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Catherine The Great

1995, Movie, 100 mins

Catherine The Great: Review

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Sumptuously produced and sharply scripted, this extravaganza retools the saga of Russia's notorious empress for a new generation. Catherine Zeta-Jones steps into the hoopskirts of such legendary actresses as Tallulah Bankhead, Jeanne Moreau, and Elizabeth Bergner and acquits herself well in this respectable history lesson, which balances sex and scheming. 1745: Innocent German princess Catherine (Zeta-Jones) is wed to Duke Peter (Hannes Jaenicke), a loveless union that cements the power of Russian Empress Elizabeth (Jeanne Moreau). When Peter, Elizabeth's nephew, proves impotent, Elizabeth, who's desperate for an heir, commands a palace lothario to woo and impregnate Catherine. Upon learning she has been manipulated, Catherine vows to educate herself in court politics. Acquiring allies like Bestuzhev (Brian Blessed), Catherine bides her time and even survives Elizabeth's discovery of her plan. After Elizabeth's death, Peter assumes the throne and banishes his shrewd wife. But Catherine curries favor with the army (sometimes on a very personal basis) and orchestrates a coup, seizing power and ordering guards to garrote Peter. As she navigates a court filled with vultures like Vorontzov (Ian Richardson), Catherine wisely keeps her enemies close at hand. Though she masters the art of jockeying for power by pitting one chancellor against another, she pines for Officer Potemkin (Paul Mc Gann), who has temporarily fled the army for a monastery. Unfortunately, power comes first; Catherine will yield neither to Potemkin nor to a truculent populace. Whether riding roughshod over the peasants, waging war abroad or banishing Potemkin from her heart, Catherine will make any sacrifice necessary to remain the Empress of all Russia. This smartly acted, cynical examination of Catherine's life regards sexual one-upmanship as an extension of government politics and approaches historical events from several perspectives, dramatizing the spider-and-fly intrigues of power-brokers, spying on the sex lives of royalty and laying bare the ruling class's mistreatment of its subjects. leave a comment --Robert Pardi
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