Customer Reviews

Nicholas & Alexandra [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The last czar of all the Russians was a most reluctant monarch, assuming the throne before he was ready and at a time when the contradictory forces were too powerful for such an absolute monarchy to survive. Despite its' vastness and backwardness, Russia was a great industrial power as the twentieth century arrived, and the strains felt in Europe were also pressing on it. This would have probably been enough to topple even the most forceful of men, but the last of the ruling Romanovs was not a strong personality.
Unlike so many other monarchs, his relationship with his wife was a true love affair, which ironically proved to be part of his undoing. Had he paid less attention to her, it is more likely that he would have physically survived, and perhaps even as a ruler with vastly truncated power.
The particulars of that love affair are a point of emphasis in this tape, with a great deal of quoting from their letters. In contrast to others who have ruled the Russians, Nicholas comes across as a romantic fluff, more capable and comfortable in professing love and devotion than in making the decisions that determined the lives and deaths of millions. From this tape, you learn the details of their relationship, the manner of their death and how their final resting place was discovered a half-century later.
While historically accurate, there are some points where greater explanation should have occurred. The establishment of the Duma in 1905 is mentioned, but not one word of the disastrous war with Japan appears. Given that this was the impetus for the creation of the legislative body, such an omission is a glaring one. A second point that should have been mentioned was the assassination of Pyotr Stolypin, the reformist minister who was trying to modernize Russian society and was killed for his efforts.
I was also impressed with the description of Rasputin, the monk who held such power over the Empress in their last years. He is often put forward as an evil manipulator, when he was in fact just another faith healer who managed to gain the confidence of a powerful person desperate for a cure for an incurable disease. Blaming the givers of bad advice is not the way to justify the fact that the rulers used it when they should have known better.
During my last visit to the Soviet Union, it was visibly coming apart and one of the members of my delegation asked the question, "Will the Russian people ever forgive Lenin?" The forces that led to his rise and decades of brutal government were centuries in the making, but those with the last chance to avoid it were Nicholas and Alexandra. This is the story of their life together, pointing out the irony that love interests and ruling interests are often incompatible.

If you love Imperial Russia and Nicholas & Alexandra, you will love this movie. Featuring a descendant of Nicholas who guides you through homes, letters and diaries. I have seen alot of film clips with N&A, but this one had a couple I had never seen before. There was one showing Alix working at a flea market, and she seems very tired as she rubs her face. Very interesting.

This was a wonderful film, it almost didn't feel like a documentry at all, but a real cinematic film. It is rich with the families private family videos and diary entries sharing their story through their point of view. There are also many videos of the 300th year anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty,and the powerful Russian music that accompanies them is a really nice touch. The film does not dab that much into political affairs but stays on the path of their family life which most people are truly fascinated with anyway. This film presents everything including their begining, their rule, war, imprisonment, death, and even their suspected remains found in siberia with great detail. If your are interested in this great family and how they lived and died than this film is for you.

If you are a Romanov fanatic this movie is a must for you!! It is very touching, excellent narration, this movie has captured moments that you won't find anywhere else.

Nicholas and Alexandra tends to romanticize the Romanov dynasty to some extent; it particularly focuses on the personal relationship between Nicholas and Alexandra and, at times, glosses over his historical malice and ineptitude, which unfortunately resulted in the even-more malicious and inept "reign" of the Bolsheviks. The final portrait of the Romanovs with which this video leaves us is one of two incompetent, but well-meaning and earnest rulers. The many films included are very interesting to watch, and the murder of the Romanov family is handled well. If you are interested in the Romanovs as individuals rather than as historical figures, then you will enjoy this... but if you are more interested in such details as their complicity in Bloody Sunday, the Tsarina's Lady Macbeth complex, and the Tsar's collaboration with the anti-Semite Black Hundreds organization, then this video will leave you feeling as though Nicholas and Alexandra's numerous faults have been minimized for the sake of romantic nostalgia.

I could not put this book down. It gives the big picture.....the end of Russian imperialism and the beginning of communism...and then brings it down to the personal tragedy of the imperial family. I found myself grieving for them and wishing that they could have somehow survived. A thousand "what ifs" crossed my mind as I read this book. What if the Tsarevich had not been hemophilic....what if another country could have offered the imperial family assylum and had provided them with a way of getting out of the country before they were murdered...what if the Tsar would have been more in touch with the common Russian people...what if the Empress could have been more rational about her son's illness and about the insanity of Rasputin's interference in her husband's government. This book touches all the bases and has made a confirmed Romanov fan out of me.

This is a very informational and educational presentation of the last Imperial Tsar of Russia and his family. I would recommend it to anyone who desires more knowledge of this extrodinary family.

I found the film thoroughly enjoyable; the use of rarely seen film/photos and facts as presented were fascinating. The only thing that keeps this from a five star rating is that we needed a little bit more of the politics of the era, to make it all gel into a truly classic documentary.
As it is now, we are moved and saddened... yet aggravated with Nicholas'
apparent weaknesses; and left still wondering "why?" -- how could this possibly have happened? Russia was a great empire, and is still a great country. But tragedy after tragedy is what seems to make history. And this story does not fade lightly.

As a collector of Romanoff items, I found this video well documented. This is a must for your Romanoff collection.