![Young Catherine [VHS]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51F8NQNG68L.__AC_SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg)
Let me first of all clear up some confusion: this seems to be the double-cassette, 180-minute version of "Young Catherine", not the badly edited 150-minute version. If so, it's the best available. Unfortunately, even this, often sold as the "complete" movie, is not really complete. The laser disc version on the Internet Movie database lists a running time of 187 minutes; moreover, when I tried to watch my copy of this video, I noticed quickly that little scenes were missing. I took out my original tapes from the TV broadcasts. Sure enough, there ARE cuts -- maybe not huge cuts, but telling cuts just the same, that sacrifice details and context to no good purpose. Seven minutes may not seem like much (if that's ALL that is missing), but the scenes I noted (before I gave up comparing and just watched my old TV taping) added significant characterization to the script and established clearer motivations for several key players. Why bother to remove these scenes? Just to save seven minutes of videotape? bah!
Enough of that. I would still recommend this film to anyone who likes a rousing good historical drama with well-defined characters, a meaty plot involving intrigue and romance, witty and believable dialogue, and thoroughly engaging performances by all players. (Plummer's droll English ambassador is especially noteworthy.) If only half the period flicks were this intelligently scripted! I knew nothing at all about Catherine the Great before watching this (except for the scandalous gossip that later grew up around her), had never seen Julia Ormond before, yet both film and actress are now firm favorites. Also commendable are Redgrave's capricious Empress and Reece Dinsdale's thoroughly madcap Grand Duke Peter, Catherine's surprise bridegroom. Dinsdale must have graduated first in his class at the Roddy McDowall School of Acting -- his resemblance to the veteran English actor is startling in this picture, and he makes a wonderfully loony (but still dangerous) Grand Duke, with his delusions, perversions, and idiocies.
Catherine, by contrast, must survive by her wits, and adding to the dangers of palace intrigue -- Watch out for that oily Pole! Beware the cunning Prussian! Trust not the serving maid who poisons your morning chocolate! -- are the risks she takes in finding love with a handsome Captain of the Imperial Guard. Slowly, Catherine gathers a circle of loyalists and advisors she can trust. When the inevitable storm breaks, and she must take a stand against her mad husband who would bring ruin to Russia, Catherine is ready to face her ultimate challenge.
The dramatic face-off between Ormond (who wears her 18th century military uniform quite well, it must be admitted, even if this places me in league with the cretinous Grand Duke) and the regiments opposed to her coup is a little too freely "borrowed" from "Waterloo" (which is in turn based on Napoleon's actual conduct), but at least it's an honest swipe. "Young Catherine" takes few other missteps. Pity we never got to see a follow-up ("Not Quite So Young Anymore Catherine"?) or more worthwhile projects like this from Ormond, an underrated actress who deserves better movies. And whatever you do, don't waste time with Catherine Zeta-Jones' recent Welsh-accented disaster "Catherine the Great"! (for my true feelings about this mess, see my amazon.com review).
| Additional VHS Tape options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
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VHS Tape
May 29, 1991 "Please retry" | — | 1 |
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| — | $3.00 |
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CAPTURES THE SOUL OF CATHERINE THE GREAT
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2010
I don't understand why all the great films can't seem to stay in circulation, or why they have to modify them into inferior versions. This is, by far, the most interesting film I've seen about Catherine the Great, and they take it out of circulation. I don't get it.As a writer and screenwriter, I feel this film has great writing, with characters of depth and truthfulness. Julia Ormond's performance truly reveals the heart and soul of the teenage girl from a little known German royal family (princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, Prussia)--how she won over a nation, despite her German origins; how she mastered Russian language and culture, and overcame heartbreak and anguish over her Emperor husband (who disdained her in bed and threatened her life). In my memoir Catherine of King David (my website), I discuss how her genes live on in me.When I watch this film, I feel that the Catherine the Great in me has risen up and defied granite mountains to scale the heights, so I sometimes watch this film for inspiration. The film ends with Catherine lifting up her crown high over her head--a fit metaphor for the life of Catherine the Great, because she came from nowhere, and triumphed against granite mountains to scale the heights. This production captures how she did it, how she scaled the heights as a lover and leader. No other film captures better the heart and soul of the princess from nowhere, who become the greatest head of state in possibly all of history.I find this portrayal of Catherine the Great, the most revealing, the one that shows more than any other her heart and soul. My life parallels hers.Though this film is not 100% historically accurate, I feel it's the most accurate in capturing the heart and soul of Catherine; and Julia Ormond looks like Catherine the Great and like me. Julia Ormond's performance is outstanding and she makes you believe that this young German princess could become the greatest head of state of all time. Though Catherine the Great had several lovers before she ascended to the Russian throne, Gregory Orlov seems to symbolize all of them. Gregory Orlov (in this film) helps us see the exciting passion of Catherine the Great--how this woman with charm, a sense of humor and womanliness (which is historically accurate), could become the one to inspire the Russian troops to orchestrate her coup for the throne. This is a fascinating cinematic experience (with intrigues, plots, heroics, and grandeur) and a passionate lover (Gregory Orlov) willing to die for his Empress. You'll see it here in all its glory.In my favorite scene, she gets on horseback, and leads a coup in defiance of the armies of her husband Peter (an imbecile on the throne), and shouts, "Anyone who wants to kill your Empress. Here is your chance." Then all the men on the enemy side throw down their arms and run to her and embrace her, and Gregory (with her) stares at her in astonishment and pride: "You are indeed, an Empress".This film captures how this woman had charm, courage and brilliance, how she treated the commoners who worked for her as equals and spoke to them in every day language, yet carried out deeds of greatness as if she just ate her breakfast.This is probably the only production that captures how she poured her heart and soul into her men. Her men were willing to die for her, so she had to be a great lover. To me, no film captures how she was as a lover better than this one. In fact, the love story between Catherine the Great and Potemkin is considered one of the great romances of history. It must have meant a lot to Catherine the Great, because she died shortly after Potemkin died.I liked the original TNT version that came out in 1991 best, but lost it. But this one is still good. I guess that they tried to edit out from the earlier version portions that may not have been historically accurate, but, if that's the case, they still should have left the 1991 version alone, because it was superior to what they have out now.If I'm right that they edited the earlier version to remove glaring historical inaccuracies, then I wish this production would have put a postscript somewhere in the film that said something like this: "Though the real Catherine the Great had an affair with Serge Saltykov, Stanislaw Ponistowski, and Gregory Orlov before she ascended the throne, we have combined all these lovers into the character of Gregory Orlov for dramatic impact. In this respect, we have violated historical accuracy. Too many lovers in the story takes away from our focus on her heart and soul, and how this young princess from nowhere became the greatest head of state and lover in Russian history and perhaps all of history." Perhaps, with this postscript, they could have left the superior TNT version (that came out in 1991) alone, and let us enjoy it in all its glory, despite the minor historical inaccuracies.
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2010
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