The film known as Rasputin (1977) has also been released under such titles as Agony and Agoniya (which is a phonetic translation of the Russian title). There are also marked differences in the runtime of the versions released in various countries. The Russian version was 148 minutes, the Spanish language version around 154 minutes, the Canadian version 114 minutes, and my English subtitled version at just 104 minute. Why these anomalies exist I cannot say but my review applies to the 104 minute version.

The director, Elem Klimov was born in 1933 and began his work in the film industry in documentaries. Rasputin was his first feature film and it irritated the Soviet authorities immensely. After the end of the Cold War chill on Russian artists, the new Russian government took a more enlightened view of the film and finally permitted its international circulation. Thereafter, Klimov so successfully worked his way back into the good graces of Russian authorities that he ultimately was appointed head of the Soviet Filmmakers Association. Klimov first came to my attention via his marvelous film, Come and See (1985), that is a visually stunning and emotionally intense depiction of the brutal genocide perpetrated by Nazi forces in Byelorussia in 1943.

Historical Background: Grigori Efimovich Rasputin (c. 1871-1916) was born in a small town in Siberia called Pokrovskoe. He received no education and was notoriously ignorant. In married a wealthy girl in his home town by whom he had three children. In 1904, he joined a radical religious sect (the Khlysty) that preached that the only route to salvation was sin followed by repentance! Rasputin’s own favorite bits of religious guidance included, “Sin in order that you may obtain forgiveness.” He practiced what he preached, partaking in sexual orgies and a generally libertine life style interspersed with prayers of repentance. He developed a Charles Manson-like or David Koresh-like mystique and megalomania, claiming the “Only through me you can hope to be saved; and the manner of your salvation is this: you must be united with me in soul and body.” Given this philosophical foundation for his teachings, the wild orgies in which he participated merely enhanced his reputation as a holy man!

During a visit to St. Petersburg in 1907, he was presented to the court and so impressed the Czarina that he soon became the most influential person in her entourage. With her authority behind him, he was able to dominate the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. Even when his debaucheries with ladies of the nobility became a source of scandal among the Russian people and internationally, his sway over the Czarina and, through her, the Czar was unabated. During the rising tide of protest that led up to the Russian Revolution, a coterie of nobleman assassinated Rasputin in the hope that the Czar could then be prevailed upon to grant concessions that might quench the flames of impending revolt, but it was already too late.

Rasputin long feared assassination (as well he should have, given his behavior) and had a habit of secretly taking minute doses of cyanide in order to build up his tolerance to the poison. When an assassination attempt with cyanide failed, it further added to his reputation for supernatural powers.

SPOILER ALERT:

The Bolsheviks did, in fact, bring down the Czarist government and the Russian aristocracy in 1917 in what became known as the Russian Revolution. Or perhaps you already knew that.

END SPOILER ALERT

The Story: The film opens in 1916 during the final year of the life of Grigori Rasputin (Aleksei Petrenko). His influence over the Czarina and her family is already patently evident. The origin of his influence is believed to have been related to his uncanny ability to soften the misery of the ailing Prince Alexei, the young sickly son of Czar Nicolas II (Anatoli Romashin) and Czarina Aleksandra Fyodorovna (Velta Line). Czar Nicolas is portrayed as indecisive and unable to exercise power effectively. He is easily manipulated by the Czarina and she, in turn, by Rasputin. Rasputin’s influence proves decisive, for example, in the selection of a new premier. When the Duma (the nearly powerless legislative branch of the Czarist government) begins to grumble emphatically about Rasputin’s influence, he uses that influence to encourage a rare visit by the Czar to the Duma to suppress the dissent.

In one scene, Rasputin spots a Baroness (Nelli Pshyonnaya) at a fashionable restaurant and decides that he wants her. He simply walks over and begins to fondle her breasts (nothing coy in this fellow’s approach!). When he is then attacked by her husband, an officer, he has the man arrested. The wife is then forced to submit to Rasputin for her husband’s freedom. One way or another, he’ll have his way. When she arrives for the requisite sacrifice, one of the women in Rasputin’s large entourage of women (including nuns of the Russian Orthodox Church who reputed also had sex with him) advises her that it is no dishonor to submit to intercourse with Rasputin and that it will purify her soul.

The Czar finally decides he has had enough of Rasputin’s interference and scandals and orders his departure from St. Petersburg. Some of the Czar’s thugs and church officials lure Rasputin from the palace by the ruse of an impassioned wench and force him under torture to sign a renunciation of some sort. Rasputin, however, exploiting his influence with the female help, works his way back into the palace and stages one of his “visions”, convulsing and speaking in tongues and the like and relaying God’s advice. He is skillful enough at this to flatter the weak-minded Czar’s ego and desperate need for a course of action that seemingly has the authority of God behind it. Unfortunately, Rasputin's vision requires that the Russian army change its military strategy (World War I was underway and Russia was not faring well at the time), and the new strategy then proves brutally disastrous for the Russian troops.

A group of noblemen screw up the courage (barely) to assassinate Rasputin, hoping to accomplish their task with cyanide. When that tactic fails, they are left to shooting the bugger and even then it takes a second shooter emptying his revolver before the stubborn monk can be brought to a halt. The film ends with the Czar’s family, including the distraught Czarina, burying Rasputin (but symbolically burying the monarchy as well).

Themes: It is hard to imagine a major world power under the influence of a mad man – or is it? Hitler and Stalin were each mad in their own ways but not in the manner of Rasputin. Hitler and Stalin were each terribly amoral, but neither was ignorant nor lacking in general leadership capability (if one ignores the horrendous directions in which that leadership took their respective countries). One could have an interesting debate about whether it's preferable for one’s powerful enemies to be competent or incompetent. Personally, I prefer that American Presidents with whom I differ be competent, at least, in foreign affairs but incompetent domestically. The risk, in my judgment, of incompetence in foreign affairs is even greater than the risk of misdirected initiatives but many times domestic issues are best served by stalemate when the wrong guy is in office. History is certainly replete with examples of weak-minded heads-of-state that were easily manipulated by wily and unscrupulous ministers. Rumsfeld provides more than enough excitement for me, but imagine for a moment that he was Charles Manson instead and you’d have something approximating Russia in the period from 1904-1916.

Production Values: This is a pretty decent biographical film, especially considering that it deals with a highly bizarre individual. The script was written by Semyon Lungin and Ilya Nusinov. There’s hardly a character in the film that one particularly wants to root for, other than the poor Baroness. The Czar and the Russian aristocracy pretty much got what was coming to them for years of indifference to human rights, freedoms, and the poverty of the peasants and workers. Rasputin helped bring matters to a head a bit faster, perhaps, but the broader political and economic issues made a revolution in Russian inevitable in that general time period.

I don’t know enough about the real Rasputin to know if Petrenko’s performance here is over-the-top or not. He and the script effectively present the man as a madman on a par with the likes of Charles Manson, so if that’s the actual case, it would qualify as an effective portrayal. Romanshin gives a very convincing performance as the Czar and it is a difficult role, since he waffles between decisiveness and indecisiveness. The rest of the roles are all quite limited.

The cinematography was very good though not up to the lofty standard of Klimov’s later brilliant film Come and See (1985).

Bottom-Line: I recommend this film mainly for those with a particular interest in Russian history, religious cults, or madmen in general. It’s a well made film biography but not engaging or entertaining enough for a general audience. Rasputin is in Russian with English subtitles. There is also a brief prologue and concluding narrative in English.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age