MovieChat Forums > Anastasia (1997) Discussion > Four questions about Anastasia's disappe...

Four questions about Anastasia's disappearance

posted 2 years ago by TM1617-2 (601)
5 replies | jump to latest

Why does Marie leap onto the train without Anastasia? She should help her granddaughter while climbing aboard. Since that is not what happens, though, why doesn't the man next to the grandmother on the vehicle try to grab the little girl too? Why doesn't the empress go back to St. Petersburg to look for the child instead of miserably sitting in Paris for the next decade? Why doesn't anyone realize who Anastasia is after she gets knocked out on the railroad? She is surrounded by people who know her family well and should be recognized. Someone could inform Marie that her granddaughter is alive and has not left the city. While it would probably take a few weeks for the grandmother to return, Anastasia should have some kind of connection whom she can stay with in the meantime instead of being brought to an orphanage. Dimitri survives Rasputin's attack, so maybe one of the adults who is involved with the castle does too.

[–] SandyR (7392) a year ago

All good questions.

[–] TM1617-2 (601) a year ago

Thank you, SandyR. Rasputin could terrorize Anastasia and Marie without the two being separated for ten years, which there is no reason for. I realize that amnesia plays a major role in the plot, but it could be brief instead of lasting for a decade, and there doesn't need to be so much carelessness.

[–] SandyR (7392) a year ago

I definitely agree.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (12377) a year ago

I can answer the reason why the Dowager Empress didn't go back to Russia to find her granddaughter. Russia had been taken over by the hostile communist govt, and if she had attempted to leave Paris and go back to find her, she would have been killed, due to her family connection to the Romanovs. She was staying in Paris for her own safety, and had probably registered as a French Citizen so the French govt. could protect her from the Soviets trying to hunt her down.

Plus, there was a lot of chaos and confusion when she fled St. Petersburg. Small wonder Anastasia was lost in the fray.

[–] TM1617-2 (601) a year ago

Thank you, AmeriGirl26. In that case, bodyguards would be worthless. At least the grandmother staying in Paris has a basis, but this raises the question of why she isn't murdered anyway since many Russians and other Europeans know where to find her. As I have mentioned, the remaining residents should identify Anastasia, and then someone would be able to tell Marie that her granddaughter is alive and help the girl get to France. Saying that the empress simply becomes a citizen of another country so that the French government can protect her is very broad, and I'm not sure that they would even do such a thing for a foreigner. The seige of the castle is highly commotive, destructive, and dangerous, but the grandmother takes responsibility for Anastasia when she helps her escape without the child's parents. She should make sure that she and her granddaughter get onto the train at the same time.