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mad monk
who wielded a legendary power over the royal family. Klimov`s portrayal is indeed an indictment of the ruling class, depicting the Czar (Anatoli Romashin) as an ineffectual ruler blindly led by the charismatic, power-hungry Grigory Rasputin (Aleksei Petrenko), while the politically decrepit aristocracy degenerated into decadence and hedonism. Arriving at court with a strange healing power that many attributed to hypnotism, Rasputin was the only person capable of treating the Tsar`s young heir, stopping his uncontrollable bleeding later recognized as hemophilia. Once his place in the palace was secure, however, the monk embarked upon a downward spiral of sexual vice, drunkenness, and violence that made him many enemies among society`s upper echelons. Eventually deciding that Rasputin`s power threatened the security of Russia`s monarchy, a group of noblemen plotted a demise that would enter history as one of the most fabled murders of all time. Petrenko`s performance is nothing less than spectacular, channeling the spirit of Rasputin in a chillingly apt depiction of insanity.