C'era una volta una principessa

I admit that I usually despise Danielle Steele miniseries, but this is one that I feel amazingly tolerant towards.

Believable? No. Historically accurate? Not even close. Still, it's a fairly innocuous way to pass an afternoon should you chance upon in on Lifetime (where it used to appear with some frequency).

I will happily admit that I started watching it because Bruce Boxleitner was my first television crush (this was way back in his Scarecrow and Mrs. King days), but once I got into the story, I realized that it was like an entire soap opera compressed into four hours. If you are wanting to watch something and admire the acting and the riveting dialogue, look elsewhere. If you want a few hours of mindless but still entertaining popcorn fun, this might be for you.

PS--It's interesting to note that the daughter in the movie is played by a very pre-Alias Jennifer Garner.

Well, it is. A very romanticized version of life of aristocrats in exile. The funniest moment was when Zoya revealed that she brought the Faberge egg with her into Communist Russia. It would have been confiscated on the border as a national treasure, she wouldn't even have been compensated.

Zoya herself has too many late-20th century values for my tastes. Like her wanting to be a dancer, when most dancers of her culture and era were, in fact, courtesans. Her marrying a jewish man, while tsarist russia was very antisemitic. Well, it's a cute fairy tale anyway.

Danielle Steels's Zoya creates a deep mark in mind. The director has got an astonishing style of portraying the tragic events in the story.At first I realised it when I saw the dying scene of Zoya's military brother. Zoya is telling him that I am going to bake cakes for you.And the dying man says 'Little Zoya, I am not hungry'.This is really heartbreaking.

The script of the movie has a magical way for directly piercing the heart.When Zoya lost her husband and money,we hear from her son telling about their old neighbour, 'She don't want to remember us, because we don't have money'.

Later at a point we see Zoya who is hunted by tragedies, going to the streets with her children.Her friend asks her ' You have future plans?' And she replies, 'Someone once said, if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans' The film's story is fascinating.The anguish of Zoya is handled with a graceful care. It shows the power of mind and love in a woman.It is really worth seeing.

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I saw this movie just yesterday on "Liftetime", and immediately I wanted to know where I could buy it. I was attracted to it at first because of Melissa Gilbert, as she is my favorite actress, but the uniqueness and romance of the film is what kept me interested. I enjoy love stories, and this was a wonderful one. It gave me a new understanding of what effect war has on family and friends of those who fight in it. I truly enjoyed this movie, I recommend it very highly.

Melissa Gilbert is a so-so actress. She really doesn't vary a lot in the roles she plays so she can hide that fact fairly well. Who ever told her that she could play a Russian countess though needs to have their head examined. Her accent is hideous, and it makes her sound like a foghorn.

Diana Rigg and David Warner must have been having a slow year that they would take a job in this turkey, and young Samuel West is wasted in his few moments of air time as the countess' soldier brother.

The performances of the actors playing her children are mediocre as is the plot line involving the daughter. The girl makes it clear that her angst has to do with feeling ignored by her mother. In fact, during the scene where Zoya announces that she is going to have a child with her second husband she practically screams it. They could have resolved the relationship a lot sooner.

The one good thing that I can say about this is show is that at least the costumes, makeup, and hair look great. Everyone looks great even when they are supposed to have been traveling for days without benefit of a visit to the Imperial Hairdresser.