''The Assassin of the Tsar'' (russian: Цареубийца, Tsareubiytsa) is a 1991

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, starring

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in ''A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised in ...

and

Oleg Yankovsky Oleg Ivanovich Yankovsky (russian: Оле́г Ива́нович Янко́вский; 23 February 1944 – 20 May 2009) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russia, Russian actor who excelled in psychologically sophisticated roles of modern intellectu ...

. It was entered into the

1991 Cannes Film Festival The 44th Cannes Film Festival was held from 9 to 20 May 1991. The Palme d'Or went to ''Barton Fink'' by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. The festival opened with ''Homicide'', directed by David Mamet and closed with ''Thelma & Louise'', directed by Rid ...

. There are two versions. One is filmed in English which later was dubbed over the Russian actors, and one in Russian.

pretended to speak Russian in the other version and was later dubbed.

Plot

Timofyev (

) is a patient in an

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

who claims to be the man who killed

Tsar Alexander II Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Fin ...

in 1881, and his grandson

Tsar Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...

in 1918. Doctor Smirnov (

) decides to apply a peculiar therapeutic method on him, but things go in an unexpected way. A good portion of the film depicts the last days of the Russian Imperial Family in

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...

, largely narrated by Timofyev's

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

from the perspective of

Yakov Yurovsky Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky (; Unless otherwise noted, all dates used in this article are of the Gregorian Calendar, as opposed to the Julian Calendar which was used in Russia prior to . – 2 August 1938) was a Russian Old Bolshevik, revo ...

, the chief guard and ultimately executioner of the family. In the scenes, Yurovsky is impersonated by Timofyev (McDowell) and

by Dr. Smirnov (Yankovsky). Other members of the family function merely as background, with few or no lines.

Cast

— ''Dr.Smirnov'' / ''

'' *

— ''Timofyev'' / ''

'' *

Armen Dzhigarkhanyan Armen Borisovich Dzhigarkhanyan (russian: Армен Борисович Джигарханян; hy, Արմեն Բորիսի Ջիգարխանյան, Armen Borisi Jigarkhanyan; ; 3 October 1935 – 14 November 2020) was a Soviet, Armenian, and Rus ...

— ''Alexander Yegorovich'', Smirnov's superior * Olga Antonova — ''Empress

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

'' *

Dariya Majorova Dariya may refer to: * Daria (name), a female given name * Alternative spelling of Diriyah, a town in Saudi Arabia ** Diriyah Governorate, the governorate where the town is located * Darija, a term used by North Africans to refer to Maghrebi Arabi ...

— '' Olga Nikolaevna'' *

Evgeniya Kryukova Evgeniya Vladislavovna Kryukova (russian: Евге́ния Владисла́вовна Крю́кова) is a Soviet and Russian film and theater actress. Biography and career Evgeniya Kryukova was born in 1971 into a family of engineers. After ...

— '' Tatiana Nikolaevna'' *

Alyona Teremizova Alyona (russian: Алёна) is a Russian female given name derived from the Ancient Greek name , ''Helenē'' (dialectal variant: , ''Helena''). It can also be the short form of Yelena. Its colloquial forms are Alena, and Olena (Олёна). It can ...

— '' Maria Nikolaevna'' *

Olga Borisova Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russia, ...

— ''

Anastasia Nikolaevna Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the most ...

'' * Aleksei Logunov — '' Alexei Nikolaevich'' *

Yury Belyayev Yury Viktorovich Belyayev (russian: Юрий Викторович Беляев; born 28 August 1947) is a Soviet and Russian film and theatre actor. He has received the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (1995) and the USSR State ...

— ''

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Gra ...

'' *

Anastasiya Nemolyaeva Anastasiya Nikolaevna Nemolyaevahttp://www.kinopoisk.ru/ /name/273013/ (russian: Анастасия Николаевна Немоляева; was born 30 June 1969) is Soviet and Russian film and theater actress, designer. Biography Anastasiya Nem ...

— ''nurse'' * Anzhelika Ptashuk — ''Marina'', Smirnov's mate

References

External links

* * Watc
''The Assassin of the Tsar''
online at official

Mosfilm Mosfilm (russian: Мосфильм, ''Mosfil’m'' ) is a film studio which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's film monopoly, its output incl ...

site (English-language version) 1991 films Mosfilm films 1991 drama films 1990s Russian-language films Films directed by Karen Shakhnazarov Films set in psychiatric hospitals Soviet multilingual films British multilingual films 1991 multilingual films Soviet drama films Russian drama films British drama films 1990s British films {{1990s-USSR-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links