Godunov (2018/2019)

Sergey Bezrukov as Boris Godunov

Svetlana Khodchenkova as Maria Skuratova-Belskaya Godunova

The 21st century has seen Russian television come into its own with superb productions which are close to matching the quality of the theater, ballet and opera of the Russia of the Tsars. One of best historical miniseries ever is Godunov which, like the opera by Moussorgky, captures the turmoil, intrigue, and violence of the early 17th century Time of Troubles, as well as the mystical destiny of Holy Russia, always suffering, always in search of redemption. Filmed on location at many of the original sites of the historical events, I will ever after have trouble watching Russian history depicted by non-Russians outside of the land of the tsars. The sets, costumes, and acting are genuine and most especially the religious ceremonies.

From the Russian blog Awful Avalanche:

Then there are those gorgeous costumes:  An estimated 5,760 hours were spent sewing them!  Tsar Fyodor’s heavy robes and sable coat; the brocade was stitched especially for the film (5 centimeters per day) at an old workshop by master fabric seamstresses of the Novospassky Monastery. Authentic gems and handmade golden thread, everything that distinguished the clothing of the upper classes of that era.  The classy headgear donned by married ladies to cover their hair.  And not to mention the horses and carriages, and even down to individual items of jewelry, like rings. And all this wealth displayed on the screen, as if to say: “There you have it!”

Viewers will also note that the characters spend a lot of time eating and drinking, and all of this is authentic as well, with loving portrayal of Medieval Russian cuisine: honey, mead, cabbage soup, meat, sour cream, sunflower seeds, berries, you name it…A reminder, once again, as I noted in my previous “Giles Fletcher” series, that Medieval Russia was actually quite a prosperous country, in its own way.

What really makes the series good, of course, is the quality of the acting. And the producers did a really good job here, of picking the right actors for the roles. The leads are terrific, and even the smaller roles are well-played.  As actress Irina Pegova (who portrays Maria Nagaya) commented: “It is worth watching just to see such a rare and totally cool acting ensemble.”

Timur Alpatov (who directed, along with Alexei Andrianov): “This is a film about the Russian people, the Russian soul, and we tried to show that soul throughout the entire film.”  In my humble opinion, they succeeded. (Read more.)

[Spoilers Alert] Season 1 of Godunov begins with the end of the traumatic reign of Ivan the Terrible, as the young Boris Godunov, from an old Tatar family, rises in the household of the mad tyrant, becoming indispensable to the Tsar in managing his frequently disordered affairs. Boris is present when Ivan murders his oldest son and heir in a fit of rage, leaving the throne to the kindly but weak-minded prince Fyodor Ivanovitch. Fyodor marries Boris's sister and they encourage Boris to rule the country for them, which he does with justice, always rooting out corruption. Meanwhile, Boris marries Maria Grigorievna Skuratova-Belskaya, the red-haired, feisty daughter of the head of the secret police, Malyuta Skuratov-Belskiy. Boris brings trade and better education to Russia. The jealousy of the boyars grows along with Boris' success, and Maria, his wife, fears what will become of them when Tsar Fyodor dies. So she begins to scheme. The youngest illegitimate son of Ivan the Terrible, Dmitri Ivanovitch, dies under mysterious circumstances, leaving Tsar Fyodor without an heir.

Like the great Russian novels, the story of Boris and Maria is interwoven with those of other characters. The close friend of Boris is Fyodor Romanov, a prince who has served the tsars as a warrior and a diplomat. Fyodor encounters a lovely maiden named Xenia who heals him when he is wounded in battle. After losing Xenia, he searches until he finds her in a monastery and they marry and have a son named Michael. Season 1 ends with the death of the Tsar and the people begging Boris to take the throne.

In Season 2, Boris and Maria are Tsar and Tsarina. They have two lovely teenage children whom they have carefully educated. Boris has reigned over a prosperous Russia for several years but the plague strikes and then a devastating famine, causing mass starvation. Maria becomes paranoid, turning to fortune tellers and seers. She fears that their friends, Fyodor and Xenia Romanov, have turned against them, and are plotting to seize the crown. The Romanovs, expecting trouble, hide their little son Michael at the Ipatiev monastery. No sooner do they hide him than Boris arrests them, sending each to a monastery. Fyodor is forced to become a monk called Filaret and Xenia takes vows as a nun, Martha. It is an incredibly tragic episode since the two love each other deeply and have no desire for the monastic life. Fyodor/Filaret is treated with many indignities by the other monks and Xenia/Martha becomes deathly ill, longing for news of her husband and son. Filaret encounters a hermit deep in the forest who reveals to him the reason for his great suffering and how to accept his penance from God's hand.

Boris becomes ill, and the boyars find an ex-monk who claims to be the lost son of Ivan the Terrible, called the False Dmitri. False Dmitri has long lusted after Boris' daughter the Tsarevna Xenia Borisovna. With the help of the King of Poland, the boyars plan to put False Dmitri on the Russian throne. When Boris dies, False Dimitri's men murder Tsarina Maria and her son, while her daughter Xenia Borisovna is thrown in the dungeon, where she is violated by Dmitri. In the hands of Dmitri and his foreign wife Marina, Russia descends into chaos, with Poles, Swedes, and Cossacks pillaging the land. Fyodor/Filaret is summoned by Dmitri to become Patriarch of Rostov, and so he becomes a spiritual leader of his tormented people, while quietly playing off his enemies against each other.

At this point the saga reminds me of The Lord of the Rings, with the main characters separated by war and imprisonment, to be united and separated again, as everyone struggles to survive. Tsarevna Xenia Borisovna is released from prison and seeks to become a nun. However, her spiritual father refuses to give permission for Xenia Borisovna to take vows, saying that she seeks death and the religious life is not a replacement for death but a way of life. Miraculously, after a long siege, the enemies are driven from the land. Michael Romanov, the son of Fyodor/Filaret and Xenia/Martha, is brought out of the Ipatiev monastery and made Tsar. A new epoch in Russian history begins, and the daughter of Tsar Boris is at last allowed to become a nun. Her personal suffering, and that of the Romanov couple, have helped win grace for their country.

My only criticism of the magnificent series is the way the Poles are portrayed as evil Catholic caricatures, complete with a black-robed Jesuit lurking in the shadows, ready to plant Romanism in Russia. But from the Russian point of view, that is probably how it seemed. At any rate, the breathtaking beauty of the forests, meadows and palaces, as well as the mud of the city streets, make watching Godunov a trip into the past worth taking for its realism and authenticity.

My post on the opera Boris Godunov by Moussorgsky is HERE.

 False Dmitri harangues Xenia Borisovna Godunova in prison

Tsar Boris oversees his son's education

Tsar Boris Godunov

Boris Godunov and his children

Murder of the Godunovs

Watch on Amazon Prime with English subtitles: