Bednaya Nastya viewing...

[dangermousie]

I got my Bednaya Nastya DVDs in and so I finally started watching them properly today (alexandral, let me know if you are still interested).

So far, not much in, my thoughts are mainly the following:

1. OMG, costumes! So freaking gorgeous. From military uniforms to ladies' dresses. Mmmmmm.

2. Hair? Not bad. Especially for the men. fire_snake pointed out that they chose 1839 precisely because a little later and we are into sideburns of doom and much earlier and we'd get beards. As it is, everyone attractive is yummily clean-shaven.

3. For some bizarro reason, the actress who plays Anna reminds me of Veronica Mars a little which is odd to say the least. No idea why, except for her being blonde and a certain something same about the nose. Oh, and her thing for a bad boy. I like her. She is very pretty, though she could use less make-up. And I like her character as well. She certainly has a spine.

4. If anyone had told me before this that I would find Alexander II (in any shape, or form) hot, I would have pointed and laughed. But there it is. HOT.

5. No wonder this is 120 eps. This has about 18 billion characters. So far it's not draggy at all (I am really early in) but I foresee problems as I will inevitably get more interested in some stories *ahemVladimir/Annaahem* *ahemfutureAlexanderIIahem* than others.

6. Vladimir is a total jerk as of now. A repressed, incredibly hot jerk with huge angst potential, but still...jerk. There is something severely wrong with be because it just makes me like him more. Mmmmm...my favorite scene in all of ep 1 is when he orders Anna about while so clearly wanting to just pull her into his arms and do a romance novel type 'crushing her to his chest' thing. Heh.

7. I really like Lisa Dolgorukaya, the girl who loves Vladimir, who he used to court years ago but cooled since then. Maybe I am just reacting to all the horrible 'other women' in dramas, but she is remarkably fun and sane. Though hint, girl: I don't care how hot he is: no matter the love poetry he whispered into your ears, if he left years ago, and neither visited nor wrote since, chances are he is over you. Oh well, she gets her own happy ending, and I know it :P

8. I cheated, and watched some of ep 120. Mmmmmm...Vladimir/Anna angst of yumminess. But I get the impression that every ep from half on, at least, is going to have some of that.

9. Michael Repnin is very very sweet. But why do I think he's a little bland? Hmmmm. He is a doll though.

I think I'll screencap this a little...

ETA: I found out they are making Bednaya Nastya 2 (with same cast). Whaaaaa? I know this was psycho popular but what about? They tied everything up. *waits for Meteor Garden 2 level fiasco*

And of course, vids.

I am addicted to this one:

This one is basically one giant Vladimir angst fetish. And that is a very very good thing:

Oh, and I found another cute Anna/Vladimir vid (there are 17 billion of them out there. Mmmmm, the bit when he picks her up and swings her around and around is brain-meltingly awesome):

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

ONE HUNDRED TWENTY EPISODES????

*dies*

Though...I don't know why i get worked up...that's only 3 wuxias or kdramas and change...less than Buffy...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

That's actually shorter than Jumong which might be 80 eps, but these eps are all 1:15 each as opposed to BN with each ep with a little under 40 min. :)

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

What I noticed is that the actors don't look *Russian* if that makes any sense. They look more like White Russians or even coming from more Western countries like Lithuanians or Letvians rather than typically what we think of *Russians*, e.g. ppl from the Ukraine and more Eastern provinces and states of former USSR. Perhaps I'm biased because of the portrayal of Russians in movies and series and stuff over here (which is not only as bad guys I might add), but that is what I noticed.

Second thing I noticed ... for a series very well researched in terms of clothing (the re-enactor is coming through). The uniforms look like the real thing from the 1830's period in Russia, though the dresses and female hair dos are too late Victorian inspired (and insert eyelet lace came up later in the early teens of the 20th century). Though I love the spoon bonnet type the heroine wears in one scene. The male hairdos are a tad too modern (1980's anyone) though I love the subtle sideburns from the 1800's.

Any English subs out there? While I can't stand wuxia for more than 16 eps (I'm just not interested in the period clothes), this series rather looks interesting.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

They look Russian enough to me (the actress who plays Anna screams 'Russian' to me the most, but the rest also). Of course, they are all way better looking than the average and probably with more teeth than an 18th century Russian :P I am very amused that most of the women are blonde but with the exception of one secondary character (not in the vids) all the story-relevant males supposed to be 'hot' are dark-haired. There are more Russian blondes than Ukrainian (e.g.) but still, I don't think the proportion shown there. And it's true, there is a general preference for dark-haired men.

I also give them points for casting because they all look 'class-appropriate.'

And thanks for the clothing info!

There are no English subs to my knowledge, which is weird as this was produced by an American company. I am considering subbing this, but 120 eps are daunting to say the least, and I don't know how to time...

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

I would say, I time, but I don't have the time atm as I'm having a new work project :(
rika_66 who is also Russian can time. I could tell you what you need and how to time and rika_66 could also give you pointers, probably.

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

Any English subs out there?

That would be my question too. While, god knows, I don't need any more obsessions this looks interesting. Plus I admire attractive angst from all cultures and countries.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

There are no English subs, which is a bit weird as the producers were apparently Americans. I was tempted to take it on as a project but 120 eps is a bit daunting, especially for all by myself and with mine having no idea how to time...

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for rememebring, dear! I am posting my address ASAP!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Neat!

Btw, I checked and it is region 0, PAL (I can only play it on the DVD player that plays both PAL and NTSC). The quality is OK, not super crisp but fine enough. Or it could just be that I was woozy from Daniil Strakhov's hotness :P

[yavannie77.livejournal.com]

Re: #4. Yup. HOT. :P

Re: #7. Poor Lisa will have it a lot worse before it gets better. But luckily it does get better.

Re: #8. There will be loads of angst of all kinds (Mihail Repnin - Anna - Vladimir -kind especially) before you reach ep 120 for real. And some of it will be dealed with reeeeeally slowly. Until in the ep 120 everything is solved in an instant. Eh.

The last episode was aired here about a week ago, and well, I can totally see room for Bednaya Nastya 2. Perhaps not another 120 episodes, but there were several storylines that IMO weren't properly closed up and besides, the main couples' lives' are going to be of some interest, too. And heck, give me more of Aleksandr any time and I'll be watching, no matter what. :P

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I like angst of any variety so slow or fast is good with me :)

[fire-snake.livejournal.com]

Sorry to point out, but no beards in the XVIII-early XIX century Russia. Unless you want to go as far back as Peter the Great. He was a gent who definitely didn't like facial hair to a point of shaving his boyars with an axe according to a popular Soviet movie:) My guess is that they choice just one of the most stable, conservative, and uneventful periods of Russian history when "krepostnoye pravo" still existed, the costumes were over the top and gorgeous, men didn't have facial hair, and all major revolutionary tendencies were either quashed (the Decabrists) or not invented. Otherwise, they would have had to pass political judgments, always tricky in Russia especially on central TV. Quel horreur!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am all for beard shaving, even with an ax...