Imperial Russia (1721–1917)
by indeetee | created - 31 Mar 2015 | updated - 06 Aug 2020 | PublicFilms and series set during one of the largest empires in world history, stretching over three continents. It played a major role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleon's ambitions to control Europe, and expanded to the west and south.
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Napoleonic Era
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1. Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
GP | 183 min | Biography, Drama, History
Tsar Nicholas II, the inept last monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is overthrown and exiled to Siberia with his family.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman, Roderic Noble, Ania Marson
Votes: 5,567 | Gross: $3.96M
2. War & Peace (2016)
TV-14 | 63 min | Drama, History, Romance
As the Russian conflict with Napoleon reaches its peak, five aristocratic families face the possibility of their lives being changed forever.
Stars: Paul Dano, James Norton, Lily James, Adrian Edmondson
Votes: 26,640
3. War and Peace (1965)
GP | 393 min | Drama, Romance, War
The Russian aristocracy prepares for the French invasion on the eve of 1812.
Director: Sergey Bondarchuk | Stars: Lyudmila Saveleva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Sergey Bondarchuk, Boris Zakhava
Votes: 8,346 | Gross: $0.13M
4. War and Peace, Part I: Andrei Bolkonsky (1965)
Not Rated | 147 min | Drama, War
Napoleon's tumultuous relations with Russia including his disastrous 1812 invasion serve as the backdrop for the tangled personal lives of five aristocratic Russian families.
Director: Sergey Bondarchuk | Stars: Lyudmila Saveleva, Sergey Bondarchuk, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Viktor Stanitsyn
Votes: 2,117
5. Quiet Flows the Don (1957)
Not Rated | 330 min | Drama, History, Romance
An epic story of shattered lives of the Don Cossacks through chaos of World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the following Civil War.
Director: Sergey Gerasimov | Stars: Pyotr Glebov, Elina Bystritskaya, Zinaida Kirienko, Daniil Ilchenko
Votes: 1,310
6. Lover's Prayer (2001)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Romance, War
A younger boy falls in love with a tragic girl who flirts with, and manipulates, her older suitors in 1800s Russia.
Director: Reverge Anselmo | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Julie Walters, Geraldine James, Nathaniel Parker
Votes: 863
7. Pan Tadeusz (1999)
Not Rated | 147 min | Drama, History, Romance
In the early 1810s, Poles, part of Russia's client state of Lithuania, think independence will come if they join forces with Napoleon when he invades Russia. This unity of purpose, in one ... See full summary »
Director: Andrzej Wajda | Stars: Boguslaw Linda, Daniel Olbrychski, Grazyna Szapolowska, Andrzej Seweryn
Votes: 3,715
8. Catherine the Great (2015–2024)
49 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Catherine the Great from the time she came to Russia as the bride of the heir to the Russian throne.
Stars: Yulia Snigir, Pavel Derevyanko, Viktoriya Agalakova, Mark Bogatyryov
Votes: 356
9. The Rise of Catherine the Great (1934)
Not Rated | 95 min | Biography, Drama, History
Straightforward biography of the Russian Empress, up to her assumption of the throne.
Directors: Paul Czinner, Alexander Korda | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Elisabeth Bergner, Flora Robson, Gerald du Maurier
Votes: 740
10. Catherine the Great (2005 TV Movie)
120 min | Biography, Drama
Drama documentary reconstructing the life and times of Catherine the Great of Russia.
Directors: Paul Burgess, John-Paul Davidson | Stars: Emily Bruni, Diana Dumbrava, Dan Chiriac, Claudiu Bleont
Votes: 170
11. Catherine the Great (1995 TV Movie)
100 min | Biography, Drama, History
Trapped in a loveless arranged marriage to the immature future Czar, a young German Princess proves a skillful political infighter and rises to become Catherine the Great.
Directors: Marvin J. Chomsky, John Goldsmith | Stars: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Paul McGann, Ian Richardson, Brian Blessed
Votes: 1,348
12. Young Catherine (1991 TV Movie)
Unrated | 150 min | Biography, Drama, History
A German princess is chosen to marry the heir to the Russian Throne, but faces plots and intrigues against her.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Plummer, Franco Nero, Marthe Keller
Votes: 1,177
13. Ekaterina (2014–2023)
44 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of Russian Empress Ekaterina II (Catherine the Great), a German-born princess who came to Russia as the wife of Peter III, chosen by her aunt Elizabeth, and who, once in power, transformed the Russian empire.
Stars: Marina Aleksandrova, Michael Gor, Vladimir Yaglych, Pavel Tabakov
Votes: 1,685
14. The Scarlet Empress (1934)
Passed | 104 min | Drama, History, Romance
A German noblewoman enters into a loveless marriage with the dim-witted, unstable heir to the Russian throne, then plots to oust him from power.
Director: Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Marlene Dietrich, John Lodge, Sam Jaffe, Louise Dresser
Votes: 7,238
15. Peter the Great (1986)
371 min | Biography, Drama, History
Biopic of Peter I, Czar of Russia, from childhood in 1682 to the Great Northern War against Sweden during the 1700s.
Stars: Maximilian Schell, Vanessa Redgrave, Omar Sharif, Trevor Howard
Votes: 800
16. Fall of Eagles (1974)
50 min | Drama, History, War
The collapse of three great European dynasties: the Romanovs, the Habsburgs, and the Hohenzollerns.
Stars: Michael Hordern, Charles Kay, Barry Foster, Gayle Hunnicutt
Votes: 667
17. Anastasia (1956)
Unrated | 105 min | Biography, Drama, History
An opportunistic businessman tries to pass off a mysterious impostor as the Grand Duchess Anastasia, and she is so convincing that even the biggest skeptics believe her.
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, Helen Hayes, Akim Tamiroff
Votes: 9,320
18. Adorable Sinner (1959)
91 min | Drama, History, Romance
Czar Alexander II meets a schoolgirl called Katia. Realizing that he loves her, he attempts to push her away but to no avail. She becomes his mistress. With Katia's help, Alexander is working on a liberal constitution.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Romy Schneider, Curd Jürgens, Pierre Blanchar, Antoine Balpêtré
Votes: 484
19. Skaz pro to, kak tsar Pyotr arapa zhenil (1976)
100 min | Musical, Romance
Loosely based on Peter the Great's Negro, Alexander Pushkin's unfinished novel based on his own great-grandfather, a black African brought to Russia.
Director: Aleksandr Mitta | Stars: Vladimir Vysotskiy, Aleksey Petrenko, Ivan Ryzhov, Irina Mazurkevich
Votes: 501
20. Peter the First (1937)
96 min | Biography, Drama, History
A historical film about the life and state activities of Tsar Peter I, the reformer of Russia of the XVIII century, starting from the Battle of Narva in 1700 and ending with the adoption of the title of emperor by Peter the Great in 1721.
Director: Vladimir Petrov | Stars: Nikolai Simonov, Nikolay Cherkasov, Alla Tarasova, Mikhail Zharov
Votes: 239
21. The Fall of the Romanoffs (1917)
Passed | 80 min | Biography, Drama, History
A dramatization of the Russian revolution and the influence upon the Russian royal family of the famous "mad monk," Rasputin.
Director: Herbert Brenon | Stars: Edward Connelly, Iliodor, Alfred Hickman, Conway Tearle
Votes: 28
22. Rasputin (1996 TV Movie)
R | 135 min | Biography, Drama, History
HBO biopic about the infamous "mad monk" Rasputin from the court of Czar Nicholas II in Russia.
Director: Uli Edel | Stars: Alan Rickman, Greta Scacchi, Ian McKellen, David Warner
Votes: 3,982
23. The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (1927)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, History
In May 1913 the Romanov Dynasty celebrates its 300th anniversary at the Russian throne. The last emperor in the long line is Tsar Nicholas II. He rules over a country with huge social and ... See full summary »
Director: Esfir Shub | Stars: Mikhail Alekseyev, Alexei Brusilov, Nikolai Chkheidze, Emperor Franz Josef
Votes: 346
24. Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966)
Not Rated | 91 min | Biography, Drama, Horror
Thrown out of his monastery for licentious and drunken behavior, Rasputin travels to St Petersburg in pursuit of wealth and prestige. He soon gains influence at court with his powers of healing and of hypnotism.
Director: Don Sharp | Stars: Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Richard Pasco, Francis Matthews
Votes: 3,463
25. The Romanovs (2013)
60 min | History
This history of the Romanov dynasty, the family that ruled Russia from 1613 until the October Revolution of 1917.
Star: Ilya Sherbinin
Votes: 429
26. Romanovy: Ventsenosnaya semya (2000)
140 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of the last year and a half of Tsar Nicholas II and his family from the February Revolution of 1917 to their execution in July 1918.
Director: Gleb Panfilov | Stars: Aleksandr Galibin, Lynda Bellingham, Vladimir Grachyov, Yuliya Novikova
Votes: 360
27. Rasputin (2011)
87 min | Biography, Drama, History
A group of Russian noblemen want to maintain the monarchy and plan to kill Rasputin.
Directors: Josée Dayan, Irakli Kvirikadze | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Fanny Ardant, Vladimir Mashkov, Filipp Yankovskiy
Votes: 962
28. Rasputin (2010)
Not Rated | 85 min | Biography, Drama, History
The true story of the greatest occultist of 1900. The truth beyond the Legend.
Director: Louis Nero | Stars: Francesco Cabras, Daniele Savoca, Franco Nero, Marco Sabatino
Votes: 142
29. Rasputin (1938)
93 min | Biography, Drama, History
Story of the Siberian monk Gregory Rasputin and the hold he exerted over the court of the last Russian czar, Nicholas.
Director: Marcel L'Herbier | Stars: Harry Baur, Marcelle Chantal, Pierre Richard-Willm, Carine Nelson
Votes: 59
30. Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986)
TV-PG | 200 min | Biography, Drama, Mystery
Story of Anna Anderson, who claimed to be Anastasia Romanov, the only "surviving" child of the last Czar and Czarina of Russia.
Stars: Amy Irving, Olivia de Havilland, Jan Niklas, Nicolas Surovy
Votes: 1,273
31. Rasputin (1981)
104 min | Biography, Drama, History
Details the life of the Russian monk Rasputin. The film shows his rise to power and how it corrupted him. His sexual perversions and madness ultimatly leads to his gruesome assasination.
Director: Elem Klimov | Stars: Aleksey Petrenko, Anatoliy Romashin, Velta Line, Alisa Freyndlikh
Votes: 1,686
32. Grigoriy R. (2014)
375 min | Biography, Drama, History
TV series about the mad monk Grigoriy Rasputin, who became a hugely influential figure at the court of Tsar Nicholas II.
Stars: Vladimir Mashkov, Ekaterina Klimova, Andrey Smolyakov, Ingeborga Dapkunaite
Votes: 165
33. Anna Karenina (I) (2012)
R | 129 min | Drama, Romance
In late-19th-century Russian high society, St. Petersburg aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the dashing Count Alexei Vronsky.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Matthew Macfadyen
Votes: 106,564 | Gross: $12.82M
34. Russian Ark (2002)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Fantasy, History
A 19th century French aristocrat, notorious for his scathing memoirs about life in Russia, travels through the Russian State Hermitage Museum and encounters historical figures from the last 200+ years.
Director: Aleksandr Sokurov | Stars: Sergey Dreyden, Mariya Kuznetsova, Leonid Mozgovoy, Mikhail Piotrovsky
Votes: 21,826 | Gross: $0.04M
35. The Barber of Siberia (1998)
180 min | Comedy, Drama, History
At the turn of the century, a young Russian cadet falls in love with an American beauty, endangering his career and even their lives.
Director: Nikita Mikhalkov | Stars: Julia Ormond, Oleg Menshikov, Aleksey Petrenko, Richard Harris
Votes: 12,807
36. Statskiy sovetnik (2005)
127 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Third film based on Boris Akunin's "Priklucheniya Erasta Petrovicha Fandorina" series of novels. On a train from St. Petersburg to Moscow general Khrapov was killed and no one else but ... See full summary »
Director: Filipp Yankovskiy | Stars: Oleg Menshikov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Konstantin Khabenskiy, Vladimir Mashkov
Votes: 3,218
37. Zvezda plenitelnogo schastya (1975)
167 min | Drama, History, Romance
In December 1825, distinguished members of the Russian military, most of whom were quite affluent and of noble lineage, took it upon themselves to stir revolution against the autocratic and... See full summary »
Director: Vladimir Motyl | Stars: Irina Kupchenko, Aleksey Batalov, Natalya Bondarchuk, Oleg Strizhenov
Votes: 715
38. A Cruel Romance (1984)
142 min | Drama, Romance
A bitter story about tender love and its cruel betrayal set in Russia of the 19th century.
Director: Eldar Ryazanov | Stars: Alisa Freyndlikh, Larisa Guzeeva, Nikita Mikhalkov, Andrey Myagkov
Votes: 3,986
39. Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Not Rated | 66 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutiny against the brutal, tyrannical regime of the vessel's officers. The resulting street demonstration in Odessa brings on a police massacre.
Director: Sergei Eisenstein | Stars: Aleksandr Antonov, Vladimir Barskiy, Grigoriy Aleksandrov, Ivan Bobrov
Votes: 61,459 | Gross: $0.05M
40. Onegin (1999)
R | 106 min | Drama, Romance
Russia, 1820s: Onegin inherits his uncle's country estate and moves there from St. Petersburg. He befriends his neighbor, Lensky, and meets Tatyana through him. She falls in love with Onegin but he just wants friendship.
Director: Martha Fiennes | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Liv Tyler, Toby Stephens, Lena Headey
Votes: 8,309 | Gross: $0.21M
41. Yevgeni Onegin (1959)
106 min | Drama, Music
The uncle's illness forces the nobleman Eugene Onegin to leave St. Petersburg for the countryside.
Director: Roman Tikhomirov | Stars: Ariadna Shengelaia, Galina Vishnevskaya, Svetlana Nemolyaeva, Larisa Avdeyeva
Votes: 149
42. Two Women (2014)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama
A headstrong young woman is married to land baron. Her feelings for her son's tutor becomes a complex web of unrequited love.
Director: Vera Glagoleva | Stars: Anna Brenner-Vartanyan, Ralph Fiennes, Aleksandr Baluev, Anna Levanova
Votes: 394
43. The Great (2020–2023)
TV-MA | 1,594 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A royal woman living in rural Russia during the 18th century is forced to choose between her own personal happiness and the future of Russia, when she marries an Emperor.
Stars: Elle Fanning, Phoebe Fox, Gwilym Lee, Adam Godley
Votes: 54,457
44. Catherine the Great (2019)
TV-MA | 60 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life and times of the woman who reformed the Russian empire.
Stars: Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, Gina McKee, Kevin McNally
Votes: 6,485
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