SOPHIA (2016) was an exceptional Russian historical mini series drama, focusing on the lives of the historical figures of Grand Princess Sophia Palaiologina (played by Mariya Andreeva) and her husband the Grand Prince / Csar Ivan III (played by Evgeniy Tsyganov).
"In 15th Century Russia, the last Byzantine princess, Sophia Palaiologina, moves from Rome to far away Moscow to marry Czar Ivan III. Destined to become the first influential female figure of the Russian Empire, Sophia overcomes court intrigue and betrayals, and helps Ivan consolidate the fragmented country, push Mongolian invaders out, and build the Kremlin, the most magnificent symbol of Russia."
This series was excellent, captivating and visually appealing. The costumes and settings for one were incredible and made the show quite immersive. The cast, especially Princess Sophia (Mariya Andreeva), Czar Ivan III (Evgeniy Tsyganov), Grand Princess Maria Yaroslavna (Nadezhda Markina), and a quite few many others are all excellent and the story was quite intriguing though filled with relevant politics that may be dull to some. Liking historical politics and intrigue, I rather enjoyed it, myself.
On a side note, Evgeniy Tsyganov, who was really great in this role as Prince Ivan III, was also known to me by his previous role in the Russian historical WWII war movie, based on true events about the life of the extraordinary female sniper, Lyudmila Pavlichenko; the movie was called Battle of Sevastopol, a great movie for anyone interested.
Moving on and without spoilers, I will just say I wasn't really satisfied with the last few episodes. It was an alright ending, but not really as powerful as the rest of the series had been. Things just didn't feel very organic or natural but overly dramatized compared to the rest of the series. The other issue for me was an unusual shift that happened somewhere around the mid-point of the series, in which the focus drifted from Sophia being the central character POV to others, namely Ivan but others as well, being the central focus and her feeling more and more like a side character. This weakened the story a bit for me, as it felt that the series treated her as less valuable past a certain point, naturally after having children. *eyeroll*
Other than that, the series was a very nice hidden gem free on Amazon Prime Video. The costumes, settings, and production value, as well as much of the acting, were visually stunning and the story was intriguing. Wish the writing hadn't faltered towards the end. But overall, happy to have watched it. Great period drama focusing on the Russian historical era of Czar Ivan III. I would love to see move Russian series, in this era or others. A great find!
