A review of PBS's “Catherine the Great”

Warning: This post contains some mature themes in it. Although I have tried to cover them tastefully, there's no way to take them out – they are too prominent in this story.

Catherine the Great

Before I watched this documentary, I had seen parts of the 1995 television movie “Catherine the Great,” starring Catherine Zeta-Jones in the title role. I fast-forwarded through certain bedroom scenes, but this film did have a good dose of politics and intrigue as well. Indeed, this aspect of the story was the part that I most wanted to learn about. This is part of why I wanted to see this other film in the first place, in fact. This PBS documentary (starting Emily Bruni) turned out to be as good as expected, but it also had many surprises for me.

How is Catherine's personal life connected with her political life?

Because of my prior experience with the Catherine Zeta-Jones movie, I was not too surprised to learn that Catherine was somewhat loose in her personal life. But the degree to which her life was a soap opera was something that I did not expect. Indeed, one cannot leave it out of the story, even if politics and intrigue are the primary focus. Her personal life is a part of the political story; and is almost inseparable from it. Thus, a few comments about Catherine's personal life may be warranted here, to help explain why it played such a prominent role in her life. This will also help to shed some light on what kind of film this is.

The future Catherine the Great, in an equestrian portrait

Catherine was born a German princess, and was to marry the future Emperor of Russia

She was born a German princess in the German state of Prussia. Her birth name was “Sophie,” and she did not adopt the name “Catherine” until much later. Like other princesses, she was expected to marry a foreign king, to bring Russia together with her native Prussia. At that time, the Russian monarchy actually viewed the German states as something like a dating service; and a marriage was thus soon arranged for 16-year-old Sophie. Her husband was to be the future Peter III, then a 17-year-old (and not yet the Emperor). Their first meeting did not go well, though, and Catherine later reported that she despised her husband-to-be. But for the sake of her political future, she decided to try and make the marriage work anyway, and changed her name to the now-famous “Catherine” in the process.

The future Catherine the Great, soon after her arrival in Russia

But the husband from her arranged marriage had no interest in her, although other men did

She abandoned her family's Lutheran faith to join the country's Russian Orthodox Church, something that her father disapproved of. Her conversion was for her own political advantage, and it did indeed have the intended effect of making her seem more “Russian” to her new people. Her Russian-born husband was also a devout Lutheran, but he would remain so throughout his life, while she did not. He idolized the Prussian ruler Frederick the Great, and wanted to become as great as he was. He played with toy soldiers well into his adulthood, and dreamed of the day when he would become Emperor. But he would never be as good a monarch as Frederick the Great. He had plenty of interest in women, and adopted a mistress; but he had virtually no interest in his own wife. This was ironic, because there were plenty of other men who did like Catherine. But for whatever reason, her husband wasn't one of them.

The future Catherine the Great, around the time of her wedding in 1745

The future Peter III of Russia

The Empress encouraged Catherine to have affairs, so that an heir could be produced

Their marriage was never consummated, and so the Empress worried about the succession. After years went by without either of them producing an heir, the Empress encouraged Catherine to have affairs, so that an heir might be produced. Catherine agreed. Before long, heirs were indeed produced; and her chagrined husband never denied that the children were his – although it was obvious to everyone that Peter was not their real father. Although she had never really liked her husband, Catherine fell head over heels for the men that she dated in this way. Thus began a lifetime of passionate romances on her part, which had been officially encouraged by the reigning Empress.

Grigory Orlov, one of Catherine's early lovers

A close call for Catherine, during Russia's war with her native land of Prussia

When Russian went to war with Catherine's native Prussia, both Catherine and her husband spied for Catherine's native country of Prussia. The Empress was furious with Catherine, and expressed her rage in a meeting with Catherine and her husband Peter. Catherine did her best to express her remorse, but the Empress still came very close to having Catherine executed anyway. In the end, what saved Catherine was not the Empress's love of Catherine, but the Empress's dislike of Peter. At a crucial moment, Peter pushed to have Catherine executed for treason – something that would have been very convenient for him, given his carrying on with another woman at that time. But his plea for Catherine's execution actually had the opposite effect, and so Catherine's life was spared at that time. Ironically, her husband had been every bit as guilty of treason as his wife had been; but the push for her execution had been very ill-timed for him. For Catherine, the timing was perfect; and this was one of the few times in her husband's life that he actually did something that benefited her.

Empress Elizabeth, then the reigning monarch of Russia

When her husband became Emperor, things got even more dangerous for Catherine

Things got even more dangerous for Catherine when the Empress died, and her husband became Emperor Peter III. If she had disliked her husband before, she hated him even more now. Unfortunately for the Russians, Peter was a terrible ruler. Instead of playing with toy soldiers, he now played with real ones. Instead of standing up to the Prussians, he returned to them the territory that they had lost during the Seven Years' War, just because he idolized Frederick the Great, and wanted to please him. And rather than tolerate the Russian Orthodox Church, he curbed its privileges, to benefit his own Lutheran faith. These things did not endear him to his people, and the situation was dangerously close to a revolt.

Emperor Peter III of Russia

There was a coup d'état, which made Catherine the reigning monarch of Russia

Many wanted to replace Peter with his German-born wife Catherine, whose Russian Orthodox faith matched their own. They began to hatch a plot to overthrow her husband. But the plot came close to being discovered, which forced them to rush things along. To make a long story short, Peter III was murdered; and his wife Catherine became the reigning monarch in his place. This was ironic, given that Catherine was not Russian-born, and did not have a royal bloodline in that country. But next to her husband, anyone was bound to look good; and so Catherine's reign got off to a good start. Her children survived, and they were now assured to be next in line for the throne, despite their not being fathered by Peter III.

Catherine the Great on the balcony, on the day of the coup d'état

Some brief comments on Catherine's reign, and her personal life during that reign

I will not go over Catherine's reign in great detail, but suffice it to say here that she was a much better ruler than her husband ever was. Her people loved her, and she helped to “Westernize” Russia. Catherine was a great admirer of French philosophers like Diderot and Voltaire, and helped to bring their work to Russia. She married someone else, but it was still clear that Catherine was in charge. Unlike many other women of that time, Catherine did not have to sacrifice any power to marry a man; and in fact, she held all the cards at that time. She was not faithful to her new husband, as it turns out; although she was extremely fond of him, and had something of an “on-off” relationship with him. She had many lovers during her reign. Despite all of these things, she was a good ruler for the Russians in many ways, including in her bringing in of Western ideas to Russia. Other countries feared Russia's military might, and more than one of them was invaded by Catherine's armies. I could go over many other things, such as the account of the “Potemkin village” during her reign; but I don't want this post to get overly long. Suffice it to say here that this is fascinating stuff.

Catherine the Great, in an equestrian portrait

Grigory Potemkin, one of Catherine's lovers

This documentary is great at telling both the soap operas and the political parts of the story

The documentary covers all of this in great detail, and helps to dramatize both the soap operas and the politics. As the earlier part of this post shows, there was a lot of intrigue at the Russian court; and this sort of thing makes for fascinating dramas. But they also covered the soap operas quite well, and showed how prominent they were in her rise to power. Had her relationship with her first husband been a happy one, she might never have become a reigning monarch; so their coverage of the soap operas is both interesting and relevant.

Catherine the Great as reigning monarch

Another picture of Catherine the Great as reigning monarch

Comments on the storytelling style of this film

This film dramatizes the writings of this time by having actors and actresses speak directly to the cameras; with words from the letters, diaries, and memoirs of the time. The actress for Catherine herself (Emily Bruni) is particularly good, and she seems like she came right out of a Jane Austen movie. The cold Russian weather is also something of a character here, and the snow is always visible in the exterior shots. I don't know where they filmed this, but it certainly looks to me like it could be Russia. The stylistic aspects are handled well, as is the writing of the script. But most important for me is the story itself, which is one of the most fascinating stories in Russian history.

Conclusion: You can't go wrong with material like this

You can't go wrong with material like this, I think, and PBS certainly does an excellent job with it. Much recommended to fans of soap operas, political history, or history in general.

DVD at Amazon

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