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Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Let’s get down for some history. This time we will do a little bit of Russian history. We will talk about the legendary story of Anastasia. The Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia, and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. She was killed with her family by a group of Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg on 17 July 1918. Stories and rumors started to spread that she survived the execution of her family and was living in hiding. Years later or even decades, many women came forward claiming that they were the real Anastasia. The most well-known one was made by Anna Anderson, who claimed she was the real Anastasia, only to be proven that this was false.
The story of Anastasia has been told many times throughout the years in film, television, and books. The 1997 cartoon version of the film was pretty good and enjoyable. I recommend watching that one even though it’s not historically relevant. Something to get you started. The 1956 movie Anastasia was adapted from a 1952 play. It was inspired by the story of Anna Anderson, the best-known Anastasia Imposter. Directed by Anatole Litvak and written by Arthur Laurents, Anastasia tells the story of a woman who tries to convince the world she is the real Anastasia. The film begins in 1928 Paris. Even though records show that the royal family had been executed in 1918 during the revolution, rumors had spread that the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna managed to escape and is thus still alive. A 10-million-pound inheritance has been kept in the Bank of England, waiting for Anastasia to come and claim it. Former Russian general Sergei Bounine (Brynner), who is now a Parisian restaurateur, along with his two Russian associates, Boris Chernov (Tamiroff) and Piotr Petrovin (Pitoëff), have been developing a plan to access the inheritance. Their grand scheme is to find the right woman to impersonate Anastasia. While walking through the streets, Bounine spots a woman he thinks is the perfect candidate. She introduces herself as Anna (Bergman), but the issue with her is that she is an amnesiac. After some goading, Anna agrees to participate in discovering who she is, whether she is Anastasia or not. With the perfect candidate, the group decides to introduce her as Anna Koreff and convince everyone that Anastasia has returned. Not only will they have to convince Prince Paul von Haraldberg, who was once engaged to Anastasia, but they will also have the daunting task of convincing Anastasia’s grandmother, the Dowager Empress. The Empress is tired of meeting many imposters of the years and has given up all hope. Only time will tell if they can succeed.
I was pleasantly surprised and impressed with this film. Some of these movies go beyond my expectations, and this one does. I was pretty much going off the cartoon version and wasn’t interested in watching an old version. I was utterly wrong in my thinking of this film. The story revolved around the scheme of trying to convince the Emperess that Anna is the real Anastasia. Watching the characters go through the whole thing was interesting but so effective. First, Bounine was the brains behind it all, and he drilled Anna with many facts and performances; you would think he lived the life of Anastasia. Homeboy knew EVERYTHING about the girl.
To see Anna change and do a performance of a lifetime in convincing the world that she was the real Anastasia was truly well done. She charmed the hell out of Paul and made homeboy fall in love with her. Yet, the meat and potatoes of the story come from Anna’s interactions with the Emperess. The Emperess is straight up frosty and not having any of it. Yet, through another performance of a lifetime, she convinces her. Yet, through all this, the story shows that a third act is happening behind the scenes. Bounine and Anna seemed to be falling in love with each other. The film does a fantastic job showing the subtle hints and appeals that each one gives to each other. Even though the Empress is old, homegirl is wise beyond her years. She sees that Anna has fallen for Bounine and believes that she should run away from the life of Anastasia and find happiness in another life.
The performances were the ones that propelled this film. First, Ingrid Bergman as Anna Koreff/Anastasia was top-notch. At the film’s beginning, she acts like a crazy woman who doesn’t know where she was, but after some prodding, she says that she was in an asylum. She lets it all out at the beginning of the scenes. Bergman shows Anna’s transformation into Anastasia, from someone who didn’t know anything to charming the world with grace, knowledge, and beauty. Bergman was top-notch in this film, and her performance was highly enjoyable.
The other performance I want to discuss is Yul Brynner as General Bounine. I don’t know how Brynner didn’t get nominated for an Academy Award. Homeboy was excellent, and it is a travesty that he wasn’t nominated. As Bouine, Brynner was intense and also charming. You would think that being a former general, he would be strict as hell. Yet, he seemed fun-loving. Maybe it was the life spent in Paris and managing a nightclub. Brynner seemed to always be in control and had an aura that exuded confidence.
There have been many versions of the story of Anastasia in the world. Some good and some pretty bad. The cartoon version was good, but this version right here was top-notch. This is a version for adults, and it is all thanks to the performances of Bergman and Brynner. Bergman was outstanding and should be applauded for her performance. Brynner was the right choice who brought the intensity but also the nonchalant attitude to the whole thing. Give this movie a chance and see how some people try to get money through an elaborate scheme.
