Ein Gentleman in Moskau

This is a well-written and well-acted series. It's nice when a show or movie does not have to depend on special effects and action to be good.

As others have mentioned, I just have trouble believing some of the casting. It's bad enough that most of the actors have English accents. Having more Russian actors, or at least actors that look and sound Russian would have been preferable.

The most unbelievable aspect of the casting is the number of actors of African descent. I have a hard time believing there were that many (if any) people of African origin in Moscow at that time, and I'm sure none that would hold a position like Minister of Culture. Very unbelievable. I know when I visited Russia (including Moscow) around the year 2000, the only African people I saw were young, male African exchange students going to a university, and I saw less in all my travels around Russian than I see in one episode of this TV series.

Whoever came up with such a brilliant idea as casting black/brown or clearly "Mediterranean" people as ethnic Russians deserves the order of the Soviet Union's labor champion.

For someone who saw the USSR as it was before its fall, this series is some kind of black comedy. And it's a shame - because there is potential in the script and execution.

Unfortunately, such good material fell victim to contemporary politics which perfectly resembles the communist Soviet madness. It's a bit like irony made a big circle and kicked the creators in their bare buttocks.

There is also a lack of "Russian soul", in both positive and negative sense. You can feel that this is a Western vision of the East created without "physical" knowledge of the issue "Russia is a state of mind" - this is a saying that requires a deeper understanding to properly convey it.

A Gentleman in Moscow is a wonderfully entertaining novel, full of pathos and subtlety.

I recently read an article where the author Amor Towles gave the green light on this adaptation and is Executive Producer. So I believed it to be in safe hands.

After watching two episodes I can say the cinematography, production and costume design are top rate. The casting is not. Ewan McGregor is a fine actor, however he cannot disguise entirely his Scottish accent which is jarring for a Russian Count. Some of the other actors come across as caricatures.

Because of the diverse casting policies now, one of the Russian Bolsheviks is played by a black man with dreadlocks which clearly would not exist in the 1920's.

History whether fact or fiction should be accurate in every way in my opinion.

I won't be bothering with the next episodes. I want to keep my memories of the book intact.

I am a huge fan of the novel, A Gentlman in Moscow and Amor Towles other novels. It is an instant classic. I have been waiting for a year or more for the television series but I am reserving judgement until I can see all the episodes. To write a review before based on a couple of episodes is ridiculous. The book is a work of art and reads like a fable. It is not intended to be a history of the Russian revolution. It is about the triumph of the human spirit against authoritarianism, ignited by the spirit of a unique young girl. It is charming, profound and beautifully written.

The author is on record saying he is very happy with the adaptation so I am eagerly waiting to see it in its entirety before passing judgement. Any video adaptation of a book has to leave out a lot of nuance and rarely works well. To me the book is inevitably better as it can accommodate much more detail but, given the author's enthusiasm, I am optimistic and await the full series with great anticipation.

Great story line. I have not read the book but would like to point out that Russia's Black population has been, and still is near zero.

I understand the need to maintain an unbiased acting crew thus the description should be changed to Fictional Drama.

The series is entertaining but certainly not historical. Ewan McGregor does an excellent performance as the victimized product of the Russian Revolution.

For those unfamiliar with actual history the importance of informing the viewers that the show is an entire work of fiction by using a period in time and place to create a fairytale, which is what a Gentleman in Moscow is.