Anastasia is a 1956 film which tells the true story of a young, confused woman in France after the Russian Revolution who, backed by the Russian emigre community, attempts to pass herself off as Anastasia Nicolaievna Romanova, the daughter of TsarNicholas II of Russia. It stars Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, Helen Hayes and Akim Tamiroff. The film was supposedly based on the true story of a former inmate in a German asylum who became known as 'Anna Anderson'. However, the Russian monarchist movement never backed Ms. Anderson - nor did she ever meet with the Dowager Empress Maria (played superbly by Hayes.) The film ends with Anna/Anastasia choosing real life over the identity of the Grand Duchess. There is some ambiguity in the final exchange between the Dowager Empress and her jilted nephew, Prince Paul, but not much. A central part of the film seems to be that the Dowager Empress is convinced that the young woman is her grand-daughter, and she is not a character who is easily fooled.
The movie was adapted by Guy Bolton and Arthur Laurents from the play by Marcelle Maurette. The structure of the play can still be detected in the static settings and theatrical "scenes" of the cinematic version, which has additional, essentially decorative ball scenes. It was directed by Anatole Litvak.
Anastasia is a 1956 film which tells the true story of a young, confused woman in France after the Russian Revolution who, backed by the Russian emigre community, attempts to pass herself off as Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
A central part of the film seems to be that the Dowager Empress is convinced that the young woman is her grand-daughter, and she is not a character who is easily fooled.
The movie was adapted by Guy Bolton and Arthur Laurents from the play by Marcelle Maurette.
The movie opens with a text preface about the end of tsarist Russia in 1917 and the execution of the royal family in 1918.
Most of the movie follows the attempts to convince various folks and the audience that Anna is Anastasia.
While the movie never strongly tells us yes or no, it seems to lean toward the yes side of the coin; for the purposes of the film, it hints to the audience that Anna and Anastasia were one and the same.
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