Year of Release: 1986Country of Origin: USA, Austria, Italy
Director: Marvin J. Chomsky
Cast: Amy Irving, Olivia de Havilland, Jan Niklas, Nicolas Surovy
Plot outline: Story of Anna Anderson, who claimed to be Anastasia Romanov, the only surviving daughter of the Czar and Czarina of Russia (IMDb).
Though the film is entertaining (in a soap-opera sort of way), the fact that it's loosely based on the story of Anastasia and the book by Peter Kurth, means it doesn't really live up to it's potential. The real characters of the Romanovs, the uprisal of the Bolsheviks, imprisonment and execution, royal conspiracies, and in general, an accurate portrait of Anna Anderson's life, all take secondary place to beautiful setting, pretty costumes, an attractive cast (most of the acting is quite good) and an unfortunate 80's tinge (too many perms). The film goes off on a tangent, eventually delving into the realms of fantasy and sickly Mills & Boon-style romance. It's a fun film to watch, but had it been more intelligent, more accurate and more sinister and mysterious, it would have been so much more captivating and entertaining. (A)
My judgement: ** out of 4 stars
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