Path: ...!weretis.net!feeder8.news.weretis.net!reader5.news.weretis.net!news.solani.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: suzeeq Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv Subject: Re: A Gentleman in Moscow Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2024 12:17:23 -0700 Message-ID: References: <20240625135558.000044f6@example.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Injection-Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2024 19:17:25 -0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: solani.org; logging-data="2263557"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@news.solani.org" User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:68.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/68.2.1 Cancel-Lock: sha1:nPAQZXhKqoLschZT/dN3pZoR7fE= In-Reply-To: <20240625135558.000044f6@example.com> Content-Language: en-US X-User-ID: eJwNxtEVADEEBMCWCFaUg5ftv4S7+ZowKDYdAQ8Gq3EOgvb0VJMlljV7ubdlnvu4i/2DpKLlAxe4EMg= Bytes: 4965 Lines: 62 On 6/25/2024 10:55 AM, Rhino wrote: > I just finished this eight episode "limited series", which is based on > a novel (as opposed to fact). I point that out because I've read a > great deal about the Soviet Union and have never heard of a member of > the nobility - the protaganist was a Count when Lenin launched the > coup that overthrew the democratic Provisional Government - treated > anyone the way this Count was. > > Lenin and his merry band of Bolsheviks loathed the aristocracy - among > other institutions, like the church - but the story has the > Count summoned to a tribunal shortly after the coup where he appears to > face execution merely for his membership in the aristocracy. But someone > points out a poem that was deemed pro-Revolution that was attributed to > him and the tribunal decides to put him under house arrest at a posh > hotel for the rest of his life. In all my reading of actual history > books, I've never heard of a case like this but okay, it's a work of > fiction, let's pretend the Bolsheviks had that much benevolence. > > The story proceeds from there. Count Rostov, now merely Alexander > Rostov, is evicted from the posh room where he had been staying and > moved upstairs - way upstairs - to former servants quarters. He > befriends a little girl that is staying in the hotel and she shows him > a variety of secret passages that enables him to see a great deal of > the hotel that isn't known to even the staff of the hotel. Rostov > meets a famous (Russian) movie actress and has a relationship with her. > All the while, a sinister secret policeman keeps tabs on him - and > gradually becomes a friend of sorts. > > I don't want to spoil the story for anyone but suffice it to say that I > found myself liking most of the characters and think you will find it > rewarding viewing, provided you aren't looking for historical accuracy. > Ewan MacGregor plays the count and the actress is played by Mary > Elizabeth Winstead. (I was surprised to learn that she was American > given her excellent British accent and that she's also MacGregor's > real-life wife.) > > The one thing I found really jarring in the story was the presence of > several characters played by black actors. The most important of these > was the man playing Mishka, Rostov's old friend, who had a senior role > amongst the Bolsheviks. There was also a black man that was the > Minister of Culture. According to Wikipedia, Mishka was made to be a > black man, apparently to satisfy diversity requirements for the > production even though blacks, both then and now, were an exceedingly > tiny percentage of the Soviet/Russian population, much less than 1%. > [I've never heard of any blacks in important positions in the > Bolshevik/Communist party or Soviet government; heck I can only name > two "important" women in the Soviet government right up until the > present, Alexandra Kollontai, an early Commissar, and Natalia Krupsky, > Lenin's wife and widow, who remained in the Politburo until her death.] > They even had the black Minister of Culture involved in a homosexual > affair which Rostov helped cover up. I assume that was to placate the > Alphabet Mafia so that they could "see themselves" in this story. The > other jarring thing was that Mishka wore dreadlocks in many scenes and > a "man bun" in at least one scene. I have no knowledge of "hair history" > but were those styles even in existence in the 1920s through 1950s when > this story is set? So, if you find this sort of thing jarring, you > might have issues with A Gentleman in Moscow. But if you can get past > the flagrant inaccuracies, you might well enjoy the story. > I watched it too and enjoyed it very much in spite of the fictional elements. And yes, there were nobility, but it was much like the French revolution - once the Tsar was killed, the aristocracy either fled to Europe, renounced their titles and/or were sent to work camps.