Is there historical truth in the film Matilda? Without bare chest and repentance for the death of people. What's wrong with the movie Matilda? The heir was going to marry Kshesinskaya

Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya - Russian ballerina with Polish roots, performed on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater from 1890 to 1917, mistress of the last Russian emperor - Nicholas II. Their love story formed the basis of the feature film “Matilda” by Alexei Uchitel.

Early years. Family

Matilda Kshesinskaya was born on August 31 (old style - 19) 1872 in St. Petersburg. Initially, the surname of the family sounded like “Krzezinski”. Later it was transformed into “Kshesinsky” for euphony.

Her parents are ballet dancers of the Mariinsky Theater: her father Felix Kshesinsky was a ballet dancer, who in 1851 was invited from Poland to the Russian Empire by Nicholas I himself, and her mother Yulia Deminskaya, who at the time of their acquaintance was raising five children from her deceased first husband, dancer Lede, was a soloist corps de ballet. Matilda's grandfather Jan was a famous violinist and opera singer, who sang from the stage of the Warsaw Opera.

At the age of 8, Matilda became a student at the Imperial Theater School in St. Petersburg, where her brother Joseph and sister Julia were already studying. The day of the final exam - March 23, 1890 - was remembered by the talented girl who completed her studies as an external student for the rest of her life.

According to tradition, Emperor Alexander III sat on the examination committee, who was accompanied that day by his son and heir to the throne, Nicholas II. The 17-year-old ballerina performed wonderfully, and at parting the emperor gave her parting words: “Be the adornment and glory of our ballet!” Later in her memoirs, Matilda wrote: “Then I told myself that I had to live up to the expectations placed on me.”

Ballerina career

Immediately after graduating from college, Matilda was invited to the main troupe of the Mariinsky Theater. Already in the first season, she was assigned small roles in 22 ballets and 21 operas.

Colleagues recalled Matilda as an incredibly efficient dancer who inherited her father’s talent for dramatic expressiveness. She could stand at the ballet barre for hours, overcoming the pain.

In 1898, the prima began taking lessons from Enrico Cecchetti, an outstanding Italian dancer. With his help, she became the first Russian ballerina to masterfully perform 32 fouettés in a row. Previously, only the Italian Pierina Legnani succeeded in this, whose rivalry with Matilda continued long years.

After six years of work in the theater, the ballerina was awarded the title of prima. Her repertoire included The Sugar Plum Fairy (The Nutcracker), Odette (Swan Lake), Paquita, Esmeralda, Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty) and Princess Aspiccia (The Pharaoh's Daughter). Her unique style combined the impeccability of the Italian and lyricism of the Russian ballet schools. A whole era is still associated with her name, a great time for Russian ballet.

Matilda Kshesinskaya and Nicholas II

The relationship between Matilda Kshesinskaya and Nicholas II began at a dinner party after the final exam. The heir to the throne became seriously infatuated with the airy and fragile ballerina, and with the full approval of his mother.

Empress Maria Feodorovna was seriously worried about the fact that her son (before meeting Kshesinskaya) did not show any interest in girls, so she encouraged his romance with Matilda in every possible way. For example, Nikolai Alexandrovich took money for gifts for his beloved from a fund specially created for this purpose. Among them was a house on the Promenade des Anglais, which previously belonged to the composer Rimsky-Korsakov.

For a long time they were content with casual meetings. Before each performance, Matilda looked out the window for a long time in the hope of seeing her lover ascending the steps, and when he came, she danced with double enthusiasm. In the spring of 1891, after a long separation (Nicholas went to Japan), the heir first secretly left the palace and went to Matilda.

Trailer for the film "Matilda"

Their romance lasted until 1894 and ended due to Nikolai's engagement to British princess Alice of Darmstadt, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, who stole the heart of the emperor's successor. Matilda took the breakup very hard, but supported Nicholas II with all her heart, understanding that the crowned lady could not marry a ballerina. She was on the side ex-lover, when the emperor and his wife opposed his alliance with Alice.

Before his marriage, Nicholas II entrusted the care of Matilda to his cousin, Prince Sergei Mikhailovich, president of the Russian Theater Society. For the next few years he was true friend and patron of the ballerina.

However, Nicholas, already an emperor at that time, still had feelings for ex-lover. He continued to follow her career. It was rumored that it was not without his patronage that Kshesinskaya received the position of prima of the Mariinsky in 1886. In 1890, in honor of her benefit performance, he presented Matilda with an elegant diamond brooch with a sapphire, which he and his wife had been choosing for a long time.

Documentary film about Matilda Kshesinskaya with video chronicle

After that same benefit performance, Matilda was introduced to another cousin of Nicholas II - Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich. As the legend goes, he stared at the beauty and accidentally spilled a glass of wine on her expensive dress sent from France. But the ballerina saw in this lucky sign. Thus began their romance, which later ended in marriage.

In 1902, Matilda gave birth to a son, Vladimir, from Prince Andrei. The birth was very difficult; the woman in labor and her newborn were miraculously rescued from the other world.

Life at the beginning of the 20th century

In 1903, the ballerina was invited to America, but she refused the offer, preferring to stay in her homeland. At the turn of the century, the prima had already achieved all imaginable heights on stage, and in 1904 she decided to resign from the main troupe of the Mariinsky Theater. She did not stop dancing, but now she worked under a contract and received a huge fee for each performance.

In 1908, Matilda went on a tour to Paris, where she met the young aristocrat Pyotr Vladimirovich, who was 21 years younger than her. They began a passionate affair, which is why Prince Andrei challenged his opponent to a duel and shot him in the nose.

After the revolution of 1917, the court ballerina was forced to emigrate first to Constantinople, then to France, where she spent the rest of her life in a villa in the town of Cap d'Ail with her husband and son. Almost all the property remained in Russia, the family was forced to sell all the jewelry, but this was not enough, and Matilda opened a ballet school, which was successful thanks to her big name.

During the war, Kshesinskaya fell ill with arthritis - since then, every movement was given to her with great difficulty, but the school still flourished. When she devoted herself entirely to a new passion, gambling, the studio became her only source of rather depleted income.

Death

Matilda Kshesinskaya, mistress of the last Russian emperor, lived a bright, amazing life. She did not live a few months before her 100th birthday. On December 6, 1971, she died and was buried in the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery in the same grave with her husband.

In 1969, 2 years before Matilda’s death, Soviet ballet stars Ekaterina Maksimova and Vladimir Vasiliev visited her estate. As they later wrote in their memoirs, on the threshold they were met by a completely gray-haired, wizened old woman with surprisingly young eyes full of sparkle. When they told Matilda that her name was still remembered in her homeland, she replied: “And they will always be remembered.”

To the centenary October revolution, October 25, 2017, perhaps the most scandalous film will be released on Russian screens recent years– “Matilda” by Alexei Uchitel. The creators of the film have already called it “the main historical blockbuster of the year.”

The film tells the story of the dizzying romance of one of the brightest couples in world history: the future Emperor Nicholas II and the star of His Majesty the Imperial Theaters, ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya.

Despite the fact that the premiere is not soon, the first trailer for “Matilda” has already appeared online. Luxurious outfits, magnificent halls and explicit scenes not at all platonic love with the participation of a young ballerina and Tsarevich Nicholas.

It was these shots that caused a storm of indignation among Orthodox activists of the “Royal Cross”. Believers were outraged that the Teacher was defaming the memory of the saint (in 2000, Nicholas II and his family were recognized as passion-bearers).

Then deputy Natalya Poklonskaya added fuel to the fire, declaring that she “wouldn’t even get dirty watching” the tape.

The heirs of the Royal House of Romanov did not pay any attention to the conflict, but the descendants of Matilda Kshesinskaya were very concerned about the release of the provocative film.

The film will probably be good, considering that the director is good,” the ballerina’s great-great-grandson Konstantin Sevenard shared with Komsomolskaya Pravda - Nizhny Novgorod. - But the problem is that the film ends with the coronation of Nicholas, and the authors claim that this is where the relationship between Matilda and Nicholas ends. But we, Matilda Feliksovna’s relatives, have completely different information. And we want the whole truth about Matilda Kshesinskaya and Nicholas II to finally become known by the 100th anniversary of the dramatic revolutionary events.

Excursion into history

But let's start in order. For the first time, young Tsarevich Nicholas saw Matilda on her final exam at the Imperial Theater School. Matilda is an expressive 18-year-old beauty with amazing thin waist– that evening she was dressed in a delicate blue suit decorated with lilies of the valley. Then, on March 23, 1890, the entire imperial family, headed by Alexander III, came to the school for the final performance.

Of all the graduates, the tsar singled out Kshesinskaya, who shone on stage in “an expressive dance full of sly coquetry.”

When Kshesinskaya was introduced to the sovereign, he extended his hand to her, uttering fateful words for her:

Be the decoration and glory of our ballet.

After the reception, the school students and the royal family went to the dining room. Alexander III invited Kshesinskaya to sit next to him, and as if deliberately seated his son Nicholas next to her. It was this evening that became a turning point in the lives of both.

“I don’t remember what we talked about, but I immediately fell in love with the Heir,” Matilda later wrote in her diaries. - Like now, I see him Blue eyes with such a kind expression. When I said goodbye to the Heir, who sat next to me throughout the dinner, we looked at each other differently than when we met: a feeling of attraction had already crept into his soul, as well as into mine, although we were not aware of it .

According to the memoirs of Kshesinskaya herself, passionate meetings between lovers began only two years later, in 1892.

Nikolai himself described his attitude towards the ballerina quite simply:

Little Kshesinskaya fascinates me positively...

However, the short-lived happiness of the lovers soon came to an end: in 1894, Nicholas II became engaged to the German princess Alice of Hesse. The future last emperor of Russia breaks off his romance with the brilliant Kshesinskaya and plunges into family life and government affairs.

Heartbroken by separation, Matilda, however, soon finds solace in the arms of another member of the royal family - Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, and later marries Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich. From him she gives birth to her only child - son Vladimir.

On the night of July 17, 1918, Nikolai and his entire family will be shot in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. After the bloody massacre, not a single heir of the last Russian emperor remained alive.

In any case, that's what the official version says.

The last daughter of Nicholas II

Almost immediately after the tragic events of the summer of 1918, in different parts of the world, like mushrooms after rain, the false children of Nikolai and Alexandra, who had escaped execution, began to appear. In total, history has known 28 false Olgas, 33 false Tatyans, 53 false Maris, 34 false Anastasies and 81 false Alexeis. In addition to them, the supposedly secret daughters of the imperial couple also tried to achieve recognition and “regain their rights.”

However, later historians timidly began to suggest that the last emperor might indeed have left heirs. But not from his missus, but from a completely different woman. Since the tsar was not distinguished by his wild character and love of love, the only “suspect” was Matilda Kshesinskaya. Those who like to get to the bottom of the truth decided that the “last daughter of the emperor” could be Tselina Kshesinskaya, who is still considered the niece of the famous ballerina. For many years there was not a single confirmation of this version, until...

... On the eve of the New Year, a descendant of the Honored Artist of His Majesty of the Imperial Theaters, Konstantin Sevenard, arrived in Nizhny Novgorod. According to all documents, he is the great-grandson of Joseph Kshesinsky, the brother of Matilda Feliksovna. It is believed that it was Joseph Kshesinsky who gave birth to his daughter Tselina in 1911. The girl married Konstantin Sevenard and bore him three children: Lydia, Yuri and Fedor. None of them doubted their origin. Only in the late 80s, one of Tselina’s grandchildren, Konstantin Sevenard, by the will of fate, lifted the veil of family secrets and legends of Matilda Kshesinskaya.

According to Kshesinskaya’s descendants, in this photo Matilda is trying to hide her rounded belly. Photo:

And now, in Nizhny Novgorod, in the family photo archive of the ballerina’s descendants, Konstantin Sevenard discovered several extremely important photographs. It is they, according to Sevenard, who are capable of upending the prevailing ideas about the royal family. Konstantin Yuryevich met with Komsomolskaya Pravda and showed historical photographs.

This photograph was taken in 1911. As you can see, Matilda Feliksovna is far from in ballet form,” Konstantin Sevenard points to the ballerina’s noticeably rounded tummy. - And here, for example, is another photograph taken later that year. Here we see the already built Matilda. Look, she is standing next to the stroller and looking tenderly at little sleeping Tselina. We believe that these photographs fully prove the fact that Matilda Feliksovna gave birth to a daughter in the summer of 1911. But from whom?

According to Kshesinskaya’s descendants, this photograph fully proves that in the summer of 1911 Kshesinskaya gave birth to a daughter. Photo: From the personal archive of the publication’s hero

Hot autumn of 1910

To answer this question, you need to travel back almost 30 years ago, to perestroika Leningrad, where in 1987 a general renovation was carried out in the former mansion of Matilda Kshesinskaya.

Then the builders found Matilda Feliksovna’s diaries, which were not previously known to the public,” Konstantin Sevenard begins his story. “I haven’t seen these diaries myself, but the people who managed to read them told me something that fundamentally changes the view of the history of our state.

You know, throughout her career in Tsarist Russia, prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater Matilda more than once turned to her colleague for help in resolving theatrical intrigues. ex-lover- Nicholas II. The correspondence between them never completely stopped. Nicholas, together with his wife Alexandra Feodorovna (Princess Alice received this name when she converted to Orthodoxy), even attended performances in which Kshesinskaya danced. This is all known facts. But we never knew that Nikolai and Matilda met in person after 1894. And this happened at least twice.

Matilda Feliksovna and Nikolai met for the first time in October 1910. Moreover, the emperor himself insisted on the meeting. The situation in Russia was already extremely tense, and his position was becoming increasingly precarious. Moreover, Nicholas II was a man who believed in mystical predictions. According to one of these predictions, he and his entire family were destined for martyrdom. Of course, the emperor, as statesman Even then I was thinking about the future of myself and my country. After much thought, he came to the decision to leave behind another heir, but outside the royal family.

According to Kshesinskaya’s descendants, Tselina is the daughter of Matilda and Nicholas II. Photo: From the personal archive of the publication’s hero

Naturally, the only woman In addition to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, from whom the Tsar would like to have an heir, there was his beloved Matilda. The October meeting ended with their closeness. And, oh happiness! Matilda Feliksovna became pregnant. In July 1911, Matilda gave birth to a girl. But it was unacceptable to keep the baby - there would be gossip. And she gave the baby to the care of her brother Joseph and his wife.

Secret marriage in Tsarskoe Selo

After 6 years, the situation in the country reached a boiling point. Failures in the First World War and, as a consequence, dissatisfaction of the country's inhabitants with the emperor personally led to mass protests by Petrograd workers and soldiers of the Petrograd garrison in February 1917. February Revolution led to the overthrow of the monarchy. On March 2, Nicholas II abdicated the throne. The now former emperor was arrested by the Provisional Government in Tsarskoye Selo, where he and his entire family remained in prison until August of that year.

In April 1917, Matilda ensured that she was allowed to visit the imperial family in Tsarskoe Selo, supposedly to give them gifts for Easter,” Konstantin Sevenard’s voice becomes firmer. “She succeeded only because Prince Lvov (chairman of the Provisional Government - author’s note) was an ardent admirer of ballet and Matilda Feliksovna in particular. On that day, the marriage of Nikolai and Alexandra Fedorovna was dissolved in the Tsarskoe Selo church. Almost immediately, in the same church, Nikolai and Kshesinskaya were married.

Again, in this situation, Nikolai was guided primarily by state interests. In the spring of 1917, the imperial family still had a chance to flee abroad. But for this, Nicholas needed to guarantee that after him there would be no heirs left who could lay claim to the throne. Having debunked Alice, he thereby deprived their common children of the right of succession to the throne.

And the marriage with Kshesinskaya was concluded in order to make her and their common daughter Tselina (about whom the Provisional Government did not know) the heir.

5 thousand tons of gold of the Royal crown

- Is there any documentary evidence of what you just said? I mean, except for the unpublished diaries of Matilda Feliksovna.

Certainly! – Konstantin Yurievich answers with a confident smile. – I personally saw the originals of all these documents. And a couple more very important papers.

Here is how it was. In 1989, I went to Poland with my classmates on an excursion to Gdansk.

After it, I decided to get to Warsaw, to visit the Krasinski family crypt (according to family legend, the Kshesinski family originates from the Polish counts Krasinski - author's note), - Konstantin Sevenard continues with a sparkle in his eyes. “I quickly found a crypt at the cemetery: we had photographs of it at home. I went inside. In a cold room, I sat down on a massive marble bench. Suddenly I realized that the slab on top of the bench was poorly secured. On a whim, I lifted this slab and saw that the bench was hollow inside. The thought immediately flashed through that this was a clever hiding place. I climbed inside and felt for several pieces of paper. Carefully, almost without breathing, he took them out and gasped. Directly above lay the Decree of Nicholas II, certified by his personal signature.

-What kind of decree was this?

About succession to the throne. In it, Nikolai admitted that there was no renunciation. In addition, in it he bequeaths the inheritance of the throne and property to His Serene Highness Princess Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya (this title belonged to Kshesinskaya - author's note) and her direct heirs in the male and female lines.

Under the decree was a church document concluding an alliance between Nicholas and Matilda, dated April 1917. Below it is the confession of Tselina’s daughter.

But the surprises didn't end there for me. At the very bottom were two certificates from the National Reserve Bank of the United States of America for a deposit of 5 thousand tons of gold at 6%.

- What exactly was said in these certificates?

They were compiled in two languages: Russian and English. One certificate was for a deposit of 3200 tons of gold, the other for 1800 tons. The certificate stated that this was Nikolai’s personal contribution (not state!) for a period of 110 years. After this, only direct descendants of Nicholas can dispose of the gold. The contribution was made in 1913. It turns out that the non-refundable period ends in 2023.

It was also stated in the certificates that Nicholas’ heirs could at any time withdraw interest in the form of any equipment and weapons produced in the USA. In addition, the documents strictly stipulated the conditions under which the bank must immediately return the deposit with huge interest.

- For example?

For example, if the US does not go to war with Japan, if Japan attacks Russia.

-Did you take these documents?

I could not take them from the crypt: firstly, because due to time and improper storage conditions, many papers literally crumbled at the slightest movement. Secondly, it would cause me a lot of trouble. I also didn’t have a camera to take even pictures.

Upon returning from Poland to Leningrad, I called the Leningrad KGB department and reported the discovery. I also asked them to make copies of the documents and give them to me, but this request was never fulfilled.

News from emigration

- Has Kshesinskaya never tried to tell her heirs the whole truth about their origins over many years?

Matilda Feliksovna tried several times to contact her descendants, but letters coming from her were immediately torn up. You see, our parents thought that a connection with such a person as Kshesinskaya would cause them a lot of trouble. But Matilda was persistent: in 1961, when she was already 90 years old, she sailed by boat to Odessa to see her grandchildren in person. But, imagine, at the port they didn’t even allow her to get off the ship!

But Kshesinskaya did not give up: she decided to leave an envelope with a letter and copies of all documents for posterity. It was given to me in the same 1989.

- Amazing coincidence!

At that time, I traveled a lot as part of various student delegations. Almost immediately after our trip to Poland we went to Antwerp. Baroness Anna de Casterlet accompanied us there as an interpreter. One day we got into a conversation, and the baroness told me that in her youth she attended Matilda Kshesinskaya’s ballet classes in Paris. When Anna found out that I was a descendant of Matilda Feliksovna, she convinced me to go to Paris. Like, important news awaits me there.

Having collected money, I went to Paris. There, on the eve of departure, I saw Prince Meshchersky at his luxurious estate in the southwest of the capital.

The prince gave me an envelope with a letter from Matilda and copies of all those documents that, by the will of fate, I had already seen in Warsaw.

Unfortunately, at the beginning of 1990, my apartment in Leningrad was robbed. Almost nothing of value was missing, except for that same envelope with all the papers...

Genetic examination

- And what do you intend to do now? As far as I understand, you are convinced that you are the direct heir of the last Russian emperor. But this is quite easy to check.

Of course, this is why my father, Yuri Konstantinovich Sevenard - the son of Tselina Kshesinskaya - in November donated a DNA sample to the Institute of General Genetics. Vavilova. Geneticists will compare it with the DNA sample of Nicholas II. And then, I hope, everything will fall into place.

The story told by the great-grandson of Matilda Kshesinskaya looks more like a brilliant script for another Hollywood biopic. There is everything here: the tragic personality of Nicholas II, a secret and forbidden marriage with a brilliant ballerina, an illegitimate heiress to the crown, thousands of tons of gold taken out of the country, a whole detective story with a search for secret documents, hidden diaries, crypts and robberies. Perhaps this would be more than enough for more than one film. And it doesn’t even matter that there are a number of inconsistencies in the story. For example, it is almost incredible to imagine that documents of almost universal importance were hidden in a rickety bench, where they could easily be found by a passerby. Or here’s another thing: the seemingly unrealistic amounts that Nikolai allegedly took out of the country right on the eve of the devastating First World War. Why, at the very time when Russia was literally starving, did he calmly store 5 thousand tons of gold in the USA? By the way, the entire gold reserve of the country at the beginning of the war amounted to 1311 tons of gold and the Russian Empire ranked first in the world in this indicator!

Be that as it may, time and genetic testing (if it takes place) will put everything in its place. But who knows, maybe very soon Russia will still hear about the descendants of the last Tsar Nicholas II and the glory of Russian ballet Matilda Kshesinskaya.

COMPETENTLY

Fyodor Drozdov, candidate of historical sciences:

The fact that Nikolai had a relationship with Matilda Kshesinskaya is a fact. But it’s difficult to talk about their connection after Nikolai’s marriage to Alexandra Fedorovna: even if they saw each other, it was all done as secretly as possible.

But, excuse me, I will never believe that Nicholas in Tsarskoe Selo bequeathed the throne to his illegitimate daughter, whose origins will still have to be proven. Moreover, in the Russian Empire, the priority right of succession to the throne has always been through the male line. Let me also remind you that Nicholas abdicated the throne both for himself and for his son Alexei.

Now regarding the personal contribution of Nicholas II to the US National Reserve Bank. Undoubtedly, some capital of the royal family exists abroad. By the way, the false children of the emperor had previously laid claim to them. But it is impossible to imagine such a colossal private contribution. Five thousand tons of gold is no longer private, but public volumes!

What makes the whole story unrealistic is that the most important historical documents were found in the cemetery. This kind of thing could only happen in some exciting film.

Nevertheless, Kshesinskaya’s descendants may well verify their relationship with Nicholas II. But I think, most likely, the “heirs of the last emperor” will turn out to be ordinary scammers who just wanted to get PR.

x HTML code

The descendants of Matilda Kshesinskaya revealed the secrets of their family to Komsomolskaya Pravda. Roman IGNATIEV

The relationship between the Heir Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich and Princess Alice of Hesse before marriage

Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna fell in love with each other since childhood. In 1884, Alix, as Princess Alice was called at home, came to her wedding older sister Ella, who married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. During the festive feast, Tsarevich Nicholas sat next to the young Princess and after the wedding wrote in his diary: “I was sitting with little twelve-year-old Alix, who I really liked.” The Tsarevich also liked the Princess. In 1916, in a letter to her Husband, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna testified: “My childhood heart was already striving for You with deep love.”

In January 1889, Princess Alice again came to Russia to visit her sister Ella. The Tsarevich found that Alix “she has grown a lot and gotten prettier”. The feeling of falling in love with the Hessian Princess, which arose in the Heir five years ago, flared up with new and much greater force.

Empress Maria Feodorovna did not consider the Hessian Princess the best match for her eldest son. It was not a matter of personal hostility; the Empress had nothing against Alix herself, but rather her rather persistent Germanophobia, inherited from the Danish period of her life. Alexander III at first considered his son’s hobby frivolous, and for political reasons preferred the Heir’s marriage to the daughter of the Count of Paris, Louis-Philippe Albert of Orleans, a contender for the French throne. Empress Maria Feodorovna tried to start a conversation with her son about his possible matchmaking with Elena, but was met with a respectful but persistent refusal on his part. Soon, this question disappeared by itself, since Helen of Orleans declared that she would never renounce Catholicism.

Meanwhile, Princess Alice, despite her sincere and ardent love for the Russian Heir to the Throne, also did not want to betray her Lutheran faith. In August 1890, Alix came to visit her sister in Ilyinskoye. Parents forbade Nikolai Alexandrovich to go there while Alix was there, and her grandmother, Queen Victoria, forbade her to see the Tsarevich on the eve of the trip. In his diary, the Tsarevich wrote: "God! How I want to go to Ilyinskoye, now Victoria and Alix are visiting there; Otherwise, if I don’t see it now, I’ll have to wait a whole year, and that’s hard!!!”

After Alix left, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich consoled his August nephew, assuring him that the Princess’s feelings “too deep to change. Let us hope firmly in God; with his help everything will be okay next year.”

At the end of 1890, the Tsarevich went on a long year-long journey, but thoughts of his beloved Alix did not leave him. Moreover, the conviction came that she should become his wife. On December 21, 1891, Nikolai Alexandrovich wrote in his diary: “My dream is to someday marry Alix G.[Essenian]. I have loved her for a long time, but even more deeply and strongly since 1889, when she spent six weeks in St. Petersburg in winter! I resisted my feeling for a long time, trying to deceive myself with the impossibility of realizing my cherished dream! The only obstacle or gap between her and me is the question of religion! Besides that barrier there is no other; I'm almost sure that our feelings are mutual! Everything is in the Will of God. I trust in His Mercy, I calmly and humbly look into the future!

In 1892, Grand Duke Ludwig died and Alix was completely orphaned. She was taken under guardianship by Queen Victoria, who was categorically against the wedding of her beloved granddaughter to the Russian Heir to the Throne. Like Empress Maria Feodorovna, Victoria had political, not personal reasons for this. The Queen treated the Tsarevich very well, but hated Russia. In 1893 she wrote to Princess Alice's sister, Princess Victoria: “Contrary to the will of Nika’s parents, who do not want his marriage with Aliki, since they believe that the marriage of the youngest of the sisters and the Emperor’s son cannot be happy, Ella and Sergei, behind your back, are trying their best to arrange this marriage, pushing the boy towards it .[...]We need to put an end to this.[...]The situation in Russia is so bad, so unstable, that at any moment something terrible could happen there.”

In fact, no one “pushed” the Tsarevich. He strove with all his heart to marry Alix. Sergei Alexandrovich and Elizaveta Feodorovna only helped him in a difficult struggle with obstacles that seemed to specially appear one after another. Sergei Alexandrovich persistently advised his nephew to go to Darmstadt and talk to Alix. The parents of the Tsarevich did not object to the trip either. The health of Emperor Alexander III deteriorated sharply. He gave in to his son’s insistence and gave his consent to his marriage with the German Princess. The wedding of Alix's brother, Grand Duke Ernst-Ludwig of Hesse, to Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was scheduled for April 1894 in Coburg.

Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich was supposed to represent the Russian Imperial Family at the wedding. But most importantly, he was going to take advantage of this wedding to meet Alix and ask for her hand in marriage. The Tsarevich hid these plans of his from everyone except his parents. However, in 1893, the Princess wrote a letter to Nikolai Alexandrovich, in which she explained that she could not marry him, since she considered it a great sin to “change her faith,” and “without God’s blessing” there could be no family happiness. After receiving this letter, Tsarevich “he was very upset and wanted to stay, but the Empress insisted that he go. She advised him to trustfully turn to Queen Victoria, who had great influence over her granddaughter.”

As can be seen from this evidence, talk that Maria Feodorovna resisted the marriage of her eldest son to Princess of Hesse, lose their relevance by the time of the official matchmaking of the Heir. On the contrary, the Empress tried in every possible way to help her Son find family happiness with the one who chose his heart.

However, the Tsarevich firmly believed in God’s Will and that with His help he would be able to convince Alix to accept Orthodoxy: “Alix,” he wrote in response to her November letter, “I understand and respect your religious feelings. But we believe in One Christ, there is no other Christ. God, who created the world, gave us a soul and a heart. He filled both my heart and yours with love, so that we could merge soul with soul, so that we would become united and walk the same path in life. Without His will there is nothing. Let your conscience not disturb you that my faith will become your faith. When will You find out later how beautiful, gracious and humble our Orthodox religion How majestic and magnificent our churches and monasteries are and how solemn and stately our services are, You will love them, Alix, and nothing will separate us.[...]You can hardly imagine the depth of our religion.".

On April 2, 1894, the Tsarevich, at the head of a large delegation, left by train from St. Petersburg to Coburg, where he arrived on April 4. The next day, the Tsarevich saw the Princess. He described this meeting in detail in his diary: "God! What a day it is today! After coffee, at about 10 o’clock we came to Aunt Ella’s room in Ernie and Alix’s room. She looked remarkably prettier and looked extremely sad. We were left alone, and then that conversation began between us, which I had long desired and at the same time feared. They talked until 12 o'clock, but to no avail, she always resists changing her religion. She cried a lot, poor thing.”

But on April 8, 1894, the Princess changed her mind and agreed to become the wife of Nikolai Alexandrovich. The Tsarevich described this long-awaited event in a letter to his mother: “We were left alone and... from the first words I agreed! Oh, God, what happened to me then! I cried like a child, and so did she, but her expression immediately changed: she brightened, and calm appeared on her face. No, dear Mom, I cannot tell you how happy I am and how sad I am that I am not with you and cannot hug you and my dear dad at this moment.

For me, the whole world has turned upside down, everything, nature, people, places, everything seems sweet, kind, joyful. I couldn't write at all, my hands were shaking, and then I didn't really have a single second of freedom. I had to do what the rest of the family was doing, I had to respond to hundreds of telegrams and I wanted to sit terribly alone with my dear bride. She became completely different: cheerful and funny, talkative, and gentle. I don’t know how to thank God for such a good deed.”. On the day of the engagement, the Tsarevich wrote in his diary: “A wonderful, unforgettable day in my life, the day of my engagement to dear dear Alix.”

April 10, 1894 The betrothed went to the Bride’s homeland in Darmstadt: “It was so strange and at the same time so pleasant for me to come here. I sat in Alix’s rooms and examined them in detail.”

On April 14, 1894, Emperor Alexander III congratulated his son with a touching letter, which was destined to be his last: “My dear, dear Nicky. You can imagine with what feeling of joy and with what gratitude to the Lord we learned about Your engagement. I confess that I did not believe the possibility of such an outcome and was sure of the complete failure of your attempt, but the Lord instructed you, strengthened you and blessed you, and great gratitude to Him for His mercies.[...]I can’t imagine you as a groom, it’s so strange and unusual! How hard it was for Mom and I not to be with You at such a moment, not to hug you, not to talk to You, not to know anything and expect only letters with details. Tell Your dearest bride from me how grateful I am that she finally agreed, and how I would like to kiss her for the joy, consolation and peace of mind that she gave us by deciding to agree to be Your wife.”

On the evening of April 16, the courier delivered to Walton from Gatchina a gift to the Bride from Emperor Alexander III - a large pearl necklace that reached Alix’s waist. Not only the Princess from a poor German duchy was amazed by the beauty of the royal gift, which undoubtedly cost a lot of money, but also all those present at its presentation, including Queen Victoria. “Look Alix,” she told her granddaughter, “Don’t you dare get arrogant now.”. But the Princess did not even think of being “arrogant.” Her sublime soul was completely devoid of commercialism. From a young age, she sought, first of all, spiritual treasures.

After so many years of vague expectations, doubts, and worries associated with the possibility of a wedding with his beloved, the Tsarevich in Coburg enjoyed her company. "Alix is ​​lovely"- wrote the Heir to Maria Feodorovna. - She is so sweet and touching with me that I am more than delighted. We sit together all day, and when the family goes for a walk, the two of us ride behind in a one-horse charabanc; she or I rule.”

But on April 20, the time came for parting: the Heir had to return to Russia. The princess wrote to Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna: “Only two days left, and then we will part. I feel miserable just thinking about it - but what can’t be cured, you have to endure. I won't see my Nicky for more than a month.". The Tsarevich experienced the same feelings: “I spent the evening with dear Alix at her place: it’s terribly sad that we have to be separated for a long time! How good it was together - heaven! In principle, they didn’t break up for long: just a month and a half. But for the lovers it seemed like an eternity. Tsarevich Nikolai was going to Gatchina to visit his parents, Alix was going to Windsor to visit his grandmother.

On April 20, just before leaving, Alix gave the Groom a letter, which he read on the train. This was the first letter in their lifelong correspondence. It is amazing that a feeling of deep love fills her from the first to last letter: “I would like to be worthy of Your love and tenderness. You're too good for me". In another letter received by the Tsarevich on the train, his Bride wrote: “Oh, how I dream of holding You to my heart, kissing Your beloved head, my love. Without you I feel so alone. May God bless you, my treasure, and may He protect you.".

While the Tsarevich in St. Petersburg was looking forward to leaving for Windsor for a new date with his Bride, she began to carefully study the Russian language and comprehend the basics of Orthodoxy. Her spiritual mentor was Archpriest Father John Yanyshev, specially sent for this purpose. But still, the main guide to Orthodoxy of the young German Princess was her Groom, Tsarevich Nicholas. “I know that I will love Your religion,” she wrote to him in May 1894, “Help me to be a good Christian, help me my love, teach me to be like You.”

Alix quickly became imbued with Orthodoxy precisely because she always had before her the example of a loved one, and this person was a deeply devout Orthodox Christian.

On June 8, Nikolai Alexandrovich arrived in the UK on the yacht “Polar Star”. The heir moved to the English coast, in his own words, “shtafirka” (i.e. in civilian dress) and went to London by emergency train. In the evening, in the London suburb of Walton-on-Thames, he finally met his bride, who was visiting her sister Princess Victoria of Battenberg at her country estate. “I found myself in the arms of my betrothed, who seemed even more beautiful and sweet to me.”, - the Tsarevich wrote to his mother. According to Alexandra Feodorovna, said much later, these days spent in England were “the best in our lives.” Nikolai Alexandrovich will name them already then “months of heavenly blissful life”. Then they could not imagine that after three and a half months, they would begin a completely different life, full of worries, trials and suffering.

Every day the Tsarevich loved Alix more and more. The feeling captured and overwhelmed him: “spent the evening with my dear beloved Alix”, “did not leave my dear dear bride for a minute”, “spent a wonderful evening with my beloved bride. I’m dying of love for her!”

On July 11, the Tsarevich set off back to Russia on the yacht Polar Star. There, he received a wonderful long letter from Alix. "Oh Nicky- wrote the Princess, - my thoughts will fly after You, and You will feel how Your Guardian Angel hovers above You. And although we are separated, our hearts and thoughts are together, we are connected to each other by invisible strong bonds, and nothing can separate us.”

The Tsarevich, parting with his beloved, wrote in his diary: “God grant that we meet again in happiness and good health! But it won't be soon! In two months!” The Tsarevich was mistaken by exactly a month. On October 10, 1894, Alix will travel to Russia, to Livadia, where the All-Russian Emperor Alexander III was dying.

The Heir's feelings for Princess Alice had nothing in common with his feelings for M. Kshesinskaya. “I like Milya, I love Alix,” - s Nikolai Alexandrovich wrote in his diary. In England, the Heir considered it his duty to tell Alix everything about Kshesinskaya’s passion. In response, he received a short letter from the Bride: “What has happened has happened and will never return. We all suffer temptations in this world, and when we are young, it is especially difficult for us to resist and not give in to temptation, but when we repent, God forgives us. Forgive me for this letter, but I want you to be sure of my love for you, that I love you even more after you told me this story. Your behavior touched me deeply. I will try to be worthy of him. God bless you, my beloved Nicky."

On October 5, 1894, the dying Alexander III wished that Alix would arrive in Livadia as soon as possible: he did not want that in the event of his death, the young Heir would be unmarried, and Russia would be without a Tsarina. Nikolai Alexandrovich immediately sent a telegram to Darmstadt, asking Alix to immediately arrive in Crimea. For the Tsarevich this was joyful news, which was so rare in those difficult autumn days of 1894. On October 8, the Heir wrote in his diary: “I received a wonderful telegram from dear dear Alix already from Russia that she would like to be anointed upon arrival - this touched and amazed me to the point that for a long time I could not figure out anything!”

The Tsarevich was amazed at the suddenness with which Alix agreed to convert to Orthodoxy, considering that just a few weeks ago she had expressed doubts about the need for a quick change of religion. Moreover, she had the example of her older sister Ella, who converted to Orthodoxy only seven years after her wedding to Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich.

Princess Alice of Hesse arrived in Simferopol on the afternoon of October 10, 1894, accompanied by her sister Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. Nikolai Alexandrovich met her in Alushta, where he arrived from Livadia at one o’clock in the afternoon: “After breakfast, I got into the carriage with Alix, and the two of us went to Livadia. My God! What a joy it is to meet her in her homeland and have her close to you - half of the worries and sorrows seem to have fallen from your shoulders.”

At 5 p.m. The Tsarevich and the Princess arrived in Livadia. They immediately went to the dying Emperor. Alexander III ordered him to be raised and dressed in a uniform. During his illness, the Tsar became so thin that his uniform turned out to be too big for him. Despite the difficulty of walking due to swelling of his legs, Alexander III went to meet Alix and greeted her warmly and cordially, without letting his future daughter-in-law leave her room for a long time.

On October 21, 1894, in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Livadia Palace, in a modest family atmosphere, the anointing of Princess Alice took place, which was performed by Father John of Kronstadt. On the same day, the Manifesto of Emperor Nicholas II was published, which stated: “Today Holy Confirmation took place on Our Named Bride. Taking the name Alexandra, She became a Daughter of Our Orthodox Church, to the great consolation of Ours and all of Russia.[...]We command our Highly-named Bride, Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Alice, to be called the Blessed Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna, with the title of Imperial Highness.”

Emperor Nicholas II wrote in his diary: “And in deep sorrow the Lord gives us quiet and bright joy: at 10 o’clock. in the presence of only the family, my dear dear Alix wasanointed and after mass we took communion with her, dear Mom and Ella. Alix read her answers and prayers amazingly well and clearly!”

On November 14, 1894, the wedding of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna took place in the Great Church of the Winter Palace. The Empress wrote to her sister Princess Victoria: “If I could find words to talk about my happiness - every day it becomes greater, and love becomes stronger. I can never thank God enough for giving me such a treasure. He is so good, dear, loving and kind.”

Emperor Nicholas II shared the same feelings in a letter to his brother Georgy Alexandrovich: “I cannot thank God enough for the treasure he sent me in the form of a wife. I am immeasurably happy with my darling Alix and I feel that we will live just as happily until the end of our lives.” The Emperor was not mistaken in this. Just as his young wife was right when she wrote on November 26, 1894, two weeks after the wedding, in her husband’s diary: “ From now on there is no more separation. Finally, we are together, connected for life, and when this earthly end comes, we will meet again in another world to be together forever.”

Conclusions: Thus, based on the above sources, the following conclusions can be rightfully drawn:

1. Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna loved each other from early youth. As they grew older, this love only grew stronger. The feelings of the Tsarevich and the Princess were never of the nature of a love affair or a temporary infatuation. Nikolai Alexandrovich repeatedly indicated in his diaries that he wanted to marry Alix. It was a serious feeling and in order to find their family happiness they had to go through a difficult path.

2. Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna did not harbor any hostility towards Princess Alice. This was especially true for Emperor Alexander III. In any case, in 1894 they were not opposed to the wedding of the Tsarevich to the Princess of Hesse, and were glad when the engagement took place.

3. The Tsarevich valued the purity and sincerity of his relationship with Alix so much that he told her about the “romance” with Kshesinskaya. In addition, the Heir apparently feared provocations from M. Kshesinskaya.

4. Fictions about the allegedly continued contacts of Emperor Nicholas II with Kshesinskaya after his wedding can be considered absolutely false, as well as the hostile attitude towards the ballerina on the part of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

III. Compliance of the script of the feature film “Matilda” and the vision of its director A. Uchitel with historical reality.

The script of the film “Matilda” begins with the appearance of M. Kshesinskaya in the Assumption Cathedral during the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. At the end of the script, it talks about the participation of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna in the coronation rehearsal. In fact, it was not the Emperor and Empress personally who took part in this rehearsal, but the courtiers who played their “roles.”

The authors of the script indicate that during the coronation, the Tsar and Queen walked dressed in heavy golden robes, and Kshesinskaya is among the singers located in the choir, who begin to sing “Many years!”

In fact, when the Royal Couple entered the Assumption Cathedral, they were not wearing any “golden robes.” Emperor Nicholas II wore the uniform of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment, and the Empress wore a white Russian dress trimmed with pearls. Since they had not yet been crowned, no symbols of power were carried in front of them. Entering the cathedral, the Emperor and Empress venerated the shrines, ascended to the throne seat and sat on their thrones. After which the solemn rite of the Holy Coronation began. Only after the Sovereign read the Creed, sang troparions, prayers and the Holy Gospel, he was dressed in purple, that is, a mantle and placed on a diamond chain of the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. After which Metropolitan Palladius presented the Great Imperial Crown to the Sovereign on a velvet crimson pillow, the Sovereign took it and placed it on himself, with the words of the Metropolitan: “In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen". Then the Metropolitan presented the Sovereign with the scepter and orb, after which Emperor Nicholas II ascended the throne. Then Nicholas II rose and crowned the kneeling Empress, after which they both sat on the thrones. Only after this the protodeacon sang many years to the Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, calling him full title. After the title was pronounced, an artillery salute was fired from the Kremlin walls, announcing the coronation of the new Emperor. Everyone standing in the cathedral silently bowed to him three times with a bow from the waist. When the shots stopped, the Emperor knelt down and said a prayer. After reading the prayer, the Emperor stood up and immediately everyone present in the cathedral and all the people standing in the square near him fell to their knees. After which the Divine Liturgy began, and immediately after it the sacrament of anointing for the kingdom.

The authors completely invented the episode with Nicholas II fainting. There are many memoirs of persons directly present at the coronation, some of whom lived to a ripe old age and were in exile, and not one of them reported this incident, which, if it had actually happened, would have become known throughout Russia. But in none historical source not a word is said about this. Some present at the coronation (A.A. Mosolov, A.P. Izvolsky, Grand Duke Konstantinovich, etc.) said that, as they heard, the chain of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called allegedly fell from the Tsar’s chest. Perhaps, among the rumors that spread among the people after the Khodynsky misfortune, it was stated that “the Tsar became ill” “under the weight of the crown.” But why did the author of the film need this fiction, and even highly embellished with a crown rolling on the floor? Only in order to convince the viewer that Nicholas II was so worried about parting with Kshesinskaya, whom he saw somewhere under the dome of the cathedral.

It should be said that M. Kshesinskaya was not present at the coronation of the Emperor, and, of course, she could not run up any stairs in the cathedral. In her memoirs, she writes that she really wanted to look at the electric illumination of the Grand Kremlin Palace, but “I had to abandon my idea because of the crowds of people crowding the streets. And yet I managed to see the most beautiful patterns on the facade of the Kremlin Palace.”

Thus, all the scenes with Kshesinskaya’s stay in the Assumption Cathedral at the coronation in 1896. are a complete invention of the film's authors.

The scene of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich’s “inspection” of the ballerinas in the presence of the director of the Imperial Theaters, a certain “Ivan Karlovich,” looks incredible. A director with that first name and patronymic never existed. At the end of the reign of Emperor Alexander III, Ivan Alexandrovich Vsevolozhsky stood at the head of the Imperial Theaters. It is completely incomprehensible why Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who is known as a good family man, studies ballerinas so carefully, and they are also photographed for him? He asks about this in bewilderment: “Ivan Karlovich” (E. Mironov) and “Matilda” (M. Olshanskaya): we don’t have a brothel, do we? But, as it turns out, this is exactly what the authors of the film mean, since the next time we see photographs of ballerinas in the carriage of the Imperial train, where they are examined by Alexander III (S. Garmash) and the Heir (L. Eidinger). Moreover, from the context of the scene it becomes clear that the ballerinas were photographed by order of the Tsar for the Heir. After the Heir rejected all the photographs, the Tsar returned them to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich with the words “thank you, but it didn’t help.” That is, Alexander III acts as a kind of prodigal pimp for his son. He simply imposes Kshesinskaya on him, who, in his words, “is not like your German” (meaning Princess Hessian Alice). Above, on the basis of historical documents, we have proven that this statement is a lie and slander against Alexander III.

It is also slanderous to attribute to Alexander III the words that “over the last 100 years, only one king did not live with a ballerina. It's me". Here, not only Alexander III, but also an entire branch of Russian Monarchs is being slandered. A hundred years before the events described, Empress Catherine the Great reigned, who, of course, had nothing to do with the “ballet cupids”. About the other emperors Paul I, Alexander I, Nicholas I, Alexander II, there is not a single evidence that they had ballerina mistresses. Thus, what we have before us is not just an unfortunate phrase or a historical mistake by the scriptwriters, but the construction of a deliberate slanderous version in relation to a number of emperors of the House of Romanov.

It is noteworthy that from the very first scene, the Heir to the Throne Nikolai Alexandrovich appears as an idiot, adding mustaches and beards to the ballerinas.

The dialogues attributed to Alexander III and members of his family are completely implausible in the sense of the culture and speech patterns of that time, especially the high society, and are more reminiscent of the conversations of the contemporaries of the script authors: “Quiet up, magpies! Walk, Niki, walk while I'm alive! Do you approve, Vasilich?” (in an address to a footman about the Tsarevich’s “festivities”). No less awkward is the remark of the Heir, who threatens that he will either get married or run away “from you,” that is, from his family, to a monastery.

The authors of the film also display complete historical ignorance in the chronology of events. Thus, the above conversations between Alexander III and the Heir, Maria Feodorovna, and Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich regarding Kshesinskaya and the “German woman” take place in the cabin of the royal train, which then crashes.

In fact, the train crash occurred on October 17, 1888, when Emperor Alexander III and his entire family were returning from Livadia to St. Petersburg, that is, two years before the Tsarevich met M. Kshesinskaya. The heir was then twenty years old and there was no talk about his marriage to Alice of Hesse. During the train crash, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich was not present. At that moment he was abroad with his family and did not come to Russia, which displeased Alexander III: “After all, if we had all been killed there, then Vladimir Alexandrovich would have ascended the throne and for this he would have immediately come to St. Petersburg. Therefore, if he did not come, it is only because we were not killed.”

In the film, Alexander III is the last to be taken out of the crumpled carriage, although in reality he was the first to get out of there. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, who was with her family on the train at the time of the crash, recalled: “The Emperor was the first to crawl out from under the collapsed roof. After that, he lifted her, allowing his wife, children and other passengers to get out of the mutilated carriage.”

Thus, all the above dialogues are complete fiction of the film’s authors and have no historical basis. It is noteworthy how the Russian people are portrayed. The words of Alexander III in relation to Russian ballerina girls: “thoroughbred Russian mares”, and a drunken man whose horse was killed by a train, he yells a song without noticing it, and the officer “Vlasov” hits him in the face, should be checked for the fact of intentional inciting hatred based on nationality.

The whole scene with the “strap” of Kshesinskaya’s bra coming off during the dance is a complete fiction. If only because the outfit of the ballerinas of the Imperial Theaters consisted of a thin sweatshirt, bodice, tights, short tulle pantaloons and starched tulle tunics, no less than six in number. Therefore, if a strap came off from Kshesinskaya’s costume, then the audience would see part of the bodice, no more. By the way, M.F. herself Kshesinskaya was very disapproving of the “too short tunics” that came into ballet fashion in the 50s and 60s. XX century. “In our time, they didn’t wear such ugly tunics as they began to wear now, when the dancer shows everything that is not necessary and not aesthetically pleasing.” Of course, the “piquant” episode with the “dress strap” is not found in any source, including the memoirs of M.F. Kshesinskaya. He was completely invented by the authors of the film solely in order to portray Nicholas II as a sensualist. For the same purpose, the phrase of the ballerina Legnani was invented, which calls Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich “lustful daddy.” Strong union Vladimir Alexandrovich and Maria Pavlovna Sr. are well known to historians and have never been questioned. Moreover, the ballerina of the Imperial Theaters could not speak like that about the Grand Duke, the brother of the Sovereign.

The Tsarevich's bride, Princess Alice, arrived in Crimea on October 10, 1894, that is, ten days before the death of Emperor Alexander III. Therefore, it is completely unclear why, according to the script, she is dressed in a mourning dress and expresses her condolences to the Heir. In addition, the Heir met Alix in Alushta, where the womb was delivered by horse-drawn carriage, and not by train, as shown in the film.

The scene of the lists, in which some officers “in helmets” overcome the “firing lines” under the command of the same Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, is striking in the degree of fiction and inadequacy. In general, it seems that the authors of the film no longer know any of the members of the House of Romanov. Then it turns out that among these officers is a certain Lieutenant Vorontsov, who bursts into the tent where the Tsarevich and Kshesinskaya are sorting things out for the first time. Matilda either sits on the Heir’s lap, then goes to bed with him, then indignantly throws away his gift. At the same time, the Heir behaves like an experienced businessman. For keeping his “relationship” with Kshesinskaya secret, he guarantees her a ballet career. This is what angers Matilda, and she throws away the bracelet. At this moment, Lieutenant Vorontsov, who turned out to be the winner of the competition, bursts into the tent. He tries to beat the Heir with the main prize - the crown, but the Cossacks twist him in time. Vorontsov is carried away amid his screams addressed to the Heir: “I’ll kill! You stole my kiss."

The whole scene is false and implausible from beginning to end. Only a person completely ignorant of Russian history can imagine a Russian officer throwing himself at the Heir to the Throne because of a “ballerina’s kiss.” The execution of the mythical Vorontsov due to hysteria in a tent is complete nonsense. There were no traces of any mass repressions or capital punishments under Alexander III. The Tsar did not immediately approve the death sentence for the murderers of his father, and after the verdict he banned public executions in Russia. During the 13 years of the reign of Emperor Alexander III, about 200 criminals (political and criminal) were executed. If a certain “Vorontsov” had done something similar to what is presented in the “Matilda” script, he would not have gone to the gallows, but to a mental hospital. However, it soon becomes clear that this is almost so. The Heir pardoned Vorontsov, but another fantastic character, “Colonel Vlasov,” disobeyed the Heir’s orders and gave Vorontsov over to a certain Doctor Fischer for experiments.

Regarding this doctor, the director: “Plus, we thought up some of the characters a lot. For example, the already mentioned Dr. Fisher. This was a German doctor, whom Alix practically brought with her from Germany. Already at that time she was prone to a certain mysticism. She was sick and was terrified that her baby boy would be born unhealthy. Fischer promised her that this would not happen. And when the heir, Tsarevich Alexei, a hemophiliac, was born, Fischer was kicked out, but literally two or three years later Rasputin appeared. That is, Alexandra Feodorovna’s craving for mysticism was irresistible.”

In fact, we see an irresistible craving of the film's authors for inventions and slander. Dr. Fisher was not at all personal doctor Empress, and worked at the Tsarskoye Selo city hospital. In 1907, he was invited several times to the Empress, but not at all on the issue of the birth of his son, Tsarevich Alexei was already 3 years old by that time, but because of neurology. Apparently, the Teacher connected Dr. Fischer, who treated the Empress in 1907, with the Frenchman Philippe Vachaud Nizier, who met with the Royal Couple in 1901-1902. Everything else by A. The teacher, by his own admission, was simply invented.

But in the script there is no Dr. Fischer, which the Teacher is talking about, but there is Dr. Fischel, to which the authors gave the sinister features of Nazi doctor Josef Mengele. He is known to have carried out monstrous experiments on people. According to the scriptwriters, Fisher conducts experiments on Vorontsov, lowering him headlong into a glass flask filled with water. huge size. The scriptwriters directly call this flask a “device for psychological experiments.” Colonel Vlasov sees that Vorontsov is suffocating under the water. This entire scene is an outright slander against the Russian Empire, essentially equating it to Nazi Germany. Moreover, from the script it is clear that “Vlasov” is torturing “Vorontsov” in order to find out if he is connected with Kshesinskaya? And “Vlasov” considers her a threat Russian Empire, much larger than any bomb. Why “Vlasov” came up with such an “original” idea is completely unclear, but Fishel promises to put “Vorontsov” into a trance and learn from him “all the information” about Kshesinskaya. This whole scene not only has nothing in common with historical reality, but also with common sense.

A. The teacher and scriptwriters continue to slander the Empress when they claim that she, with the help of Dr. Fishel, is engaged in predictions and divination. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was a deeply religious Christian. She categorically rejected all occult mysticism, including spiritualism, which was then fashionable. As A.A. recalled Vyrubova: “The Emperor, like his ancestor Alexander I, was always mystically inclined; The Empress was equally mystical. But one should not confuse (mix) a religious mood with spiritualism, turning tables, invoking spirits, etc. From the first days of my service with the Empress, in 1905, the Empress warned me that if I wanted to be her friend, then I must promise her never to engage in spiritualism, since this is a “great sin.” In the script of the film, “Alix” is engaged in conducting experiments with blood in order to destroy Kshesinskaya. It's impossible not to notice here cabalistic and occult rituals, in which the deeply religious Queen-Martyr was allegedly involved. The Empress riding a motorcycle “in protective glasses” together with Dr. Fishel looks like an outright mocking grotesque, which again cannot but evoke associations with the Nazi lists. The inflamed imagination of the script authors depicts “Alix” trying to kill Kshesinskaya with a knife.

The “dirty dancing” scene of “Alix” in front of “The Heir” is a direct mockery of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. In general, lies and mockery around the name last Empress The authors of the script for the film “Matilda” are especially interested. According to the script, Pobedonostsev teaches her the Church Slavonic language, and constantly uses the expression “Noch ein Mall” (once again - German).

In fact, Princess Alice arrived in Russia already fluent in Russian. Her spiritual mentor was Archpriest Father John Yanyshev, specially sent for this purpose to Darmstadt, who taught her the Church Slavonic language. Just a month after the start of her studies, the Princess wrote to the Groom: “I studied Russian for two hours. I’ve almost learned the Lord’s Prayer by heart.”. Count V.E. Schulenburg, who often had to talk with the Empress, recalled: “If anyone heard Her Majesty speaking our native language, he was probably surprised at the freedom and even correctness with which the Empress spoke. Some accent was felt, but not German, but English, and it was no stronger than that of many Russians, who began speaking from childhood not in their native Russian language, but in English. Often listening to Her Majesty, I couldn’t help but wonder how quickly and thoroughly she learned her Russian language, how much willpower the Empress had to use for this.”

As the script develops, so does the indomitable imagination of its authors. What is the journey of the Heir to the Tsarevich through the restrooms of the Mariinsky Theater, accompanied by a Cossack with a bouquet, worth! Moreover, the Heir breaks into Kshesinskaya’s restroom, she reproaches him for being considered his mistress, and then teaches him how to do fouetté. And all this happens in front of a Cossack with a bouquet. Of course, in fact, the meetings between Nikolai Alexandrovich and Matilda Kshesinskaya took place, as we could see, in the strictest secrecy, which only a few knew about, and Emperor Nicholas II never visited the backstage of theaters.

The romance between the Heir and Kshesinskaya, contrary to historical reality, is developing before everyone’s eyes. Lovers splash in the fountain, ride on balloons, for some reason, to the sounds of a song in English, and everyone does this in front of Empress Maria Feodorovna. Then, the events are transferred to some Summer Palace (apparently the Great Peterhof Palace). It should be noted that Emperor Alexander III and his family constantly lived in Gatchina; in Peterhof they sometimes liked to stay at the Cottage Palace, located in Alexandria Park. In the Grand Palace, where the fountains are, there were no balls held under Alexander III.

Scenery Grand Palace were needed by the creators of the script for the film “Matilda” in order to bring the viewer to the first “bed” scene. It takes place no less than in the “luxurious bedroom” of “Nicholas”. In fact, there is no “luxurious bedroom” for either the Tsarevich, or the Emperor, or anyone else from the generation the last Romanovs, was not in the Great Peterhof Palace, since it was not a residential building, but an official Imperial residence, intended exclusively for receptions. In addition, both Alexander III and Nicholas II, in fact, like their ancestors, lived in very modest conditions. G. Lanson, who taught the Heir Tsarevich and his brother Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich French, testified: “The lifestyle of the great princes is extremely simple. They both sleep in the same room on small simple iron beds without a hay or hair mattress underneath, but only on one mattress. The same simplicity and moderation is observed in food.”

The intimate scene of “Nicholas” and “Matilda” is interrupted by the invasion of “Maria Fedorovna” in the best traditions of a communal apartment. “Nicholas,” despite his mother’s demand that “Matilda” leave the palace, takes her with him as “Countess Krasinskaya” to a solemn celebration, apparently of his birthday. It should be noted here that the birthdays of emperors in Russia were celebrated in a narrow circle, as they were considered a private holiday. Only the namesake was solemnly celebrated. Emperor Nicholas II had it on December 19th. Julian calendar, on the day of St. Nicholas. Judging by the fact that the events take place in the spring and summer, we are talking about a birthday (May 6 according to the Julian calendar).

For some reason, Alexander III is taken out to the guests in a rocking chair. The Tsar found himself in such poor condition only just before his death, which occurred on October 20, 1894 according to the Julian calendar. In the spring and summer, despite his illness, Emperor Alexander III was engaged in state affairs, took walks, and on August 6-8 reviewed his troops in Krasnoe Selo. Even in the morning, October 10, 10 days before his death, the Emperor met Father John of Kronstadt who had arrived in Livadia “standing, in his overcoat, although severe swelling in his legs did not allow him to stand.” On October 19, in the morning, the day before his death, Alexander III, despite extreme weakness, got up, got dressed and went into his office, to his desk, where he signed the order for the military department for the last time.

Therefore, in May there is no need to transport Alexander III to wheelchair didn't make any sense. The words of Alexander III addressed to Kshesinskaya look especially blasphemous, in which he calls his son “boy” and asks the ballerina to take care of him. Then, he blesses the ballerina either for marriage with the Heir, or for further cohabitation. That is, according to the director and screenwriters, Alexander III, before his death, blesses the Tsarevich for fornication. This scene is especially blasphemous, since in reality, the dying Alexander III blessed the Heir's Bride, Princess Alice.

The slander against the relationship between Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna continues in the scene where Maria Feodorovna persuades her son to “get out from under the ballerina’s skirt” and marry Alix. At the same time, from the words of “Nicholas” it turns out that he does not love his bride, but loves Kshesinskaya and he is almost forced to marry the Princess of Hesse. “Nikolai” so directly tells “Kshesinskaya” that she will be his bride not on stage, but in life.

In the future, this lie takes on more and more ridiculous features when “Nikolai” demands from “V.Kn. Andrey” to find evidence that Kshesinskaya has the right to the “Polish throne”. This shows the complete ignorance of the film's authors. By the time Nicholas II ascended the throne, no “Polish throne” had existed for a hundred years. The title “Tsar of Poland” was preserved only in the great title of Emperor of All Russia. But even if Kshesinskaya had the rights to the Polish throne, she still would not have been able to become the wife of the Russian Emperor, since marriage only with a representative of the sovereign reigning house was considered equal.

The dialogue between Emperor Nicholas II and Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and K.P. is completely absurd. Pobedonostsev regarding the issue of building a naval base in Libau. Neither the first nor the second had anything to do with him. Admiral Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich dealt with naval issues. In the script by K.P. Pobedonostsev addresses the Emperor on “you,” which was absolutely impossible. Emperor Nicholas II himself addressed almost everyone as “you,” with the exception of people close to him.

The scenes with Vladimir Alexandrovich running after Alix in a bear skin, the same Grand Duke breaking into the dressing room, “groping” the ballerina with him, Nikolai running from the box to the stage because Matilda fell on it, etc. look like an unhealthy fantasy of the scriptwriters. All these are scenes from another life, other people, in another country, which have nothing to do with reality. In the last scenes, Nikolai with a suitcase is about to leave forever with Matilda. She also folds a suitcase with tutus. “Vel.kn.” helps them escape. Andrey". However, it is impossible to escape; Matilda is caught by Vlasov.

This whole phantasmagoria ends with the tragedy on the Khodynka Field, which should, on the one hand, mean the “inevitability” of the collapse of the monarchy, and on the other, the final separation of Nicholas II from Matilda. According to the authors of the script, it is Khodynka who reconciles “Nikolai” and “Alix”. All this is, of course, infinitely far from reality. historical facts. According to the scenario, coronation gifts were distributed to the people by throwing them from some towers. In fact, this took place in buffets specially designated for this purpose. The crush began several hours before the distribution of gifts, at night.

In the script, Nicholas II sits and cries on the edge of a ditch filled with the corpses of old people, children, and pregnant (!) women. In fact, the bodies of the dead were removed by the time the Royal Couple arrived at Khodynskoye Field, and the Tsar did not see them. In addition, the “famous” stampede was given to the stampede by opponents of the system much later, and in its very days people did not betray it of great importance, and many did not even know about what had happened. Emperor Nicholas II “did not cry” near the ditch with corpses, but together with Empress Alexandra Feodorovna visited the hospitals where the victims of the Khodynka Field lay. In connection with this, Nicholas II’s inspection of a “smoky field filled with corpses”, which he makes from some “tower”, climbing the steps of which, he previously lit torches, is a complete fiction. All this ends with some kind of absurd dialogue between “Nicholas” and “Alix” against the backdrop of icons, in which they confess their love for each other.

It is noteworthy that the “Afterword” of the script refers to the execution Royal Family, but not a word is said about her canonization by the Church.

Conclusions:

1. The script and trailers for the film “Matilda” contain gross historical errors, and often simply outright fiction. Here are the main ones:

*Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna were not the initiators of the “romance” between Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich and M. Kshesinskaya.

*Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna were not opposed to their son’s wedding to Princess Alice of Hesse. On the contrary, when they learned about the engagement, they were happy for their son.

*The youthful infatuation with Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich M. Kshesinskaya did not bear the character of “love passion” on his part and did not turn into a sexual relationship.

*From his early youth, the Tsarevich dreamed of marrying Princess Alice, and never intended to give any serious character to his relationship with Kshesinskaya. *The assertions of the script authors that Nikolai Alexandrovich “loved” Kshesinskaya so much that he did not want to marry Process Alice, and was even ready to exchange the crown for marriage with the ballerina, are pure fiction.

*The crash of the Imperial train occurred in the fall of 1888, two years before Alexander III and Tsarevich Nicholas met M. Kshesinskaya. Therefore, there was no way they could talk about her. Kshesinskaya herself was 16 years old in 1888.

*M.F. Kshesinskaya has never been to the highest receptions.

*Princess Alice of Hesse arrived in Crimea on October 10, 1894, that is, ten days before the death of Emperor Alexander III. Therefore, it is completely unclear why, according to the script, she is dressed in a mourning dress and expresses condolences to the Heir. In addition, the Heir met Alix in Alushta, where she was delivered by horse-drawn carriage, and not by train, as stated in the script.

*M.F. Kshesinskaya was not present at the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II, and he could not have seen her there.

*The procedure for the coronation and wedding of Russian emperors was written out in detail and had a centuries-old tradition. The provisions of the script where Alexandra Feodorovna argues with Maria Feodorovna whether she should wear the Monomakh cap or the large imperial crown are outright fiction. And also the fact that Maria Fedorovna herself tried on the crown for her daughter-in-law.

*It was not the Emperor and Empress personally who participated in the coronation rehearsal, but courtiers.

*The eldest son of Emperor Alexander II, Heir Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, died in 1865 in Nice, not from tuberculosis, as “Maria Feodorovna” claims, but from meningitis.

*The first filming in Russia, carried out by the French company Pathé, was dedicated not to the arrival of Princess Alice in Simferopol “by train,” as stated in the script, but to the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II.

*Emperor Nicholas II did not faint at the coronation, his crown did not roll on the floor.

*Emperor Nicholas II never, especially alone, went behind the scenes of theaters.

*There has never been a person named “Ivan Karlovich” on the list of directors of the Imperial Theater.

*Among the doctors who treated the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna there was never “Doctor Fishel”.

*The ballerina costume cannot be worn on a naked body. Therefore, the episode with the torn bodice strap could not have taken place in reality.

*No one, except the close family circle, could say “you” to the Tsar or Heir. Moreover, K.P. Pobedonostsev could not do this.

*Never could a single Russian officer in his right mind rush at the Heir to the Throne with the aim of beating or killing him, because of the “ballerina’s kiss.”

*Emperor Nicholas II never tried to renounce the throne, much less made any attempts to “escape” from Russia with Kshesinskaya.

*Coronation gifts were distributed to the people not by throwing them from some towers, but in buffets specially designated for this. The crush began several hours before the distribution of gifts, at night.

*Emperor Nicholas II never came to the Khodynskoye field and did not examine the “mountain of corpses,” which never existed. Since in total number those killed during the stampede (1,300 people) include those who died in hospitals. By the time the Emperor and Empress arrived at Khodynka Field, the corpses of the dead had already been taken away. So there was nothing to “observe”.

2. In addition to historical errors and fiction, the script and trailers of the film “Matilda” contain slander and mockery of the Holy Martyr Tsar Nicholas II, the Holy Martyr Queen Alexandra Feodorovna, Emperor Alexander III, Empress Maria Feodorovna, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, ballerina Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya, Russian society, nobility and officers. These include the following scenario provisions:

*Alexander III arranges fornication dates for his son, forcing his brother Grand Duke Vladimir to photograph ballerinas for this.

*Alexander III encourages his son Tsarevich Nicholas to live a prodigal life “while I live.”

*Alexander III, before his death, blesses M. Kshesinskaya for prodigal cohabitation with his son Tsarevich Nicholas.

*Alexander III claims that all Russian emperors over the past hundred years have lived with ballerinas.

*Alexander III calls ballerinas “thoroughbred Russian mares.”

*Nicholas II draws mustaches and beards on ballerinas’ photographs.

*Nicholas II does not hide his relationship with Kshesinskaya and enters into sexual contact with her in the Great Peterhof Palace, thereby falling into fornication.

*Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna participate in spiritualistic occult sessions of “Doctor Fishel”, which is according to the teachings Orthodox Church a grave sin.

*Nicholas II continues his love affairs with Kshesinskaya after his engagement to Alice.

*During the coronation, Nicholas II dreams of Matilda.

*Nicholas II is ready to give up his service to God and Russia and run away from Kshesinskaya.

*Alexandra Feodorovna is trying to find out the future through Fishel’s occult experiments.

*Alexandra Fedorovna casts a spell against Matilda using blood in order to cause her death.

*Alexandra Feodorovna tries to kill Matilda with a special knife.

*M. Kshesinskaya “sleeps” with the Heir in his bedroom of the Grand Palace.

*Russian “officer” Vorontsov hits the Tsarevich, who is also an officer, in the face.

*Dr. Fishel conducts experiments on people in his laboratory. A high-ranking official, Vlasov, knows about this and considers such crimes to be a completely normal event.

*Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich runs around in a bear skin in order to scare Alexandra Feodorovna.

*Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich enters into a loving relationship with the ballerina Legnani.

Taking into account the historical analysis of the script for the feature film “Matilda” and its two trailers, the answers to N.V. Poklonskaya’s questions will be as follows:

1. The images of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, their relationship, were subjected to mockery and slander. Emperor Nicholas II is presented as a stupid, worthless person, subjected to fornication, an adulterer, participating in occult sessions and lacking a sense of duty to God and Russia.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna is depicted as an occultist, a fanatic, a fortune teller and a blood caster, willing to kill her “rival” with a knife.

The deep love that actually existed between Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna from a very young age is denied by the authors of the script and director A. Uchitel, and in its place is put the “passionate love” of Nicholas II for Matilda Kshesinskaya, which in reality never existed .

2. Historical events in the script and trailers of the film “Matilda” are radically distorted, both factually and morally, and practically in no way correspond to historical reality. This is described in detail in this help.

The certificate was compiled by a candidate of historical sciences P. V. Multatuli

Reviewer: Doctor of Historical Sciences A. N. Bokhanov

MOSCOW, October 23 - RIA Novosti, Anna Kocharova. The premiere of the film "Matilda" directed by Alexei Uchitel will take place on Monday at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. And on October 26, the film will be released in Russia.

"Matilda" by the Teacher is a picture about which, it seems, too much has been said and written even before its release. The public conflict that has been flaring up around the film for a year now is becoming the main reason to watch the film and form your own opinion.

The historical melodrama, and this is how the genre is designated by the creators, tells about the relationship between the future Emperor Nicholas II and the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya.

Europeans "at the royal court"

This screen story has everything that a movie audience needs: an intriguing plot, love line, meeting and separation of heroes, jealousy and desire for revenge, beautiful shooting and luxurious costumes.

Almost two hours of screen time are edited very tightly, in a clip style. An important component is the film’s rich soundtrack, recorded by the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra under the direction of Valery Gergiev. By the way, live sound is a luxury that not every director or producer can afford today, especially with the participation of one of the best musicians in the world.

© TPO Rock Still from the film "Matilda"

© TPO Rock

All the main characters were played by European actors, who in Russia were known only to a narrow circle of connoisseurs - and not even of cinema, but of theater. German Lars Eidinger - Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, Polish Mikhalina Olshanskaya - Matilda Kshesinskaya.

By the way, according to Uchitel, working with Mikhalina on the set was not easy. Like her heroine, she at times showed her difficult and obstinate character. The role of the future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was given to the German Louise Wolfram, who outwardly seemed to have absorbed all the “Germanness” in the minds of the Russian audience.

There is a definite plus in the unexpected at first glance choice of actors. Viewers are spared from the game of recognition and guessing that has become traditional for many films, when the main intrigue becomes a discussion in the spirit of “whether this or that actor is similar or not similar to a historical character.”

In "Matilda" this, perhaps, concerns only Sergei Garmash, who always played mostly people, as they say, from the people. Here he unexpectedly appears in the image of Alexander III.

The choice of European actors is also good because in this way the director very subtly and casually emphasizes precisely this Europeanization of the royal court. If the Romanovs were related to Europe, then in the film this is shown through the very appearance and types of actors. By the way, Empress Maria Feodorovna is played by Ingeborga Dapkunaite - as it were, the main “foreigner” in Russian cinema and theater.

Haunting bad omens

The depth of the characters created by the cast is, perhaps, limited. His contemporaries, and later historians, also wrote about the gentleness of the future emperor’s character. But it is obvious that the character of the man who ruled the country was not limited to this alone. It is known that Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was also influenced by mysticism, but much later, when her heir, who suffered from hemophilia, was born. All the facts are known, but this is far from the only thing that characterized her and Nicholas II.

Bad omens are one of the clear lines that the authors draw throughout the film.

The future empress begins her life in Russia by arranging a seance. And having learned about the existence of Kshesinskaya, she comes to the ballerina’s house to get samples of her rival’s blood - a dubious doctor at court promises to help get rid of the obsessive woman.

Still from the film "Matilda"

The theme of blood accompanies the heroine everywhere - from the scene with Kshesinskaya, when she takes away the bloody pointe shoe, to preparations for the celebrations and trying on the crown, when after being pricked with a hairpin, blood flows down Alix’s forehead.

It is not entirely clear to whom the straightforwardness of the narrative is addressed: Russian viewers, who seem to already know quite a lot about those times from published documents, or a potentially foreign audience, who are in the dark and are just expecting a beautiful fairy tale.

It is no secret that Alexey Uchitel initially intended to participate with “Matilda” in the Oscar race, as he himself told journalists about (in the end, the Russian committee nominated Zvyagintsev’s film “Loveless”). The director does not skimp on spectacular scenes that may have nothing to do with the historical events described.

© TPO Rock Still from the film "Matilda"

© TPO Rock

Fiction versus reality

There are also several characters in the film who had historical prototypes, but, according to Alexei Uchitel himself, underwent a radical transformation. Such is Lieutenant Vorontsov (Danila Kozlovsky) - a jealous admirer of Kshesinskaya, who first, because of his love for the ballerina, ends up in prison and is tortured, and then runs and sets fire to her house. Such is a certain German scientist and doctor who tortures Vorontsov.

This transformation turned out to be truly radical. Kozlovsky's hero turns from a simple Englishman in love (who is known) into a mad pursuer.

And the German doctor, who in reality came to Russia together with the future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (which the Teacher himself told attentive spectators at the shows), seems to be turning into an eminence grise, who has a whole “torture factory” at his disposal. It is he who keeps the hapless jealous Vorontsov in an aquarium. It is he who, in some fantastic way, becomes the victim: Vorontsov manages to get out of the water and drown his executioner in the aquarium.

© TPO Rock Still from the film "Matilda"

© TPO Rock

The stereotyped nature of the secondary characters is another of the film’s main shortcomings. If the director of the Imperial Theaters (Evgeny Mironov) is an eternally disheveled and incredibly mannered “man of art”.

If ballerinas (not only Kshesinskaya, but generally all graduates of the choreographic school) - then they definitely “serve” the nobility and the military at their leisure. And, of course, they are all plotting and waiting for the moment to annoy each other. This happens at one of the most important moments, when, according to the plot, Kshesinskaya’s main competitor is secluded with a fan in the dressing room, and the savvy Matilda locks her and instead runs to dance a performance in honor of the coronation of Nicholas II.

© Photo: provided by LLC "Creative and Production Association "ROK"Still from the film "Matilda"

© Photo: provided by LLC "Creative and Production Association "ROK"

Kshesinskaya left quite detailed memoirs in which she describes her acquaintance and subsequent meetings with the Tsarevich. Of course, it is not known for certain what the heroes of this story could talk about among themselves in private—the Teacher himself mentioned this more than once in his communications with journalists. Demand historical accuracy from work of art it is forbidden. But it is impossible to avoid talking about this historical authenticity.

Here is the coronation episode, when Kshesinskaya, by hook or by crook, makes her way to the choir in the church and from there shouts “Nicky!” right during the ceremony - already causes surprise. However, like the first meeting of the Tsarevich and a talented graduate of the choreographic school. According to the scriptwriters, this happens during an entertainment event in a secluded tent.

© TPO Rock (2017)

It must be said that Kshesinskaya herself is presented in the film rather one-sidedly: the mistress of the future emperor, an ambitious upstart who cannot even turn 32 fouettés. Meanwhile, it is known that Kshesinskaya was an outstanding student and an excellent dancer. Not to mention her further activities in exile (Kshesinskaya died at 99 years old), where she did a lot to popularize Russian ballet in Europe.

And this is where it arises main question: how to watch it? "Matilda" - like any feature film, even a historical one - cannot be taken, as they say, at face value. “Artistic” means implying a certain freedom and imagination of the creators.

It is unlikely that the viewer can draw any knowledge from this picture. For this there are documentaries, and for reflection and entertainment - fiction. Using “Matilda” to form an idea of ​​the events that preceded the wedding and coronation of Nicholas II, - main mistake, which can be tolerated by a gullible public.

To the cinema

Nicholas II's father, Emperor Alexander III, was against his son's marriage to Princess Alice of Hesse.

In life

Indeed, at first Russian Emperor My wife and I were not delighted with this marriage. Alice may have been the granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England, but at that time she was a poor princess from a provincial German duchy. Her mother suffered from a nervous disorder, but, worst of all, she was a carrier of hemophilia, which is transmitted through the female line to sons, but the carriers themselves do not get sick. (As a result, Nikolai’s son, Tsarevich Alexei, suffered from hemophilia). Alexander counted on the marriage of the heir to Helen Louise Henrietta, daughter of Louis Philippe, Count of Paris. But then politics, as well as the serious illness of the emperor (and he wanted to marry his son before his death) accelerated the marriage of Nicholas and Alice, who became Alexandra Fedorovna in baptism.

Photo Getty Images

Photo frame from the film

To the cinema

Alexander III himself introduced his son to Matilda Kshesinskaya.

In life

This happened in 1890 immediately after the graduation performance at the Imperial Theater School, which, according to tradition, was attended by the monarch and his family. Alexander III unexpectedly singled out Matilda Kshesinskaya among all the dancers and declared to the 17-year-old graduate: “Be the decoration and glory of our ballet!” After the performance, without taking off their theatrical costumes, all the students gathered in the large rehearsal hall to present themselves to the royalty.

The action was carefully rehearsed, the candidates for the best graduates were pre-selected from among the first students, among whom Kshesinskaya could not be included simply because she was listed as attending. And then the first surprise happened - in violation of all the rules, the sovereign asked: “Where is Kshesinskaya?” I had to call her. After the presentation of the graduates there was a gala dinner, and at the common table Malechka also did not have permanent place. And the sovereign again ordered in his own way - he seated Kshesinskaya between himself and the heir, playfully threatening both: “Just be careful, don’t flirt too much!” At the same time, Nikolai and Kshesinskaya began to communicate closely only two years later. But Alexander could not show his son on the train, who some time later had an accident, a photograph of the young ballerina. After all, the crash of the train, in which the emperor was injured, because of which he later fell ill and died early, happened two years before Nicholas met Kshesinskaya.

Photo by Getty Images

Photo frame from the film

To the cinema

Nicholas II cannot forget his beloved, planning to give up the throne for Kshesinskaya and run away with her.

In life

Many critics of the film argue that the relationship between Nikolai and Matilda was only platonic. It is unlikely. But after his parents’ decision to marry him to Alice Gessenskaya, he decides to end his affair with Kshesinskaya - for sure. And Niki had no intention of running anywhere. This is how the ballerina herself recalls this in her memoirs: “On April 7, 1894, the engagement of the heir to the throne to Alice, Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt was announced. I knew for a long time that sooner or later this would happen, but still my grief was boundless...

After returning from Coburg and the engagement, the heir to the throne asked me for a farewell meeting. We agreed to meet on Volkonsky Highway, at a barn with hay standing on the side of the road.

I came from the city in my carriage, and he came on horseback, straight from the training ground. And, as always happens in such cases, when you need to say a lot to each other, a lump came to our throats, and we said something completely different from what we wanted. There is a lot left unsaid. And what can you talk about at parting, if you know that nothing can be changed...

When Niki left for the training ground, I stood by the barn for a long time and looked after him until he disappeared from sight. And he kept looking around and looking back... I didn’t cry, but my heart was breaking with grief, and as he moved away, my soul became heavier.

I returned to the city, to my empty and orphaned house. It seemed to me that life was over and there would be nothing ahead but pain and bitterness.”

According to rumors, Kshesinskaya received 100 thousand rubles and a house as final payment for her relationship with her august lover. In the future, they most likely never met again. But Nikolai periodically helped his ex-girlfriend in absentia in her theatrical affairs. Nothing is known about at least one personal meeting between Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Kshesinskaya.

Photo frame from the film

To the cinema

Nikolai had a competitor - Lieutenant Vorontsov (played by Danila Kozlovsky). He is in love with Matilda Kshesinskaya so much that he is trying to stop his main rival. For example, he wants to beat him with a crown. The future Emperor Nicholas II shows mercy to the unlucky criminal - he replaces the death penalty with compulsory treatment.