deacon_blues-3 This is a film ostensibly about schizophrenia and it's treatment, but it is more about post- communist Russian guilt over the slaughter of the Romanov family.A long-time mental patient who believes that he is the reincarnation of two Assassins (one of Tsar Alexander and the other of the Romanov family including Nicholas II) piques the interest of his new head psychiatrist. The new doctor decides to treat him by pretending that he himself is the reincarnation of Tsar Nicolas II. The crisis ensues when the same kind of physical auto-suggestion symptoms that the patient has been exhibiting begin to be exhibited by the doctor, resulting in the doctor's eventual actual death.But the main interest comes in the recreation of the historical scenes of the Romanov assassinations and their aftermath.Wonderful acting performances by Malcolm MacDowell as Timofeyev/Yurovsky and Oleg Yankovskiy as Dr. Smirnov/Tsar Nicholas II.There is a lot of looming angst and guilt portrayed, aimed at giving the audience a sense of the collective psychological pathology of Russian society over the patricides of their Bolshevik revolution. Lots of Freudian baggage that I'm rather skeptical about the value of, personally.I would have preferred a film on just the historical retelling of the events, but there is much admirable acting and atmosphere, notwithstanding.

T Y I saw this c. 92 in a limited festival release, and then it disappeared for 17 years. For a long time, to my disappointment, it didn't even show up under MacDowell's name here on IMDb. But I'm glad I've tracked it down and just re-watched it (Netflix). It is (surprisingly) just as good as I remember it. It moves with deliberation and resorts to no emotional leg-pulling. It is uncolored by the subjectivity that movies frequently trowel on to hook an audience. It is meditative throughout, not concerned with spiking your adrenaline every ten minutes. The fictionalized framing device is OK enough, but it doesn't intrude as the movie builds to its inexorable, distressing finish. You watch as an infamous event approaches, and the two story threads converge on the assassination of the entire Romanov family. The audience I saw this with was glued to their seats. Nooone is completely sympathetic. No one is completely unsympathetic. No moral judgment is passed on the Romanovs, or for that matter, the assassin Yurovsky. They are just unlucky people caught up in a certain moment.It is the perfect mid-career role for MacDowell. He was lucky to get such an interesting part. (It's a Russian production.) But he does a great, unshowy job.

Armand A touching film about errors, duty and colors of fear.Interesting poem about the nooks of reality, the shadows of dreams, the dust of old hours and the ghosts of some gestures.Exploration of history and its chimeras with the Russian manner to see, describe and show the essence of a sick world at twilight of emotions.The talks between doctor and the victim of a terrified past are not only a subtle catharsis form or an exploration of truth but exercise to discover the roots of last form of original sin, the taste of truth, the rules of past, the marks of victim's respiration. Not a reflection in old windows but escape of spirit beyond the games of destiny or malicious accident. The characters are reflections of a strange era, specters of ambiguous desires and actors of a mad god. And only propriety, only way to be yourself is memories collection as shadow of a lost soul.Show of memories, ladder of past, puzzle of facts and illusions, "Tsareubysta" is a very profound and subtle exercise to define the time and its shadows without shadows, masks or regrets.

MARIO GAUCI This is an intriguing and generally engrossing parable which eventually becomes confusing and with the point of it all, ultimately, remaining obscure; it also makes some interesting (though not exactly novel) comments on class, notoriety and about the way history tends to repeat itself. Malcolm McDowell turns in a good performance as a mental patient who believes himself to be the assassin of two Russian Czars; so far so good - but, then, his psychiatrist (for no very good reason) is a dead-ringer for Nicholas II! I haven't watched that many recent Russian films but this one seems to be fairly indicative of their content, style and overall quality - even if made by a director whose work I wasn't familiar with.