MovieChat Forums > Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) Discussion > A Dysfunctional First Couple

A Dysfunctional First Couple

posted 8 years ago by HijodelCid
7 replies | jump to latest

As a married couple and as parents, N&A were nearly ideal; as the first couple of an state, they were totally unfit. Every book about them tells of how even the people most loyal to them had to twist themselves into pretzels in order to accommodate and lessen the impact of their obvious personal weaknesses--weaknesses that naturally antagonized and made enemies out of other people.
I wish I were part of their circle so I could try to exert some positive influence against all that negativity. Since Nicholas was so weak willed that he never retained a strong opinion for even one day, I would have tried at least to get him to pay more heed to Maria Feodorovna, a sensible lady whom NII truly respected, and who always had good advice to give.

God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)

[–] HijodelCid 8 years ago

In THE CAINE MUTINY, the defense attorney played by Jose Ferrer admonishes the mutinous officers, telling them that, regardless of Queeg's obvious weaknesses, they still owed him their absolute loyalty.
The story of N&A is one of LOYAL'NOST'=LOYALTY, and of how the emperor lost the loyalty of his people because of his ineptness, and because of such perverse actions as not respecting the very constitution that he himself had signed.
Clearly, there are very narrow limits to how much loyalty an authority figure can claim for itself; I myself had my surname changed from that of my stepfather to that of my maternal grandfather because, after trying all my life to please him, it became blatantly obvious that my stepfather was a POS who never had any respect or consideration for me, whereas my maternal grandfather always treated me with love and acceptance.

God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)

[–] HijodelCid 8 years ago

One of the people present at the inauguration of the first Duma commented about the bitter anger most of the parliamentarians felt towards the Emperor, observing that NII had quite simply squandered all the respect and good will that his grandfather and father had gained for themselves and for their position.
A very gloomy statement, that did not portend anything good for the Emperor or his country--that, in fact, could well be considered as an omen of the atrocity at the House of Special Purpose.
Today in the UK, many people feel that Prince Charles should pass on his succession rights to his oldest son because, in their opinion, Charles has squandered the good will accumulated by Victoria, Albert, Edward VII, George V, George VI, and his mother and grandmother.
God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)

[–] Stevicus-2 8 years ago

I think it's touched upon lightly in the film, but there was some truth to the idea that Nicholas should have concentrated on building up and modernizing Russia first, before attempting to get involved in the wars he did. I think there was also some truth in Yakovlev's statement that Nicholas was "a man with no imagination." Here's a guy who inherited the largest empire in the world, yet he didn't really know what to do with it.

[–] roreyking 8 years ago

They (he) made no effort to modernize Russia. He was completely unprepared for the supreme power when he ascended the throne, and was under the thumb of his conservative reactionary uncles. Alexandra certainly wouldn't have advocated for modernization and would have had little say even if she had. She was just as much without imagination as her husband.

[–] vicky_lc2001 (1907) 6 years ago

I think the only way to have prevented what happened to them since Nicholas was very weak willed and easily led is to have married the right woman who had a good sense of governance.

[–] roreyking (559) 2 years ago

LOL!

[–] Otter (24464) 2 years ago

You mean you think he should have married someone who'd do the ruling for him?

I find that deeply hilarious for some reason! Maybe because the idea of marrying someone so they can do your job for you is so absurd, or because in Russia women couldn't inherit the monarchy. Or because I'm trying to imagine how he'd pick a wife who was actually capable of ruling, can you imagine interviewing teenaged girls and trying to decide which one of them would grow up to be a competent monarch of one of the largest nations on Earth?