u/Canard-jaune

That scene appears in one of the many novellisations of the 1997 movie. I don't think they invented it ex-nihilo and I am wondering it was not in the original script, where elements go scrapped when it came to screen. I shall try to verify if, like our poor Danny outside the Overlook, the Great-Duchess got attacked by big leafy animal topiaries to lure her to her final showdown on bridge Alexandre III. What a reference!

It comes from the Japanese Archives (Nagasaki City Library) and was downloaded on Wikimédia Commons. It's great it wasn't destroyed during the war...

I just saw this rare picture in one of the (many) "Anastasia" short novels they issued after the movie release. It follows narrowly the movie script, and if it sometimes cut some éléments (the full Raspoutine ark in the shortests books), it never creates new scenes.

So I am wondering if that "fun" reference to the Stephen King book "The Shining", where young Danny gets attacked by the big leafy animal topiaries outside of the Overlook Hotel, was actually considered in the "Anastasia" movie, leading to the Pont Alexandre III final showdown (we only see spiky vines attacking her in order to she gets here in the movie). I shall try to get my hand on one of the early scripts to check that!

(on the pictures order I posted, you see first attacking topiaries and then the topiaries coming to life at the top of the hedges, but you have to consider that the "top" pages (74-75) are before the "attack" pages(78-79))

Fèves (feva beans) are made of china (porcelaine) and put in the galette des rois (king cake) that we eat at Épiphanie, 6th January. The one who finds the fève is elected king, with a cardboard golden crown, and apoints his queen.

In Orthodox Church, Christmas actually takes place the 6th or 7th January!

That book seems pretty popular. Haven't read it yet. It seems pretty moving. Anastasia is elderly in 1981, living in London, and is still traumatized.

Be careful, the Irish author John Boyne ranks himself in the "Terf" movement (like J.K. Rowling), so if that mattes to you and you don't want to give him money, you may want to find this book in a thrift shop, garage sale, on eBay... :>

An interesting French (but it seems it got translated to Spanish so there might be an English version) story where a deeply loyal valet impersonated one of the guards to save her. The execution is pretty graphic...

The three books span on 80 years and tell her restless alternative story, where all of her ennemies wanted her to stay dead : other Romanov, Germany, former allies...

It was created by Ordas, Cothias, and Berr.

In the later years, Maria used to live in Gatchina palace (Alexander III loved that place and lived there most of the time). Then World War I broke out and she moved to Yelagin palace (Saint-Petersburg). Thereafter, following the attempted coup against her son (where she was kinda involved... maybe it should have succeded :(), she was "semi-exiled" on behalf of Alexandra to Mariinskyi palace (Kyiv, I prefer writing it with the Ukrainian spelling following... Russia's infamous butchery). After the Revolution, she had to leave Kyiv and went to Crimea with another Romanovs, but don't know where (Livadia? Yalta? other?). I don't know at which point she couldn't bring her precious eggs with her, and what was their last place before they were seized by whoever in charge (Kerensky's Governement or the Soviet).

When he inherited the Crown, Nicolas II moved from Gatchina to Alexander palace (Tsarskoye Selo), the Winter palace (Saint-Petersbourg) had been "empty" for many years. So I guess Alexandra's eggs staid at Tsarskoye Selo? It's not quoted that they tried to bring them to Tobolsk, and anyway, they would have been confiscated as a lot of other stuff.

Picture : Maria and Alexandra's Fabergé eggs during an exhibition (Von Dervis mansion, Saint-Petersburg, in March 1902)

Source : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vitrines_with_Faberg%C3%A9_eggs.jpg via the very rich Webpage https://www.wintraecken.nl/mieks/faberge/research/1902-vd.html (go there!)

She must have been nine years old on that nice picture.

Source : https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Anastasia_Nikolaevna_of_Russia_with_her_tutor_Charles_Gibbes.jpg

source and more here : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olga_Nikolaevna_Romanova_in_costume_at_the_Alexander_Palace,_1916.jpg

"6th [19 in our calendar] November. Sunday.

4 were with Mama at obednya, the same had breakfast and dinner. Was with A in our infirmary, were photographed. Went for a ride with A and Trina. Was with A in our infirmary, Shakh-Nazarov was there. I played billiards with Dmitriev and A with Loginov. 4 and Mama went for a ride with Anya. The same drank tea. 4 photographed each other in shawls. 4 were at the sisters in the infirmary, sat with Nikiforov, played ruble."

- 1916 diary of Maria

May have been taken by Maria

Source Commons (other files linked) : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OtmaAlexandraStandardt1914-2.jpg

""5th [means 18th in our calendar] July. Saturday. In the morning sat in the wheelhouse with N.N., Kern and we 4. Had breakfast, drank tea and had dinner with everyone. Butakov left the Yacht for the "Tsarevna". Instead, [?]. Stayed on the Yacht during the day, my day on duty. Sat with N.N. Then at 4 he was on duty. There was vsenoshchnaya. After dinner, 4 sat with N.N., Molokhovets, Taube and Kern in the wheelhouse, then sat at the telegrphic wheelhouse. It was terribly good, until 12."

- 1914 Tatiana Romanova diary

Just fell on this strange gem. The shots and VFX are wonderful, the script from Bruno Dumont is weirder. Thought you might enjoy the view! I hope this doesn't go against the rules, but it seems authorized if I have read them well. If not, sorry!