The Russian TV miniseries Sofiya (2016) was shown in the U.S. with the anglicised title Sophia. The series was directed by Vyacheslav Ross and Aleksey Andrianov. Mariya Andreeva is superb in the title role of Sophia Palaiologina, who was a Byzantine princess.
By the time the movie begins--in the late 15th century--Constantinople had been conquered by the Turks. Sophia and her family had escaped to Rome, where they were treated well by the Pope and a cardinal.
Her marriage was arranged with Ivan III, Prince of Muscovy. It was thought that her influence would be enough to lead Russia, which was Eastern Orthodox, back to Roman Catholicism. We learn immediately that four years in Rome had not permanently changed Sophia's belief in Eastern Orthodoxy. Once she crossed into Russia, she returned to her original faith.
One plot of the movie is agents of the Pope trying to kill Sophia. Another is the castle intrigues, heresies, and political infighting. (We call such matters Byzantine for a reason, but they were not restricted to the Byzantine Empire.)
We heard a lecture about the historical Sophia, and as far as I can tell, the plot of the miniseries is historically accurate in the overall sense. Whether the dialog actually played out in real life the way it did on the screen is beyond my knowledge.
Incidentally, the lecturer called the movie a soap opera. Well, yes and no. Most miniseries could be called soap operas if you think of them that way. Episode one--crisis, then resolution, then a teaser. Episode two--crisis, then resolution, then a teaser. Downton Abbey was a soap opera too, if that's how you define soap opera.
My thought is that this is a miniseries about a fascinating episode in Russian history, well acted and well directed. Other raters agreed with me, because Sophia has a very high IMDb rating of 7.8. I thought it was even better than that, and rated it 9.
