Catherine the Great (1995)
Katharina the Great (Original: Catherine the Great ) is a two-part German - American - Austrian television film from 1995. Catherine Zeta-Jones can be seen in the title role as Russian Tsarina Katharina II .
action
The German princess Sophie Auguste Friederike von Anhalt-Zerbst is invited to Russia by Tsarina Elisabeth . There, the 15-year-old married the pockmarked heir to the throne Peter under her new name Katharina . While Katharina developed into an educated supporter of the Western Enlightenment , Peter turned out to be a simple-minded admirer of the Prussian military.
Even after several years, the couple's marriage is still not consummated. However, Elisabeth pushes for a grandson to secure the line of succession. She finally gives the handsome Count Saltykov the job of seducing Katharina. She feels isolated at the Tsar's court and welcomes the attention that Saltykow now shows her. He becomes her first lover and father of her son Paul , who is taken away from her immediately after the birth. Saltykov is then sent abroad.
Since the aging Tsarina and her long-time companion and lover Rasumovsky lack the will and courage to lead Russia from medieval conditions to enlightened modernity, Katharina wants to seize power and become Tsarina in order to initiate the necessary reforms. However, her hated husband Peter, who claims the throne, stands in her way. When the Seven Years' War begins, Katharina acts on her own initiative. She allies herself with Chancellor Alexei Bestushev to start the decisive offensive against Prussia . When Elisabeth found out about this, Katharina was threatened with banishment. However, Katharina can save herself by honestly explaining her motives in a conversation with Elisabeth.
When Elisabeth dies without having specifically chosen an heir to the throne, Peter is declared tsar with the support of the statesman Vorontsov. Thereupon Katharina stages an intrigue against Peter with her current lover Grigori Orlow and overthrows Peter as part of a military coup from the throne. Then Katharina is crowned tsarina. The first reforms are initiated by it immediately, but without abolishing serfdom, as the rebel Pugachev demands. Meanwhile, Peter is murdered from behind by Orlov's men.
When Pugachev calls for the overthrow of Katharina in order to put the actual tsar, a confused monk who is vegetating in a dungeon, on the throne, Katharina has Pugachev executed. This leads to a break with Field Marshal Potemkin , in whom Katharina has found an equal companion and her great love. Nevertheless, it is resolutely pursuing its goals and subsequently building Russia into a major European power.
background
The life of Catherine II was filmed in 1934 with Elisabeth Bergner and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as Catherine the Great (The Rise of Catherine the Great) . In the same year, a film was made under the title Die scharlachrote Kaiserin (The Scarlet Empress) by Josef von Sternberg with Marlene Dietrich in the leading role. In 1991, Die Junge Katharina (Young Catherine) was the first two-part television adaptation with Julia Ormond .
The television film from 1995 was created by ZDF , ARTE and UFA / Patrola as a prestige project with a budget of 30 million marks. The producer and director was Marvin J. Chomsky , who had already made a multi-part television series about Russia's tsarism in the mid-1980s with Peter the Great ( Peter the Great , 1986) . Chomsky put together an international star cast for Catherine the Great , including Mel Ferrer , Jeanne Moreau and Omar Sharif . For the title role, however, he selected the hitherto unknown Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones , who had convinced him of her talent during an audition. Cast against his image as a heartthrob, Hannes Jaenicke was given the role of pockmarked Peter, while Veronica Ferres played his lover.
Filming began in the summer of 1994 and took place in the Babelsberg film studios , in the palace gardens of Sanssouci and at Kreuzenstein Castle in Lower Austria . Some of the outdoor shots were also taken at historical locations in Saint Petersburg and Moscow . 3,000 extras were used. In addition, around 2,000 historical costumes had been specially made for the film in Italy , 40 of which were used for Katharina's wardrobe. The high budget for television enabled not only the purchase of authentic icons and panel paintings but also the use of original dinnerware from the time of the Tsarina for 250,000 marks. In order to cover the high costs of the international market, the film was shot entirely in English.
The two-parter should be shown on television as early as Easter 1995. The broadcast date was postponed again and again, so that Katharina the Great was shown on TV for the first time in Germany on April 28, 1996 by ARTE.
Reviews
"A historical picture sheet full of political intrigue and love affairs, which summarizes historical events in fast motion."
“A glamorous historical piece: The top-class ensemble relish indulging in intrigue. [...] True to history, well cast and staged. "
German version
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Catherine II | Catherine Zeta-Jones | Marietta Meade |
| Vorontsov | Ian Richardson | Joachim Höppner |
| Peter III | Hannes Jaenicke | Hannes Jaenicke |
| Vorontsova | Veronica Ferres | Veronica Ferres |
| Razumovsky | Omar Sharif | Harald Leipnitz |
| Grigory Orlov | Mark McGann | Oliver Stritzel |
| Mirovich | Christoph Waltz | Christoph Waltz |
| Alexei Orlov | Stephen McGann | Ole Pfennig |
| Saltykov | Craig McLachlan | Martin Umbach |
| Count Schwerin | Horst Frank | Horst Frank |
More films about Catherine the Great
- 1920: Katharina the Great - Germany - Director: Reinhold Schünzel , with Lucie Höflich
- 1924: Das Verbotene Paradies ( Forbidden Paradise ) - USA - Director: Ernst Lubitsch , with Pola Negri
- 1930: Gadgets of an Empress - Germany - Director: Vladimir Strizhevsky, with Lil Dagover
- 1934: Katharina der Große ( The Rise of Catherine the Great ) - Great Britain - Director: Paul Czinner , with Elisabeth Bergner
- 1934: Die Scharlachrote Kaiserin ( The Scarlet Empress ) - USA - Director: Josef von Sternberg , with Marlene Dietrich
- 1938: Le Joueur d'échecs - France - Director: Jean Dréville , with Françoise Rosay
- 1945: Scandal bei Hofe ( A Royal Scandal ) - USA - Director: Otto Preminger , with Tallulah Bankhead
- 1950: Count Orloff's Dangerous Love ( Shadow of the Eagle ) - Italy , UK - Director: Sidney Salkow , with Binnie Barnes
- 1958: Storm in the East ( La tempesta ) - Italy, France, Yugoslavia - Director: Alberto Lattuada , with Viveca Lindfors
- 1959: Ruler of the Seas ( John Paul Jones ) - USA - Director: John Farrow , with Bette Davis
- 1963: Catherine of Russia ( Caterina di Russia ) - Italy, France - Director: Umberto Lenzi , with Hildegard Knef
- 1968: Great Catherine - UK - Director: Gordon Flemyng, with Jeanne Moreau
- 1991: Young Catherine ( Young Catherine ) - USA - Director: Michael Anderson , with Julia Ormond
- 2002: Russian Ark ( Russkij kovcheg ) - Russia, Germany - Director: Aleksandr Sokurov , with Maria Kuznezowa
DVD release
- Catherine the Great . Euro Video 2004, with making-of
Web links
- Catherine the Great in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Katharina the Great at prisma.de
- Katharina the Great at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for Catherine the Great, Part 1 . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry, February 2004 (PDF; test number: 76 939 V / DVD).
- ↑ Release certificate for Catherine the Great, Part 2 . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry, February 2004 (PDF; test number: 76 940 V / DVD).
- ↑ a b prisma.de
- ↑ a b Catherine the Great. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 30, 2019 .
- ↑ Catherine the Great (1). In: TV feature film . Archived from the original on December 20, 2015 ; accessed on March 30, 2019 .
- ↑ Catherine the Great. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing files , accessed on March 30, 2019 .