Streaming
“A Gentleman in Moscow”: Ewan McGregor with a mustache
In “A Gentleman in Moscow” Ewan McGregor plays a Russian aristocrat. photo
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
In the film adaptation of the novel “A Gentleman in Moscow”, Ewan McGregor plays a Russian aristocrat who is placed under house arrest in a hotel. The revolution is raging outside the door.
The novel “A Gentleman in.” published in 2016 Moscow” by the American writer Amor Towles was an international bestseller. It tells the story of Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, who is placed under house arrest in a posh Moscow hotel while the Russian Revolution takes place outside the doors. From May 17th, the life of the Count Alexander was shown as an eight-part miniseries on the Paramount+ streaming service.
The versatile and busy Ewan McGregor (52) plays Count Rostow and has a massive mustache and curly hair in the role. His real-life wife, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (39), stars as actress Anna Urbanova. “The book is a modern classic, really,” Winstead told the German Press Agency in London. “It’s such an incredible novel, full of fascinating characters.”
McGregor recommended the role to Winstead
After being offered the role, McGregor immediately wanted to cast her on the series, Winstead said. “Ewan read the book and was totally immersed in it. He loved it. And he would make little comments along the way and say to me, ‘Oh, there’s a really fabulous female character here that might interest you.'” As When she read the book, she didn’t have to think about it.
Count Rostov comes from an aristocratic family and lost almost everything in the revolution. “Most of my friends are dead, and my house was confiscated and burned down,” he notes. Because he loves Russia, he returns to Moscow despite the danger to his life. There he is immediately brought before a tribunal as a “social parasite”. Many Bolsheviks would rather see the count dead, but because he is said to have written a communist poem a few years ago that inspired the revolution, he is spared the death sentence.
Trapped in a luxury hotel
However, Rostow is no longer allowed to leave the luxurious Hotel Metropol, where he is a guest, for the rest of his life. Otherwise he would be shot immediately. From now on he has to live in a sparsely small servants’ room under the attic. “You can take your house, you can take everything, but never who you are,” he says defiantly. At least the count continues to enjoy the benefits of the hotel, good food and good wine.
Rostov tries to make the most of his situation and builds his own little world in the hotel opposite the Bolshoi Theater. He maintains close relationships with hotel employees and guests. He forges friendship with young Nina (Alexa Goodall), who knows the hotel’s secret passages, and begins a romance with glamorous film starlet Anna Urbanova (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). His college friend Mishka (Fehinti Balogun) also shows up at the hotel. A tragic event from the past before the revolution and different political views put a strain on the relationship between the two men.
In the hotel, Rostov is under constant surveillance by the Bolsheviks. In particular, the bitter Osip Glebnikov (Johnny Harris) has him watching his every move. The Count, however, doesn’t let himself get down and, like a real gentleman, always acts politely. So he offers quiet, peaceful resistance in his own way while he thinks back to the time before the revolution.
Fascinating atmosphere, beautiful backdrops
“A Gentleman In Moscow” fascinates with a lot of atmosphere, magnificent backdrops and nostalgic costumes. The Hotel Metropol functions as an exciting fantasy world that can be described as a mixture of “Fantastic Beasts” and Wes Anderson’s “Grand Budapest Hotel”. The makers hired a multicultural cast for the numerous Russian characters in the Stalin era.
The eight-part series starts slowly and takes more than one episode to get into, at least if you haven’t read Amor Towles’ novel. But thanks to Ewan McGregor’s warm-hearted performance, Count Rostow’s fate is close to home. “A Gentleman In Moscow” becomes an emotional and exciting journey of discovery in the spatially limited yet diverse environment with many interesting characters – and the question of whether the Count will actually stay in the Hotel Metropol for the rest of his life.