Anastasia (1956) - Rewritten History with a Twist | Intricate Films

It was the fateful night of the 16th of July, 1918. It was a night that would go on to be written in the history of Russia as the night that would trigger a change in absolutely everything for the Russians. It was the night of the massacre of Tsar Nicholas II and his family by the Bolsheviks.

But there was a certain legend people talked of. It was about Anastasia Nikolaevna, the youngest daughter of the Tsar. People believed she had escaped and was still alive somewhere. Why? I'll explain, but do read on till the end for that. Now you may wonder why I'm narrating all this history for. The film is about Anastasia, as you might be able to guess from the title.

In 1938 Paris, a woman who has an uncanny resemblance to Anastasia (Played by Ingrid Bergman) is found and this has been brought to the attention of General Bounine, a former Russian General living in France in exile who happens to own a popular Russian themed nightclub in Paris. Bounine (Played by Yul Brynner) approaches the woman, but she avoids him. After trying to escape desperately, she is ready to end it all by throwing herself into the River Seine, but is stopped in time by Bounine and is taken with him.

It is revealed that the woman turned out to be an Amnesiac who happened to be in an asylum. Bounine arranges for the woman to be trained to come off as the real Anastasia.

But let's think for a second here. Why would he go into so much trouble for this? It was a cunning, devious trick. Anastasia was supposed to be the recipient of the Royal Family heir worth 10 million pounds. Bounine had repeatedly raised funds for his business with the shareholders based on his claim that he had found the real Anastasia. He wanted her money simply for his business.

Now, I'll admit. From what I've written till now, I have done nothing other than paint a bleak, black and white picture of this film in your head. Trust me, the film is not really so. In fact, on the contrary, I believe it is an extremely vibrant and colourful theme where the film feels more light hearted than you would expect it to be. But the fantastic thing is the fact that it is still perfectly balanced in the arena of conveyance of emotions.

Yul Brynner and Ingrid Bergman. Two legendary icons. What we must remember is the fact that Ingrid Bergman won an oscar for this film. Yul Brynner had won his, the exact same year for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical classic, 'The King and I'. The reason why I mention this detail as well (except that it is a fun fact) is to ensure that those who don't know about Yul Brynner don't underestimate his talent on the screen and stage.

But what happens, post the success of Bounine's plan? It leaves us viewers with a question mark in our heads. Is this woman, the real Anastasia or is she not? Is this woman a mentally ill person who just escaped from an asylum and nearly committed suicide or is she, Russian royalty? What I love about this film is the fact that it leaves it open ended to decide for ourselves.

Subtle hints are given here and there that tell us she could be or couldn't be Anastasia. What tells us that she could be? i would cite the example where in the process of convincing the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovona, the grandmother of Anastasia that she really is her, she reveals a personal characteristic trait that she has, and that is the fact that she coughs when she is feeling scared. This was enough to convince the Empress that the woman in front of her was her granddaughter. Now what could be an example to tell us she isn't really Anastasia? It's simple. The entire movie represents that. It's not necessarily all about deception, but something more as well.

It is the search of an identity. The entire movie is about her struggle just to find herself and who she is. It's about her finding of a sense of belonging.

Anyways, Bounine's plan was successful, but it came at a cost. You see, this entire journey had led Bounine to develop feelings for her. He could not bear it to see her becoming the conquest of King Paul. The revelation of his secret feelings as well as the feelings, again secretly developed by Anastasia is the 'Twist' of the story.

Now, I remember telling you at the start that I would explain why people believed Anastasia survived the execution. Her body wasn't discovered for a long time. That is why. It is that simple. In the meantime, multiple women had claimed that they were the real Anastasia. The most famous one of them was Anna Anderson. Guess what? This movie is loosely based on her story, with of course, the creative fictional tweaks and additions.

There are flaws with the movie, however. One example would be the Russian 'accent' everybody speaks with, which seems to somehow diminish over time and towards the end, felt more British in some parts than Russian. Then, although I believe the showcasing of their developing feelings towards each other was done well, it could have done with a little more refining in the pace at which it all happens.

As a result, I give Anastasia (1956) an 7.5/10 on the Intricate Meter due to the aforementioned flaws.

But truly, what is art without it's flaws? I'm going to be very accepting of the film in other ways because of that. My favourite thing about this film is the fact that it takes a dark, bleak and tragic part of real life history and presents it in a light hearted, yet completely in an adequately serious manner, with of course, some imaginal creativity making it more fictional that real. This is why, this film can be called, the best of both worlds of fiction and non fictional history.

And with such a heartwarming and well acted ending the film has, nobody is really complaining. Helen Hayes, who plays the role of Empress Feodorovna is said to have summoned all her stage experience to deliver the last line, "I will tell them that the play is over, go home."
                                                      - Abhyjith Ashokan

Intricate Meter : 7.5/10

The Important Characters And Their Casts :

* Ingrid Bergman as Anastasia / Anna. She is the protagonist and is a woman whose identity is unknown to herself as well as ourselves. She is a doppelgänger of The Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, either out of  sheer coincidence or because she really is her.

* Yul Brynner as General Bounine, a former Russian General who lives in Paris, France in exile due to the ongoing Russian Revolution. He owns a nightclub business, and wanted a share in Anastasia's inheritance for his business, but ends up falling for her in the end.

* Helen Hayes as the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovona. She is the grandmother of Anastasia. She plays a pivotal role in the progression of the story.

* Martita Hunt as Baroness Elena Von Livenbaum. She is portrayed as someone close to Bounine and an affectionate ally to him.

* Akim Tamiroff as Boris Adreivich Chernov. He is an associate of Bounine.

* Sacha Pitoeff as Pietr Ivanovich Petrovin. He is yet another associate of Bounine.

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- Abhyjith and Arvind