Gentleman in Moscow –Rules of Civility

Based upon the bestseller by Amor Towles, Gentleman in Moscow  tells the story of an aristocrat whose status makes him an enemy of the state, namely, Bolshevik Russia in 1918.  Count Alexander Rostov (Ewan McGregor) is sentenced to a lifetime as a resident in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow, narrowly escaping execution during Stalin’s reign of terror.  

Confined to the walls of the Metropol, the Count– a single, highly entitled but lonely man,– is relegated to a threadbare attic room, without his sumptuous possessions or his much-cherished status as a member of the elite ruling class. Soon a little girl, Nina, who is a guest of a wealthy bureaucratic family, takes an interest in the Count, befriending him and introducing him to the imaginary world of a child.  Nina sees the magical in the ordinary.  

At first the Count is emotionally distant and depressed, but Nina soon wins him over and their relationship evolves into a father-daughter one.  For Alexander Rostov, this little girl turns into the family he never had, giving him a sense of meaning he never could have had before the Revolution.  He had lost everything associated with royalty only to gain what is immeasurable. 

Abjectly bemoaning some of his finer material possessions which now have been seized by the hotel, Nina offhandedly observes:  “They’re just things.” But the Count responds: “Yes, but my memories are embedded within them.” He gently and assuredly learns that he has gained more imprisoned in the hotel, than the self-imprisonment of being isolated in his previous social class.  Ironically, the Count’s imprisonment is the beginning of his life, not the end.

A Gentleman in Moscow becomes an original tale deviating from the novel midway into the series.  And the narrative takes on other characters and emphasizes minor characters’ roles while preserving the spirit of the story.  The  heart broken,  tortured man, insisting on retaining his soul and integrity is the major theme.  The Count never misplaces his soul for his own survival. 

A Gentleman in Moscow is a  study in courage:  to live guided by human decency and honesty, no matter how willing the powerful and their toxic institutional systems are to destroy hope and instill fear. The entire cast is brilliant, and McGregor gives a memorable performance doing justice to the brilliant narrative economy of Towle’s novel.  A Gentleman in Moscow warms the hearts of viewers in spite of the darkest of times.

Availability: Showtime and Paramount+

Note: The novel is one of my favorites and the film, while expanding the trajectory of the drama, is equally outstanding.