Most scenes together: Tsar Nicholas II & Alexandra (5), Tsar Nicholas II & Tsarevitch Alexei (4), Alexandra & Rasputin (3)
We can't run a modern war, sir. We're not fighting Napoleon this time! Germany has ten miles of railway to every one of ours and they have a hundred factories for every one of ours. All we have is men! We'll be slaughtered like flies!
I'm old, sir. I've seen so many wars. They all seemed so important at the time. Now I don't even remember what they were called. Millions of dead men. I don't know why. Nobody knows. You could so easily stop this war, sir. All you have to do is get up. Now, quietly go home to your family. You'd be the greatest of all the tsars.
You see, sometimes governments do things their people do not like. So the people react in different ways. The British vote. The Americans frequently remind their leaders of the U.S. Constitution. And the Serbs throw bombs. You see, Serbia wants its independence. But Austria will not grant it to them. So the Serbs resort to violence. It has happened in this country too sometimes. Your great-grandfather was killed by a bomb; so was Uncle Sergei. But Serbia is a long way away. Our foreign ministry will write some angry letters to the Serbian leaders, our generals will go on exercise, and everything will be right again. And we do not need have bad dreams about archdukes. All over Europe, kings and queens are sleeping safely in their beds, and that is what we are going to do, too.
Well Nicky, let me put it this way. Presents a bullet This is a bullet, munitioned in Saint Petersburg. I send it off to war. How does it get there? On a single spur of railroad track four thousand miles long. And in the middle, no track at all. God help us, it spends three days packed on sleds. This works the same way for every pair of boots, first aid kit, or pound of tea we send. Get out now, Nicky. While there is time.
The boy will bring us luck. We will smash the Japanese and kick them out of Korea, and I do not care the cost! I have a son to fight for now.
March 15, 1917. The Ides of March.
I could have won this war if I only had to confront one enemy in front of me, the Germans. But I had two enemies behind my back, your wife and her monk! You know, Rasputin actually wrote to me asking if he could come to the front lines to bless the troops. I replied that if he ever showed his face we would hang him on sight! I was an idiot to say that; should have let him come, we would have hung the bastard once he got here!
I did not want to do this tour. But God, I so love it when they stand and wave!
Alexei, Alexei, must not run and must not climb. Alexei, Alexei, must not jump and must be careful all the time!
At times, I actually like it. Mending clothes and teaching classes and quiet afternoons. I doze and daydream, and I think about my life. I don't know what I did wrong. I'd feel better if I did.
Do you like this scarf? Have it. [gives scarf to Rasputin] I am throwing a little soiree on Thursday, why not come? I cannot stop the revolution, but until it comes, let us have some fun. Even if it is only for a few more days.
Don't be afraid the White Army must have broken through Help Anastasia.
He's a good man. They always kill the good men, the ones who help the most. They killed my grandfather. He freed the serfs, you know. He helped them, so they threw a bomb. Stolypin is a good man. I can't find a match. ... Damn them all. You help them, and they kill you for it. Give them dumas, and they give you bombs. I want them paid in kind. You understand me? I want something done.
I could have won this war in time if I were only fighting on one front. But I had two enemies at my back, your Sunny and her monk. Not long ago, he wrote to me. Could he come and bless the troops? I told him if he came, I'd hang him. Should have let him come. Hung the bastard when he got here.
I didn't want to come on this tercentenary tour, Pyotr Arkadyevich. But, God help me, I do love it when they stand and wave.
