Grigori Rasputin is one of history's most colourful and bizarre figures, and Alan Rickman, who stars in this HBO film of his life as part of a largely English cast, is one of the few actors with the charisma to play him. Unfortunately, the film doesn't get a lot else right: it's full of tiresome plot exposition, while offering little in the way of a convincing depiction of the daily life of the Russian court. Crucially, Rasputin's character (to the outsider, a mixture of visionary madman, drunken fool and cunning conman) is never adequately dissected: we see all aspects of his behaviour, but the film never dares suggests what it thinks might make him tick. It's also ludicrously sympathetic to the Russian royal family, Ian McKellan play the Tsar as a kindly uncle, and I never expected to see a portrayal of the brutal Stolypin (sometime Prime Minister) bathed in such a warm light. The story (or legend) of Rasputin's death is always amusing to recall; and there's some rarely seen real footage of the Eastern Front spliced into the film. But there's little real insight into the man or his times; a disappointment, especially given the cast list.
Review of Rasputin
