Agony (1975)
(Agoniya, Rasputin)
Country: USSR
Technical: col/bw 148m
Director: Elem Klimov
Cast: Alexei Petrenko, Anatoly Romashin, Velta Line
Synopsis:
An account of the career of the monk Rasputin, who inveigled his way into the Tsar's family circle, but was undone by his excesses and the enemies he made.
Review:
A fairly lavish production whose release in the USSR was delayed until the mid-80s with Gorbachev's policy of glasnost. Breaking with Soviet tradition, Rasputin is portrayed as insane and therefore weak, while nothing of the breakdown of the Tsar's hold on power is attributed to the Bolsheviks. Scenes implying sexual perversion and a corruption of church orthodoxy were also hard to stomach.
(Agoniya, Rasputin)
Country: USSR
Technical: col/bw 148m
Director: Elem Klimov
Cast: Alexei Petrenko, Anatoly Romashin, Velta Line
Synopsis:
An account of the career of the monk Rasputin, who inveigled his way into the Tsar's family circle, but was undone by his excesses and the enemies he made.
Review:
A fairly lavish production whose release in the USSR was delayed until the mid-80s with Gorbachev's policy of glasnost. Breaking with Soviet tradition, Rasputin is portrayed as insane and therefore weak, while nothing of the breakdown of the Tsar's hold on power is attributed to the Bolsheviks. Scenes implying sexual perversion and a corruption of church orthodoxy were also hard to stomach.
(Agoniya, Rasputin)
Country: USSR
Technical: col/bw 148m
Director: Elem Klimov
Cast: Alexei Petrenko, Anatoly Romashin, Velta Line
Synopsis:
An account of the career of the monk Rasputin, who inveigled his way into the Tsar's family circle, but was undone by his excesses and the enemies he made.
Review:
A fairly lavish production whose release in the USSR was delayed until the mid-80s with Gorbachev's policy of glasnost. Breaking with Soviet tradition, Rasputin is portrayed as insane and therefore weak, while nothing of the breakdown of the Tsar's hold on power is attributed to the Bolsheviks. Scenes implying sexual perversion and a corruption of church orthodoxy were also hard to stomach.