B+W footage


Does anybody know if the black & white footage is actual documentary footage or re-creations? If it's the latter, they are very convincing.

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[deleted]

The shot of the orthodox cross crumbling on the dome during Rasputin's frantic vision is certainly by Klimov's photographer, not archive reel, and it's a great way of suggesting the lurking awareness that revolution might not be far away. The bit at the end of the film is probably genuine - if I recall it right there's a brief bit of newsreel added on while the voice-over hails Lenin and the Bolsheviks. That bit seems tacked on indeed.

In the rest of the film, Lenin and his party are not even mentioned, and in reality they played next to no role in the overthrow of the Tsar. Lenin's time only came after the old regime had gone and a series of interim cabinets had taken over. But in a Soviet movie dealing with this period, Lenin had to be paid homage. It's very likely that bit wasn't in the original (unreleased) 1975 cut of the film.



You are a lunatic, Sir, and you're going to end up on the Russian front. I have a car waiting.

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