A young woman, alone and deeply traumatized,
makes her way to the Landwehr Canal.
She has no money. No possessions.
But she has an incredible claim.
This woman says she is Anastasia,
the youngest daughter of Russia?s last Czar.
It is my task to decide if she is telling the truth.
Where did she get these?
The Von Kleist family. They put her up for a while.
They believe that she?s Anastasia.
They were trying to prompt her memories.
When did you get this?
A patient at the Dalldorf asylum gave it to her.
After that, she started saying that she is Anastasia Romanov.
Did you do this?
I hope never to see him again.
Did you ever meet him, the mad monk?
Only once.
That was enough.
The monk had a very special place
in the Romanov household
because of the boy?s haemophilia.
He could do something no one else could do...
Calm the boy and stop the bleeding.
The way Rasputin heals Alexei
is very mysterious.
But the actual secret lies in Alexandra.
Alexandra believes
that Rasputin is sent to her by God.
His confidence calms Alexandra.
And in turn, that soothes Alexei.
It?s all right. Come in.
I?m a simple peasant.
To be here...
I am honored that you trust me.
He gets sick.
I can?t think...
...or feel.
I don?t know who I am.
You are his mother.
You're also keeping the biggest secret in Russia.
It is the burden you must carry.
But now...
...now it is mine as well.
Rasputin?s timing, when he meets the royal couple,
could not be better.
It?s the revolutionary year of 1905.
Nicholas and Alexandra live in a gilded cage.
Rasputin is this amazing, calming influence.
Alexandra believes...
that when he speaks, he speaks the word of God.
Alexandra doesn?t want very many people to know
that Alexei is ill and that he has haemophilia.
And this is what really puts them in the position
to start listening to Rasputin,
who claimed to be able to cure Alexei.
Girls.
Hey.
Father Grigori.
Let?s take a walk.
No one knew what was wrong with Alexei,
they knew something was wrong, but didn?t know what.
And much of Nicky and Alix?s behavior was inexplicable
unless you knew this terrible secret.
It?s a really, really dangerous moment
and potentially catastrophic for the dynasty.
Your visits are causing quite a stir.
Mm.
But I don?t care.
I need you here.
Unless you have other responsibilities?
My family in Siberia.
I?ll make sure they?re looked after.
You are the only one that can protect Alexei.
Nothing else matters.
The Romanovs don?t understand
what is truly happening outside the palace walls,
just how much anti-imperial sentiment is brewing out there.
After Bloody Sunday,
and the disastrous war with Japan,
Russia is in open revolt.
Nicholas shows himself to be bloody
and absolutely merciless
in suppressing the revolution,
and something like 15,000 people are killed...
Fire!
...with Nicholas encouraging every piece of cruelty.
There are parts of the country
that the army has to literally reconquer by force of arms...
...killing thousands and thousands of innocent civilians.
And Nicholas believes that Jews are
one of the biggest problems in Russia,
and that most Russian problems, including economic inflation
and other challenges, are caused by Jewish conspiracies.
Anti-semitism had been a growing fetish in the Romanov family
during the nineteenth century, and Nicky embraced it totally.
But this brought him into conflict with
his prime minister, Peter Stolypin,
who was a great hope of the dynasty.
You can?t resign.
You ordered me to take this job, sir, you cannot order me to stay.
What would it take to persuade you?
Respect.
You ignored my plea to stop the violence in the streets.
And now I learn you are funding violent pogroms against the Jews.
I am doing what needs to be done.
They are being murdered in their hundreds.
They are terrorists, they throw bombs.
Maybe if I was forced to live like them, I would throw bombs too.
Soldiers are mutinying in Krondstadt.
Workers are striking again in St. Petersburg.
The peasants are in open revolt.
And this will happen again and again,
we deal with the cause.
Which is?
Russia needs to change.
It has changed.
I gave them the Duma!
What more can I do?
Reform.
Give the people what they want.
Food to eat, land to grow crops on...
education.
Father Grigori says the people will follow their Tsar forever.
You trust him?
He?s a peasant.
He understands them.
Sir, the people are changing.
If we do not change too, they will rise up again.
Stolypin could be the man
to save the Romanov dynasty.
He certainly had the talents to do so.
He had a vision of creating a strong monarchy
based on a popular foundation.
But Nicholas and Stolypin agree
that they must suppress the revolution ruthlessly,
and that made his job as reformer-in-chief
an extremely dangerous one.
We are making real progress in purging this terror.
They even have a nickname for the hangman?s noose...
"Stolypin?s Necktie".
Now, we must win the people back.
Fight just as hard for reform, for our children,
for the next generation...
My daughter, Natalya. I?m coming, I?m coming now.
The next generation are depending on us to fix...
- Go, go. - ...this blood-stained country.
We cannot let... Ha!
The entire façade of Stolypin's dacha
falls in this huge explosion
and dozens of guests are killed.
Stolypin's own daughter is terribly injured.
The crackdown that follows is incredibly brutal.
We must fight this anarchy,
and create a great Russia!
Reunited, reformed, and reborn!
So, for those who think they can paralyze this government,
I have two words for you...
Not afraid!
Stolypin understands the problems
and the scale of the problems facing Russia.
He has ideas for how to solve them.
But doesn't have Nicholas? full backing,
partly because Nicholas is listening to Rasputin in the background.
What the...
How dare... how dare you?
How dare you? How dare you?
Who sent you?
Who sent you here?
The Czar.
No!
You stay the hell away from my daughter.
Stay away.
Stolypin is horrified by the rise of Rasputin.
He realizes that Rasputin is developing some rather serious influence
throughout the court
and actual political power through his influence on the royal family.
I don?t understand.
Why risk a scandal in the royal household?
Do some digging, will you?
Quietly.
Find out what Rasputin wants.
The fight between Stolypin and Rasputin
is a battle for Nicholas? soul.
And it?s also a battle for influence over his decision-making.
Remember, that at this point,
the Czarevich?s disease is still secret.
Grigori, for centuries, the church
has been there for the Romanov family.
So, that when the Czar finds comfort in someone new,
we need to be sure that we?re all...
on the same page.
I'll listen to their prayers.
That?s all.
Bullshit! You will listen to me.
Or I will send you back to the nothing you came from.
Then we?ll see who the Czar truly relies on.
And I will tell you now, it?s not some filthy starets.
Hm!
Are you sure about that?
Over the next five years,
Rasputin establishes himself as a bit of a guru
in Saint Petersburg?s high society,
he?s a kind of priest, counselor, confidant.
Most of his followers were women
and they were absolutely captivated by
his very straightforward personality,
his hypnotic powers, his ability to understand them,
to listen to them, to caress them.
All the while, Empress Alexandra is
becoming ever more dependent on him
and particularly, on his care of their young son.
Words fail me, Father.
When I think of all you have done,
the joy you bring to our family,
I cannot begin to thank you.
Words are what I need most, Father.
Your words, of reason and calm.
And I need to hear them every single day.
What a beautiful morning! Ah?
And what stunning, stunning ladies!
Does your husband know you?re here, Mrs. Semenov?
Countess.
Mrs. Kuznetsov is most excited about your proposal.
She?ll be along shortly.
Hello.
So, first in the queue.
Rasputin?s sexual appetite is legendary.
He becomes this, kind of a... leader of a sex cult, almost,
in Petersburg during that time.
It started with headaches, er...
I just feel so tense all the time.
My doctor says it?s common hysteria.
Well, there's nothing common about it.
But also...
nothing I can?t heal.
Please.
Then let God in.
Let him purge your soul.
Cleanse you.
Use temptation.
Let his heat warm your bones and charge your blood.
Hold yourself. Feel God.
And let his love enter you.
Push inside you.
Fill you.
Let the spirit move through you.
I love you.
You love God.
Am I shameful?
No.
God never degrades. He only purifies.
God has moved in you.
And he moves in me too.
I can feel him, can you feel him?
Once he moves through the society ladies in Petersburg,
Rasputin is an extremely dangerous person
for the prestige of the Romanov House.
Stolypin thinks of course Nicholas will see sense
and get rid of Rasputin.
But we?re not really dealing in the realm of reason here.
Nicholas and Alexandra are incapable of understanding
the degree to which their private life is a public matter.
Are you sick?
Just from worry.
Sometimes I think the only thing
between me, Nicky, and sheer oblivion...
...is you.
There had long been rumors
that not only was Rasputin a lewd figure,
who had all sorts of affairs and, you know,
acted in all sorts of inappropriate ways with women,
but that he was having an affair with the Czarina herself.
Our Father,
who art in heaven...
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come...
thy will be done...
on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day... our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses.
Rasputin wields enormous power over Alexandra,
but there?s no way he uses this
to begin some sort of sexual relationship.
It is a profoundly, if you will,
spiritual sort of relationship,
without a physical quality to it,
other than a sense of tenderness.
Their relationship had become one where she depended on him,
much like one might depend on a psychiatrist or a counsellor today.
Father Grigori, how can I ever thank you for what you have done?
Again!
Again! Ah!
My heart aches to see you again.
To fall asleep on your shoulder.
I know I have sinned many times.
I am weak.
But don?t abandon me.
I love you and believe in you.
And I kiss you warmly. I am your child. Alix.
There is every risk, as he continues his hedonistic behavior,
that this will cause a scandal.
You had the police follow him?
In his village, he was charged with theft and blasphemy.
That file details several accusations
of sexual assault and even rape.
All lies to discredit him.
I saw his filthy hands grope my own daughter!
I?m concerned he is comforting your wife, sir.
I would rather have ten Rasputins than one of my wife?s episodes.
Don?t you see?
His presence here is damaging you.
It is rumored he?s her lover.
Well, they can say what they like.
I know the truth!
Please.
Meet with him.
Give him another chance.
In many ways, what we have here, is statesmanship facing faith.
This is a battle for Nicholas? mind.
These accusations are totally false.
I am a simple holy man.
From what I hear, you are neither simple nor holy.
I talk and I listen.
That?s all.
Well, listen to me,
for the sake of Russia,
you need to leave the Czar and his family alone.
I knew a man like you back in my village,
a magistrate.
We did not get on.
What did you do? Fuck his wife?
We had a clash of faiths.
You...
Fucking vermin.
You will leave this city
in 48 hours,
or I shall have you arrested.
This, priest.
This is power.
Only God knows what real power is.
And death rides with you.
Stolypin is, in many ways, a reasonable man,
who sees the state of things in Russia.
To this day, many people believe Stolypin
was the last hope of the Romanov Dynasty.
We?ll never know because he is not around long enough.
You get Stolypin here.
You make him reverse the order.
And then you fire him.
What for?
Insulting our friend.
I can?t fire him, Sunny.
He is the most capable prime minister I?ve had.
I need him.
And our son needs Grigori.
Long live anarchy!
Get a doctor! Go!
Happy to die for the Czar.
Someone!
And death rides with you.
After Stolypin is shot in the Kiev Opera in 1911,
he still fights for his life for three more days.
When he finally dies, it means not only the end to the reforms,
but also, the fact that Rasputin
will gain more influence on the Czar.
Your Reverence...
I do find these meetings a little inconvenient.
What do you need?
There?s a dramatic confrontation
between Germogen, Iliodor, and Rasputin
that takes place in Petersburg at the end of 1911.
They have decided this is their moment to bring Rasputin down.
Our meetings with the Czar have been a little irregular lately.
We were wondering...
Shall I tell you what you really need?
You need to start treating the Czar like your divine leader,
not a cash register.
You need to start treating the Empress like a goddess,
not a source of gossip.
But mainly, you need to start treating me...
with some fucking respect.
You were nothing without us.
And, as God is my witness, you will be nothing again.
Get the fuck off me!
Unfortunately for Rasputin, Iliodor sees these letters.
And he then uses them as a weapon to get back at Rasputin
and leaks them to the public.
These letters seem to suggest a deep affection
between Alexandra and Rasputin, and depending on how we read them,
they could be read as the letters of one lover to another lover.
"My heart aches to see you again..."
"To fall asleep on your shoulder."
The exposure of the intimacy of the relationship with Rasputin
exposes the family itself, and what was really happening
inside Nicholas and Alexandra?s court.
And it isn?t a pretty sight.
"I know I have sinned many times, that I am weak."
"I kiss you warmly. I am your child. Alix."
Jesus Christ, Nicky!
Is she actually an idiot?
Or does she want to bring down the whole dynasty?
It?s... regrettable.
No, Nicky!
Losing one?s umbrella is regrettable!
This is the Empress of all Russia
doing God knows what with a vagrant!
We don?t just regret this kind of thing, we burn for it!
Oh!
They?ve twisted everything.
I know that.
The problem is no-one else does.
The people will never stop loving you.
The people will never forget this.
We are humiliated.
And so is he!
Don?t you understand?
He is hated because we love him.
What will happen next time Alexei bleeds?
Who will help us then?
Nicky!
Please.
It?s for the good of Russia that he stays.
Look at it.
It is precisely for that reason he has to leave.
What?s happened?
What have you done?
I thought the Czarina needed you.
She does.
And she will do again.
Alexei, careful.
Anastasia, stop.
Why not?
Because I want it.
It's mine.
No, it's not, it's mine.
Mama, Anastasia and Maria are fighting again.
- You have to learn to share. - Anastasia, Maria, please.
Alexei... Alexei!
As a haemophiliac, any bruise, any fall,
any bump can lead to a bleed that is,
first of all, agonizing.
But also, these can lead to death, and a terrible death too.
This is a nightmare scenario for Nicky and Alix...
I?m dying, aren?t I?
...and puts the dynasty in danger.
No, my darling, you?re fine.
Promise it won?t hurt anymore.
HAEMOPHILIA
Your son is seriously ill
and you?re working.
It?s a medical bulletin.
The people need to be told if the Csarevich...
If you?re going to do anything,
then think about the fact that you sent away the only man
in the world who could save our son.
Get him here, any way you can.
Wait there.
I'll need to send one back.
I personally believe that he absolutely believed in himself,
and that that belief was convincing to everybody else,
and self-fulfilling,
even from many thousands of miles away.
Dear Tsarina.
God has seen your tears and prayers.
Do not grieve.
O holy King,
compassionate and all-merciful Lord Jesus Christ,
Son and Word of the living God,
Who desirest not the death of a sinner...
Do not allow the doctors to bother him.
The little one will not die.
Hey.
The arrival of Rasputin?s telegram
seemed to coincide with the stopping of his bleeding
and his emergence from a near death.
Get out of here.
Get out of here, both of you.
Father Grigori is with us.
Alexandra certainly believed, and probably Nicky believed too,
that this was a miracle, that this was God?s work,
and that Rasputin could stop the bleeding of the child.
I think you have to make a decision.
Do you believe he had healing powers?
Or do you not believe in such things?
What?s this? What are we celebrating?
Our beautiful new gemstones. Look.
From Father Grigori. We all have one.
They're so pretty, they're all different colors.
All princesses should have jewels, Daddy. It?s the law.
Oh, well, it?s very kind of him to send you presents.
Everyone loves surprises, Nicky.
Do you want yours?
It?s good to be back.
Subtitle translation by