The Road to Calvary

Oh my word, what a series! This 12 episode series, based on Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoys book trilogy The Road To Calvary ( originally written in Russian ) was enthralling, beautiful, touching and heart wrenching. It tells the story of the two Bulavina sisters and their lives as they live through the 1st World war and the Russian revolution. It's a film about love. It's about the love of sisters, of their lovers, of their friends, of the love of country and ideology. It even has time for some Bonny and Clyde action. Whilst being sentimental and romantic, it stays away from sex scenes or any nudity at all. It does paint a bleak picture of the vulnerability of women on their own in places of conflict and deals with rape and violence without being too explicit or gory. There are strong scenes of battles which show the physical consequences of bombs and bullets whilst not being overly graphic. In the final episode there is a scene of children being mudered in an executional style shooting by War Lord, which may upset some. This is an epic series and covers different aspects of family politics and the meaning of friendship. It doesn't hold back from showing the torment and human cost of a revolution. If I was to be hyper critical it would be that 10 episodes not 12 would have been sufficient but a series based on a book trilogy might find it hard to be edited that way. If you like history and romance this film is for you and if I have 3 days free I might even watch it again!

No, not from crying (although I am sure there was plenty of that from other viewers). No, red eyes from lack of sleep. This is one of those multi-part series where I had to tell myself multiple times - "it's 5AM, you MUST stop watching and go to bed. You can pick it up again tomorrow."

Production values are incredible. Sets! Costumes! Characters! I have been doing a lot of reading about WWI and the Russian Revolution lately, and that series transported me back to that time, place, and atmosphere totally. In this era of cynicism and jadedness, who of we viewers didn't roll our eyes a few times at the naievte of the poetry?

I have no negative comments. However, I can speak a little Russian, and I should warn anyone who has yet to view this wonder that there are a LOT of characters and sometimes it's tricky to keep track of eveyone's name and relationships. You might want to keep a list. LOL

Finally, a captivating, artistic series from Netflix. Adaptation of Tolstoy in Russia by Russians. Important to see the perspective of early 20th century art from Russia, where most often we see this explosion of artistic fervor depicted in Paris or other enlightened European cities. Here we see a Picasso in a home in St Petersburg, we watch the debates of the poets in university, we feel the electric change in the air. A nostalgia one feels for the epoch of the poet, the collective draw to the expressions of the artist. And we are given an honest look into the soul of Russia that so transcends political bruhaha. Thanks to whoever got this series to us in the epoch of Ant Man and Spider Man.

An epic depiction of the chaotic times of the Russian revolution. Production values are excellent as are the actors. I was especially impressed with how well the series showed the highly complex reactions of the Russian people of all classes to the constantly shifting politics and allegiances of this dreadful time. I don't speak much Russian, but it was a joy to hear it spoken ...the subtitles in English seemed very good

I'm sorry, I just loved it. The costumes, the locations, the beautiful women and great combat scenes. Some of the acting was great, none of it less than good. Story moved at a nice pace.