From Karen Shakhnazarov, director of ZEROGRAD, ASSASSIN OF THE TSAR is a mysterious and labyrinthine psychological drama in which the tormented chambers of a patient’s mind come to warp everything around him, even the folds of history itself. In one of his finest latter-day performances, the great Malcolm McDowell (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, TIME AFTER TIME) stars as Timofeyev, a severe schizophrenic in a dreary Soviet mental hospital who is convinced that, impossibly, he’s the killer of two Tsars: Alexander II in 1881 and Nicholas II in 1918. The thoughtful new head of the hospital, Dr. Smirnov (Oleg Yankovskiy) is determined to cure Timofeyev of his madness – but instead finds himself literally pulled back through time, inhabiting the ghosts of the past as they march towards their tragic destiny.
directed by:Â Karen Shakhnazarov
starring: Malcolm McDowell, Oleg Yankovskiy, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan
1991 / 104 min / 1.37:1 / English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Additional info:
- Region A Blu-ray
- New restoration from original 35mm elements by Mosfilm
- New commentary track by film writer and historian Samm Deighan
- New essay by film critic and historian Walter Chaw
- New interview with star Malcolm McDowell
- New interview with director Karen Shakhnazarov
- Russian language version of film with different edit and score
- Blu-ray mastering and authoring by David Mackenzie/Fidelity in Motion
- English SDH subtitles
