La Tragédie impériale (1938)
Directed by Marcel L'Herbier

Film Review

Director Marcel L'Herbier followed one fairly lacklustre period melodrama Nuits de feu (1937) with another, this time adapting a popular Alfred Neumann novel set on the eve of the Russian Revolution as La Tragédie impériale.  As was fairly typical of French literary adaptations at this time, L'Herbier's film boasts impressive production values but now appears somewhat dated, lacking the inspired touch that the director's contemporaries (Jean Renoir, Marcel Carné, Julien Duvivier, Jacques Feyder) consistently brought to their films.  Compared with L'Herbier's silent masterpieces - Eldorado (1921), L'Inhumaine (1924), Feu Mathias Pascal (1926) and L'Argent (1928) - it's pretty mundane stuff, typical of his output after the arrival of sound cinema.

L'Herbier's mise-en-scène may be somewhat lacking in impact, but the same cannot be said of the lead performance from Harry Baur, who is ideally suited to play the enigmatic Rasputin, humanising the mysterious outsider to such a degree that he becomes the most sympathetic character on screen.  The highly photogenic Marcelle Chantal add further lustre to the film with her convincing portrayal of the conflicted Tsarina Alexandra.  La Tragédie impériale is watchable, but it has somewhat less in the way of viewer appeal than subsequent Rasputin-themed dramas, such as Don Sharp's Rasputin, the Mad Monk (1966) and Franklin J. Schaffner's Nicholas and Alexandra (1971).

Film Synopsis

In the years just before the Revolution, Grigori Rasputin is a name that is known throughout Russia.  His seemingly miraculous ability to heal the sick has brought him renown across the land, and thousands flock to his door, to receive the touch of the man who has surely been blessed by God.  The Tsarina Alexandra herself makes use of Rasputin's legendary powers, inviting him to the court of Saint Petersburg to attend to her son when he injures himself in a fall.  Imperial patronage furthers the monk's power and influence, to the extent that the church now looks upon him as a threat to their authority.  In their attempt to discredit Rasputin, the church leaders accuse him of serving his own interests and abusing his newfound fame to lead a disgracefully debauched and corrupt life.  Such condemnation does little to diminish the monk's popularity.

Such is the confidence that he has in Rasputin that Tsar Nicholas II trusts him with important matters of state.  Aware that her son is putting at risk the imperial family by doing so, the tsar's mother advises him to spurn the monk, whom she has come to regard as a self-serving opportunist and a threat to the empire.  Even after being driven from the imperial court, Rasputin continues to enjoy a free and hedonistic life, in the company of the mad woman Groussina.  His enemies are growing in number, although the first attempt on his life fails miserably.  After the Archduke Franz Ferdinand is killed in Sarajevo in June 1940, Rasputin uses his influence to try to prevent the outbreak of a potentially catastrophic war, in vain.  As he dies, with a bullet lodged in his heart, the monk swears that the fate of the Romanovs is tied to his own.  Prophetic words...