castles, expensive costumes, madness and mayhem!!! When Peter squshes the rat (thankfully off-camera) you know another movie milestone has been passed: how to best express sadism without showing blood. By the time the poor maniac is murdered, you are very thankful to whomever. One certainly gets a strange look at the German-born Catherine the Great from the nymphomaniacal pictures one has read elsewhere. She is quite righteous, but one does wonder at the truth of her standing down the Russian Army during one of the palace revolts. I would think from all these historical monarchy movies that the life of a ruler is NOT a happy one....see "Anne Boleyn", "Elisabeth and Essex", "Mary, Queen of Scots" and "Richard III" for a few examples.It is no wonder that this movie captures top dollar on the auctions. I had to wait out the big money spenders at least 11 times to get it at my price ($17.) Really glad I did. This will be well worth my new big screen TV and will get a re-screening along with "Nicholas and Alexandria". Pick up the old 1934 Douglas Fairbanks movie of "Catherine the Great" for comparison. Then head for the Brittanica for perhaps a little closer version of the truth.,,although this hits it pretty closely.
skorzeny
This is one of my favorite videos to watch. Young Julia Ormond is beautiful and gives a fine performance, and the supporting cast is simply awesome. Christopher Plummer's English diplomat is a spectacular schemer with a heart of gold, Vanessa Redgrave is a wonderful old harridan, and the Grand Duke is crazy as a mad ferret in a sack. Some great scenes (anything with Plummer or the Grand Duke) make this a fun watch, and the liberties it takes with history are fully justified from a dramatic standpoint.
AD
