Catherine the Great: The 2019 Miniseries

CATHERINE THE GREAT

In truth, the Russian sovereign Catherine II was not Russian but German. History, however, has intertwined this minor German princess as Catherine the Great, Czarina and Autocrat of All the Russias. She has been the subject of many films and television projects. In 2019, Dame Helen Mirren returned to her own Russian roots to portray this legendary historic figure. Catherine the Great has a lot of sex and appears to want to shock with its four-letter words. It is not bad but far from what it could have been.

Two years after the coup that brought her to power, Empress Catherine II (Mirren) still has to contend with forces that could bring her down. There is the mysterious "Prisoner Number One", who may have a legitimate claim to the Russian throne. There is the mysterious soldier, Mirovich (Lucas Englander), loyal to Prisoner Number One. 

Then there is Count Grigory Orlov (Richard Roxburgh). He is one of the men who helped her overthrow her loutish husband, Peter III. He is also Catherine's current lover. Grigory and his brother Alexei (Kevin R. McNally) always remind her that they put her on the throne. The suggestion is that they can pull her off. The Orlov Brothers scheme and scheme away, making snide remarks about everyone out of earshot. That includes the newest member of Court. It is another Grigory: Grigory Potemkin (Jason Clarke). Brash, daring and belligerent, Potemkin is quickly besotted by our Autocrat. 

That does not stop him from schtupping her BFF, Countess Bruce (Gina McKee). Eventually, Potemkin bends the royal ear. He also bends other things for both Mother Russias. One person who cannot bend is the frustrated heir, Prince Paul (Joseph Quinn). He still hero worships his late father. He also detests his mother and is the only man in Russia who does not see that his wife, Natalia (Georgina Beedle) is screwing Paul's best friend, Count Razumovsky (Phil Dunster). 

Orlov soon becomes indispensable to Her Majesty inside and outside the royal bedchamber. He leads her armies to triumphs in Crimea and against the Turks. He also is imperious, haughty and prone to anger against all his enemies. The Orlovs are bitter foes. He is able to outmaneuver them. The Czarevitch is another enemy, though to be fair Paul is a very bitter boy, trashing about hither and yon. As Catherine continues her struggle to stay in power over Russia and the various men in her life, she fails to see how her need for power has made her abandon her early liberalism. The woman who once corresponded with Voltaire now burns his books. Personal tragedy hits this great love story of Catherine and Grigory, but will she get the heir that she wants or the one who manages to stay?

I think Catherine the Great thinks itself daring with all the sex scenes and f-bombs going off all over the place. I figure that Catherine and her Court were not immune from letting out a torrent of vulgarities and bed-hopping back in the day. However, Catherine the Great seemed oddly fixated on the sex and swearing and less on the political machinations within the Winter Palace.

Screenwriter Nigel Williams and director Philip Martin have a very surface level look at this debauched world. Episode One of the four-episode miniseries ends with a drag ball. The sight of the Orlov Brothers in dresses and wigs while Catherine and Potemkin are cutting a little rug to Russian music is a sight to behold. It is a curious sight though, not helped by an effort at a Barry Lyndon-like cinematography.

It is curious that Catherine the Great is dominated by a lot of voiceovers of Mirren's Catherine and Clarke's Potemkin reading their letters to each other. We get many such scenes and the added scenes of riders passing those letters to and from our lovers. 

Somehow, Catherine the Great does not seem all that interested in things outside the nocturnal. Events like Pugachev's Rebellion or the killing of the unfortunate Prisoner Number One (Czar Ivan VI) do not seem to register. They happen almost because they have to. The miniseries just does not spend much if any time on them.

Take Pugachev (Paul Kaye). He pops in for a bit in Episode One, then a bit more in Episode Two. In what I figure Catherine the Great intended as a great moment Her Majesty appears before Pugachev's followers while he rants in a cage. Here, the peasants suddenly began to kowtow to the Czarina. Why? It does not matter. 

Catherine the Great is worth only what Dame Helen Mirren brings to the role. She brings a great mix of haughtiness and vulnerability to our Mother Russia. She is coy and playful when Matushka (Grigory's pet name for the Empress) is with her Grishenka (her nickname for Potemkin). She can also be ruthless with him when needed. "I own you. Don't forget that", she reminds her paramour, enraged at having been essentially scolded before her council. Mirren shifts so well into the Czarina's mercurial nature. She makes her efforts to build a rapport with Paul and her grandson Alexander believable, even as she plots against the former. 

The rest of the cast is not terrible. They are just hampered by their one-note roles. Jason Clarke is an interesting choice as the brash, arrogant Potemkin. I thought all he did was shout and bluster. Granted, that is how the character was. After a while, though, that grows boring. The same goes for Kevin McNally and Richard Roxburgh as Alexie and Grigory Orlov. Almost all their scenes consisted of Alexie telling Grigory not to f-it up. Whether it was Grigory's stud status or a political negotiation, it was pretty much the same. Joseph Quinn's Czarevitch Paul was better, but he too did nothing but skulk about and whine. 

Again, I get that is how the role was written and directed. Again, it gets rote.

Catherine the Great does have some beautiful moments. The battle of Ushakov is a standout. The costumes and sets are nice. 

Ultimately though, Catherine the Great failed to live up to its title. It was more Catherine the OK. 

5/10

CATHERINE II FEATURE FILMS & SPECIALS

The Rise of Catherine the Great (1934)

The Scarlet Empress (1934)

A Royal Scandal (1945)

Young Catherine (1991)

Catherine the Great (1995)

The Great (2020-2023)