Rasputin - the mad monk

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Movie
German title Rasputin - the mad monk
Original title Rasputin - the Mad Monk
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 1966
length 93 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Don Sharp
script Anthony Hinds
production Anthony Nelson Keys
music Don Banks
camera Michael Reed
cut Roy Hyde
occupation

Rasputin - the mad monk is a 1965 British period film from the Hammer Films production with Christopher Lee in the leading role or title role. Directed by Don Sharp .

action

The Russian monk Rasputin has made a name for himself as a mysterious miracle healer in the countryside far from the capital St. Petersburg. His last major achievement in this regard was healing the wife of a landlord. The bearded monk with piercing eyes has also made plenty of enemies over the years. Rasputin is considered excessive and voluptuous, his violence and wear and tear of women are legendary. When he was asked to justify himself to the bishop for his misconduct in this regard, the landlord spoke out in favor of Rasputin, but the orthodox monk did not deny his offenses and declared that he would only commit his sins so that God could forgive him something. Equipped with this self-confidence, Rasputin is not impressed by the episcopal omission that Rasputin was in league with the devil and had received his healing powers from him.

In order to avoid further feuds with his supreme prince of the church, Rasputin then goes to St. Petersburg, where he takes shelter with Dr. Zargo finds. Deeply convinced of himself, Rasputin plans nothing less than to win over Tsarina Alexandra. Her lady-in-waiting Sonja is supposed to give him access to these very high circles. With his virility he not only makes the young woman happy, but can also testify to her of his healing powers. When he is admitted to the tsarina, he puts her into a trance and causes her to involuntarily cause an accident in which her sickly and weak son, the tsarevich, who is a hemophiliac , is slightly injured. Rasputin is promptly asked to go to court to help. The next time, Rasputin can even hypnotize the tsarina, so that she dismisses her current personal physician and has him replaced by Dr. Zargo replaced. The former backwoodsman Rasputin quickly begins to make himself indispensable at the farm.

His greed for recognition, power and fame and the ear of the tsarina also quickly aroused opposition in circles of the nobility and officers. The smug, coarse and uncivilized-looking “peasant”, as the Petersburg elite call him derogatory, is envious of his influence at court and one begins to fear that this influence could be extremely harmful to the country. Sonja's brother Peter, beside himself with anger that the tough monk from the Siberian backwoodsmen had desecrated his tender sister in his eyes, also joins a small group of conspirators that Rasputin wants to get rid of as quickly as possible. But Peter is soon switched off and his face is hideously disfigured by acid that is poured into his face, until death redeems him.

Ivan, another conspirator, is now planning to lure Rasputin into a trap so that he and some accomplices can kill him there. He lets the monk believe that his sister Vanessa is sexually interested in him and arranges a secret meeting for the two of them. There, of all people, Dr. Chocolate and wine served to Zargo poisoned. Although this makes Rasputin fall over, the bear of a man cannot be killed with poison alone. A total of three men now try to finally murder Rasputin, but the wonder monk seems invincible. In his death throes he can even beat his former comrade Dr. Stab Zargo. Finally, Ivan throws Rasputin out of a high window, and Rasputin dies from the fall.

Production notes

Rasputin - the mad monk was filmed immediately after Blood for Dracula (1965) in the same sets and with the same leading actor (Lee) and premiered on March 6, 1966 in London. In Germany, the film never ran in cinemas, but was only released on DVD in August 2004 .

Bernard Robinson created the film structures .

Reviews

The Movie & Video Guide found, on the one hand, that the script was “unusually bad”, but on the other hand, Christopher Lee managed to save the film through his portrayal.

Halliwell's Film Guide stated that the film offered "a bleak excuse to let Christopher Lee run amok".

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 1068
  2. ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 838

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