Marina Alexandrova began playing 50-year-old Catherine II in the series
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Palace interiors, carriages, wigs and Marina Aleksandrova in dazzling dresses. The actress returned to the role of Empress Catherine II and began acting in the fourth season of the series about passions around the Russian throne.
Catherine II is just like hot cakes. In mid-July, in St. Petersburg, one could see Elizaveta Boyarskaya in no less magnificent dresses on the set of another project about the royal person. The similar interest of screenwriters and producers in the Russian empress can probably be explained by the fact that her story is already very cinematic. On the one hand, great deeds, on the other, a seething personal life, and all this against a rich palace background.
The history of Catherine II in cinema began in the twenties of the last century, when Pola Negri played the famous person in the film Forbidden Paradise. The first Soviet film about the monarch was “Caprice of Catherine II” (1927), starring Vera Argutinskaya. Since then, dozens of films and series have been shot in various countries with an extremely broad view of the era and its heroes: from spicy exotic a la russe to uplifting films about the dramatic history of the country.
The empress herself on the screen was also very different. And a middle-aged woman in the body, as she appeared in The Captain’s Daughter with Natalya Gundareva or The Royal Hunt with Svetlana Kryuchkova. And in a model slender, as in “Midshipmen”, where Catherine was played by Christina Orbakaite, or “Catherine the Great” with Catherine Zeta Jones.
Marina Alexandrova this time starred in the series, the plot of which takes place at a time when Catherine II was about fifty. If you believe the official history, then at this age the Empress was a rather overweight woman, which was consistent with her status and the canons of beauty of that time. But 39-year-old Aleksandrova was decided not to dress up in dresses with volume-enhancing linings and not to be tortured with plastic makeup. In the frame, she is with her admirable and envious thin waist and sharp cheekbones.
In the role of Prince Potemkin, the married spouse of the Empress, Vladimir Yaglych is again, but the favorites are brand new. There are three of them at once: Alexander Lanskoy, played by Sergey Novosad, Ivan Korsakov (Stanislav Tikunov) and Alexander Mamonov (Dmitry Gudochkin).
On large channels, historical series of this magnitude still receive a lot of attention. At the same time, almost everything that has already been shown fits into the already familiar scheme of a “federal” melodrama with rich props and a patriotic flair. However, both the public and critics do not lose hope to be pleasantly surprised.
WORLD AND RUSSIAN STARS IN THE ROLE OF CATHERINE II
Marlene Dietrich (“The Bloody Empress”, 1934)
The film star has repeatedly admitted her interest in Russian history and culture, but the film directed by Joseph von Sternberg is not a deep dive into either one or the other. Everything, from the interpretation of historical events to everyday life in Russia, is presented here very freely. But Marlene looks great even in far-fetched outfits.
Catherine Zeta Jones (“Catherine the Great”, 1995)
Far from the best film in the career of an actress. It impresses only with erotic scenes, but not with an attempt to present a historical character on the screen. Katherine in Katherine’s version is a woman who revels in power and loves men. Probably a lot, but obviously not enough.
Helen Mirren (“Catherine the Great”, 2019)
After the role of Elizabeth I in the series of the same name and Elizabeth II in the film The Queen, Helen Mirren seems to be able to reincarnate as any titled person. In “Catherine the Great” at the time of filming, 74-year-old Mirren plays the Empress in her prime and in old age. And he does it with typical British acting chic. True, she has to shine against the background of the plot, which mainly consists of palace intrigues taken as if from the “yellow press”.
Svetlana Kryuchkova (Royal Hunt, 1990)
Director Vitaly Melnikov, as well as the leading actors Anna Samokhina (Princess Tarakanova), Nikolai Eremenko (Count Alexei Orlov), received a lot of both professional and philistine criticism for this film: nothing to do with history, sheer nudity. And only Svetlana Kryuchkova, according to many, became almost the brightest Empress Catherine on the screen. The role was given to the actress is not easy. I had to learn horseback riding and learn to speak with a German accent. But the result was worth it. In the frame, Svetlana Nikolaevna looks very impressive, in many respects, according to her own words, because the husband of the actress Yuri Veksler was the cameraman.
Kristina Orbakaite (“Vivat, midshipmen!”, 1991)
For Kristina Orbakaite as an actress, the role of young Ekaterina is probably the strangest in her career. Tall, slender blonde is not at all like the more than average height brunette, which in fact was the Empress. However, the beginning of the nineties was a time of rather bold experiments in Russian cinema. And even those who criticized director Svetlana Druzhinina for such a choice of actress admit that Kristina’s retro dresses suit her very well.
Julia Snigir (The Great, 2015)
The creators of the series clearly did not pursue the external similarity of the actors and historical characters they played, but tried to restore the era as reliably as possible. In a sense, the project had an international scope, because of the twenty-five outfits in which Yuliya Snigir starred, there is a rented dress of the heroine Kirsten Dunst from the movie Marie Antoinette, as well as Catherine Zeta-Jones’s toilet from Catherine the Great.
Read also: “The 20 Best Netflix Movies of All Time: Watch this Weekend”
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Palace passions
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