Anastasia: fact or fiction?
Scene one: The winter palace
The Winter Palace is first introduced at the very beginning of the film "Anastasia". We are informed by Anastasia's grandmother, Maria, that there is a ball going on to celebrate the 300 year anniversary of their family's ruling, including the celebration of her son, Nicholas, the Czar of imperial Russia. The palace is filled with activity; dancers, servers, nobles and royalty, etc. The happy atmosphere is cut short once Rasputin, the antagonist of the story appears.
The Winter Palace is beautifully portrayed in this film. As seen from the two pictures, there is not much of a difference. The elegant ballroom has the same high ceilings, chandeliers, giant windows, and lots of gold! There are a few differences, such as the huge paintings featured in the film, and there is also a small colour variation, as well as a slight difference in the room size and shape, but that is about it. |
scene two: dates and time
In the beginning of the move, we are informed that it was the year 1916, and that it was the 300th anniversary of Romanov rule by Maria. This is not exactly true.
The Russian Revolution broke out in 1917, so they were one year off on that, and they claimed that it was the 300 year anniversary of Romanov rule, but that very occasion had happened actually three years prior, in 1914. They were close with the dates, yet they are not historically accurate in this film. |
scene three: rasputin
Our first interaction with Rasputin is at the beginning of the movie, where he interrupts the festivities of the ball, and curses the entire family of Czar Nicholas II. He proclaims the entire family will die within the forenight. We learn that he even sold his soul to get revenge on the Czar and his family. He then chases Anastasia and her grandmother, Maria Feodorovna across a frozen river, but stops when the ice breaks and he falls in. Throughout the movie, he is constantly chasing down Anastasia, already having killed the rest of her family, and eventually drowns in a river after Anastasia crushed his glass cylinder filled with the source of his evil powers.
Rasputin is a very controversial character, and although he is in the movie, isn't depicted very accurately in terms of his actions and intentions. In reality, Grigori Rasputin was Alexei's healer and private advisor to the Romanovs. He was able to cure Alexei during a particularly bad injury, and stop the bleeding, and even since then, Anastasia's mother, Alexandra Feodorovna put her complete faith in Rasputin. Rumours began to spread about Rasputin, and the vast amount of time he spent with the Romanov family. People claimed that he was sleeping with the Czarina, Alexandra, repeatedly. Of course these allegations were denied, but i order to save face, the Czar Nicholas was forced to brush Rasputin aside. There is a possible connection made to this in the movie when Rasputin exclaims "I am your confidant!" to which the angry Czar replies "Confidant? Ha! You are a traitor! Get out!" Also not depicted in the movie was how Rasputin died. Rasputin had multiple assassination attempts against him. First he was attacked with a dagger, then he was given wine laced with cyanide, to which he drank multiple cups and never died. He was then shot at multiple times, in the back and in the head. He only died when he was forcibly put into a bag and thrown in a river. His autopsy reports showed that he died from hypothermia, not even from the gun or the river. Not event he movie could capture how genuinely creepy this individual was. |
scene four: alexei romanov
We have only one interaction with Alexei Romanov. In Anastasia's dream scene, when the royal family is walking out, Alexei can be seen walking behind Czar Nicholas, with a noticeable slight limp
Alexei is actually very historically accurate. He is depicted very well in the movie, he looks just like his picture, with his short brown hair, and tainted gait. Alexei was a hemophiliac, which no one else other than his family knew. He was carried basically everywhere to avaoid bleeding and bruises. At the time that the royal family was walking out, Alexei had just recently suffered a bad fall, and had to wear a leg brace. After his fall, Alexei never walked properly again, always with a slight limp. |
scene five: Maria feodorovna
Maria Feodorovna was Anastasia's grandmother. She was in multiple scenes in this movie. We first see her in the Winter Palace, as she describes the ball and her family's reign over imperial Russia. Once Rasputin appears and threatens the family, she manages to escape with Anastasia, after a close call with Rasputin on a frozen river, to a train station. In all the chaos, she loses Anastasia on the platform, and flees to Paris. Throughout the movie, she holds interviews with "possible Anastasias", and offers a very high ruble reward for the safe return of her granddaughter.
Some parts of this character are historically accurate, while others are not. They got her general looks correct, and she was indeed Anastasia's grandmother, however she did not lose Anastasia in a train station, and she did not flee to Paris after. She went to her native country of Denmark, and after hearing of her family's execution, she did indeed have hope that they were alive, but she did not hold interviews or offer money rewards for Anastasia. It was actually Anastasia's aunt Olga that did that. She would speak with girls who claimed to be Anastasia, and offered a high reward for her return. |