Gogol

I found this by accident on youtube. Look for Janson Media, they have a lot of great Russian/east euro films and series.

Gogol is an excellent kind of supernatural mystery series that has the ambience of Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow but much more bizarre and involved. Great acting, effects, cinematography, direction. Highly recommended.

Gogol, a psychologic and mystical thriller set in early 19th century Russia. Someone is killing young girls in a village in the boondocks. Gogol goes as an assistant and scribe for a very important investigator from St. Petersburg. He has epileptic fits that show him important information about the crimes they are investigating. This does not please Gogol he cannot control the visions. Demons ? maybe Succubus/ghost women? sure. Murders, plenty and with gore. some sexual scenes but not excessive or played for titulation. Nudity. If you are frightened by the sight of a naked woman don't watch. This is not a show for children or the easily offended.

Well worth a watch. It is on for free at this time on Amazon Prime.

What a wild mix of characters! Gogol's family servant, the doctor, the "police chief" and of course Gogol himself...all could be hilariously outrageous, including some very witty, sharp dialogue here and there. If they could have maintained the more camp quality throughout it would have worked better. But ultimately, the story, character decisions and development altogether became rather silly and (to me) not so enjoyable...particularly the religious and occult content. I round it up to 6. But it is great to see a quality production from Russia.

I expected this to be a biography and instead was completely blown away with THE most captivating thing. If you like entrancingly gothic, supernatural epics, character-driven, and visually beautiful, this is all of that and more. The opening scene grabbed me and that was it. It takes you on such a journey. I am completely obsessed. The idea to place Gogol as a character in his stories is brilliant. They cast him perfectly. You can't help but love this character. Alexander Petrov is fantastic. And what happens is stunning, shocking really. The setting and costumes, the ideas and the characters are truly enchanting ! It is truly in my top 3 shows that I have ever watched, the other 2 being El Hipnotizidor and Penny Dreadful. I can't help but gush. I so hope they continue with it.

Amazingly Gothic and we got into it easily, despite the darned subtitles. Some of the period series / movies we've seen have a postcard picture feel - there's distance, no involvement, they're flat. Not with Gogol, but we were taken right into the historical settings; the Gothic feel and fabulous architecture. They're only asides to characterization, which really made the series watchable. Couldn't fault the story either, full of surprising twists and turns, never a dull moment.