A Gentleman in Moscow

I loved the book A Gentleman in Moscow so much that I read it as slowly as possible so I could savor every beautifully written page. I was was looking forward to the show and liking it well enough until the second episode when diverse Bolshevik and Russian characters started appearing which is completely historically inaccurate. It's frankly ludicrous and does such a disservice to the book I love so much, because otherwise the set, costumes, hair, etc are appropriate. The casting is distracting and makes it hard to enjoy the show. Why not cast ethnic Russians and stay true to the book?

This show also isn't going to age well given the historical inaccuracies. Disappointed.

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.

I LOVED the book LOVED IT . I have anxiously waited for the adaptation .

1) DEAR PRODUCERS ... stop rewriting history !! The Black actors were great ! BUT there were basically no black in the Soviet Union then and now . This drives me CRAZY. Something campy like Bridgerton, I could ok , let it go . BUT not in a serious show where the HISTORY is central to the plot .

2) I was not expecting Ewan McGregor as Rostov. I am DELIGHTED by his performance. I think he did FANTASTIC .

3)The directing and cinema photography was sublime.

4) The actor that plays the evil commie hotel manager did a wonderful job .. I have pure hatred for him.

I gave this 8/10 because of color blind casting. I would have done less except everything else was superb .

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.

I really enjoyed the first episode, and look forward to the next.

Here's the deal: if you don't know the book, and you're looking for action, this won't be the show for you.

If you do know the book, you'll likely love it.

If, however, you don't know the book, and you enjoy a slow burn with great acting, you may be in luck.

Taking place shortly after the revolution, the plot revolves around the life of one of the last aristocrats of Russia. He's been imprisoned for life in a hotel, if he ever leaves, he'll be killed on the spot. Ejected out of his posh suites, he's forced to live in old servants quarters in the attic.

Episode one shows us a glimpse of his past, and gives us a sampling of his character. The Red Guard are everywhere, and have filled some of the hotel positions with spies, looking for traitors. Anyone deemed a threat is taken out of view and summarily executed by a bullet to the head.

It's a nice balance of whimsy and darkness, with a creature of politics and privilege navigating the murky waters of a revolution in progress. Will he survive? Will he be able to use his connections and intelligence to escape?

For myself, I can't wait to see where the story leads....