Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny

Love this movie

I love this movie as I have seen it before and could not find it anywhere.I was exstatic when i found it on Amazon but then when I got it, I did not have the DVD player that could read it. My husband had to download a format to convert it to where our machine could read it.Which I think is a real disappointment. So my 2 stars are for the fact that it did not say you need a certain type of DVD player to play it.

This film is enthralling. It portrays Rasputin not as a mad monk, nor as a dark servant, but rather as a mystic with human vices. There are spell-binding moments which really capture the mystical essence and the scene of Rasputin's death was compassionate and moving. This film has a mystical eeriness which captures the essence of the legend of Rasputin. Despite its title, this film appears to pass no judgement on the man, but rather paints a very human character.

Good movie for Alan Rickman's fan. It'S a DVD difficult to find so I'm happy to have it now, at a very good price.

With this movie, Alan Rickman became one of my favorite actors. The entire cast and production are the best, and Rickman's performance here has given me a sense of authenticity to everything else he does. Even in farce roles, the intensity of his acting adds an edge that enriches the whole film/play, as in Galaxy Quest, which i will see again.

The opening titles allege that this movie is based on fact. Well, yes, it is - sort of - but it could only at best be described as a strait-jacketed version, stripped down to the bare bones. No meat on this baby! Good acting, especially from Alan Rickman in the title role but SO MANY real-life characters missing and so many incidents leap-frogged over. The story of the meddlesome monk whose powers to heal the haemophiliac tsarevich disastrously influenced the decision-making of Nicholas and Alexandra is monumental in its tragedy but alas, this version cannot even be accorded the Reader's Digest seal of respectable abridgement. One gets the feeling that this may very well have been intended as a more fully-fleshed version of events but all the juices and flavors have been drained out to accommodate the lowest common denominator in viewership. This is a runaway train with no stops for the viewer to absorb the historical scenery. So much background information is missing. So little explanation is given for the sequence of events that brought about the fall of the Romanovs. And was Rasputin really a mind-reader??? Gimme a break! Even though Rasputin is the focus of the movie the story is that of the Romanov family and they deserve a much deeper and sympathetic evaluation than this Cliff Notes special. An abysmally wasted opportunity that merely skims the surface of things and insults the viewer's intelligence.

I have to take, the time, to try, and think of the words, to say, how great this movie is!!! In all the bio's, of all the movie's,I have seen "ALAN RICKMAN" has to be without a doubt, the greatest living actor. If I did not know better, I would think "RASPUTION" was still alive!

Be advised, you need a multi regional DVD player to view this film. I purchased this movie from an Amazon reseller just to find out it wouldn't play on my DVD player. The reseller has a warning in small print telling the purchaser that there are NO refunds for this problem. Be warned...

Ce DVD ne joue pas en Amérique du Nord. Il ne fonctionne qu'en Région 2 (Europe).

Klasse Schauspieler. Rickmann als Rasputin ist eine Augenweide. Schade, das es ihn nicht mehr gibt.

Ta guay ...aunque ....a veces se hace lentita y un poco intensita ...flanders flanders!! Grande alan rikman un actor incalculable

Si je tenais absolument à découvrir ce film c'est que j'étais très impatiamment curieuse de voir ce que pouvait donner Alan Rickman dans un tel rôle... Et bien je n'ai pas été déçu quant à sa performance d'acteur car il donne à ce sombre personnage une odeur de souffre et de décadence assez hypnotisante. Son Raspoutine à lui, quelque part, c'est une sorte d'enfant naturel entre Severus Rogue (pour le long manteau noir et sa coiffure approximative...) et le Shérif de Nottingham (pour le coté reptilien, sensualito-rock and roll...)... Pour le reste, le film se laisse bien voir, et l'on ne peux que compatir aux problèmes de la famille impériale de Russie, à cette pauvre tsarine confrontée à la maladie de son jeune fils et ce pauvre tsar qui se laisse dépasser par les évenements...

This is a stunning film - it's almost hard to believe that it was made for television. It is a beautiful and fascinating evocation of pre-revolutionary Russia and so much more than a biopic.Alan Rickman's performance in the title role is nothing short of incredible - he manages to convey all the mystery and ambiguity of Rasputin without ever letting his portrayal descend into caricature. Rickman's Rasputin is both simple and complex, sinister and charming, alluring and alienating, one minute a convincingly spiritual visionary, the next a determinedly physical drunken dissolute. Given that little is known about the real Rasputin beyond rumours and myths, this works extremely effectively on screen. Rickman portrays Rasputin with both exuberance and sadness, and rarely have I seen a historical figure portrayed with such astonishing charisma. The film is well worth watching for this alone.However, the performances of Ian McKellen and Greta Scaachi as Nicholas and Alexandra, the last tsar and tsarina of Russia, are also strong and again, they are portrayed with a very effective ambiguity, so the viewer cannot quite decide whether one's sympathies lie with them or not. I felt contempt towards McKellen's character when he spoke of his 'love' for the very people who were starving to death under his rule and his god-given right to his life of obscene wealth and privilege, but still felt deeply sorry for him on the eve of the revolution.The way in which the Russian royal family used and rejected Rasputin as they chose, and the degree to which their snobbish distaste for his peasant's table manners and drunken conversation affected their treatment of the man who saved their son's life on several occasions, are also thoroughly explored in the screenplay.This film is not easy to obtain on DVD but I would urge you to try!