CATHERINE THE GREAT
A less than great take on the Empress of Russia
Certificate 15 Creator Nigel Williams Cast Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, Joseph Quinn Released: 25 November 2019
Made as part of the ongoing transatlantic partnership between Britain’s Sky and America’s HBO, Catherine the Great is headlined by Oscar-winner, Helen Mirren. As a person of Russian heritage and one of the most acclaimed stars of her generation, it’s the kind of role the screen legend was destined to play at some point in her illustrious career. And what a role this is: the 18th century empress transformed her adopted country (she was born in Germany) and spearheaded its expansion into a formidable empire. Her life was full of drama, scandal and tragedy. The four-part miniseries written by Nigel Williams covers the story from the aftermath of a coup she led against her husband, Peter III, to her death in 1796.
Catherine the Great promises to be special, but what is serves up largely disappoints. Williams, a respected novelist and playwright, zeroes in on Catherine’s tempestuous relationship with Grigory Potemkin, the military leader who conquered and plundered lands to prove his worth, however the plotting feels at times rushed and at other points tediously dull. Pacing issues abound throughout and the editing fails to build up an overall compelling enough narrative. Caught between wanting to be a revisionist, feminist portrait of a formidable woman and the grandest love story ever told, Catherine the Great succeeds at neither.
Another curious blunder is the pairing of Mirren and Jason Clarke. They have worked together before but their lack of spark and chemistry hinders proceedings. The dialogue, too, is melodramatic and repetitive. Clarke is a respected Australian actor, but his ‘go big or go home’ approach to Russian masculinity belongs in the theatre, where he can project to the back rows for all his worth. On camera, it looks cartoonish. Potemkin stomps in and out of scenes more like an oversexed, marauding troll than a man of court and military distinction. When he loses an eye in a brawl with Catherine’s former lover, Count Orlov, and sports an eyepatch, the sense of pantomime and parody only grows. An annoying performance obviously intended as larger than life, it operates more akin to a bull in a china shop. Catherine’s clashes with Tsarevich Paul (Joseph Quinn) fare much better. Mirren and Quinn do good work portraying a virtually loveless mother-son relationship. Perhaps this is the angle the series really needed, to make it stand out and provide viewers with a fresh look?
A lot of money has undoubtedly been pumped into this production. The costumes are gorgeous, the locations impressive and authentic, the photography artful and visually potent. Cinematographer Stuart Howell lights palace night-time interiors with moody golden candlelight, while daytime scenes are often luxuriously bathed in rich hues mimicking stained glass. The effect is dazzling on the eye and suitably decadent.
If only as much attention had been paid to drafting satisfying scripts, for this is where the project fails as a character study and historic saga.
“Catherine the Great promises to be special, but largely disappoints”