I could write this entire review just dealing with the historical inaccuracies and gaffes in this film. But, to do so would be to miss the entire point of the movie.
This is not a documentary or history, this is an historical melodrama, a piece of entertainment--and an ambitious one, at that. And there this film succeeds. No, the Bolsheviks were not storming the Bastille, but leave the ham-fisted effort to transfer the then-current anti-Bolshevik hysteria aside and enjoy the movie. There is no test, just let the ambition and scale of this movie, the grand sets, the gorgeous though historically dubious costumes draw you in. This is where the film succeeds--where it was meant to.
This is not a documentary or history, this is an historical melodrama, a piece of entertainment--and an ambitious one, at that. And there this film succeeds. No, the Bolsheviks were not storming the Bastille, but leave the ham-fisted effort to transfer the then-current anti-Bolshevik hysteria aside and enjoy the movie. There is no test, just let the ambition and scale of this movie, the grand sets, the gorgeous though historically dubious costumes draw you in. This is where the film succeeds--where it was meant to.
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