When the news was published in April 2018 that Kenneth Branagh would be the protagonist of the television adaptation of A Gentleman in Moscow, the successful novel by American writer Amor Towles, for many it was a natural decision, since one could easily visualize his Hercule Poirot transplanted to the capital of the Soviet Union in the years after the October Revolution.
However, that project stalled, Branagh had to dedicate all his time to completing his Agatha Christie trilogy and only in 2022 the series was revived again, when it was learned that Ewan McGregor had agreed to play Count Alexander Ilych Rostov, a Russian nobleman. who after the arrival of the Bolsheviks is forgiven by the new authorities who seek to execute him for having written before Lenin’s triumph a poem that many revolutionaries have taken as their flag. The eight-episode miniseries premiered in the United States at the end of March, becoming an instant success thanks to the superb performance of the Scottish actor, who shines in a role that seems tailor-made for him.
In the story imagined by Towles, and which SkyShowtime premieres this Thursday the 18th in Spain, Rostov is a bon-vivant who has never worked in his life, but has an exquisite palate and an overflowing general culture. When the authorities confine him to remain for life within the facilities of the exquisite Metropol hotel, to which he had moved after losing his home, with the instructions that if he leaves there they will shoot him immediately, the aristocrat has no problems in adjust to the situation, even though they have taken away all his possessions and instead of his suite they give him a small loft built for the service staff.
The count enjoys the meals given to him for free at the five-star restaurant, where while lunch or dinner lasts he will once again be privileged. A 9-year-old girl, Nina (Alexa Godall), who knows all the nooks and crannies of the place, will take him as an adoptive father since hers works all hours and will find a lover in the actress Anna Urbanova, played by the wife in the movie. McGregor’s real life, Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
In the first episode, the count will appear with a very striking mustache, which Ewan grew during the pandemic, but will have to trim it when an upset customer snips him in the hotel barbershop as a form of protest. The hair change in his face will also reflect his social transformation.
Little by little Rostov will find friends in those who work at the hotel, and although he will always defend his class, particularly a prince in trouble who now makes a living playing the violin, he will become a beloved figure for everyone, even those who must keep an eye on him permanently, Osip (Johnny Harris).
Those who watch the series should not look for a reflection of what Moscow was like in the 1920s. Although the Metropol hotel remains one of the most luxurious in the world today, when this story takes place it had been expropriated and converted into the Second House of the Soviets, where the bureaucrats stayed.
Rostov never existed and neither Ben Vanstone, creator of the series, nor Sam Miller, director of several episodes, cared much about historical fidelity. Even so, what was achieved in the filming carried out in different locations in England such as Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds does portray the glamor of a bygone era and McGregor’s work will surely be recognized by the Emmys, an award that he has already won in 2021 for Halston and for which he was nominated four other times.
