
The story of the rise and fall of Rasputin, the so-called "mad monk" who dominated the court of the Russian czar in the period prior to the Russian revolution..

United States

The first time I saw Rasputin, the Black Monk I was half-drunk on cheap kvass in a Rochester rep-house whose velvet seats bled more history than the film itself. The print was bruised, dupey, spliced together like a fevered confession; yet when Bertram Grassby’s hooded eyes filled the frame the room temperature droppe...

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Comparing the cinematic DNA and archive impact of two defining moments in cult history.

Arthur Ashley

Arthur Ashley
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" The first time I saw Rasputin, the Black Monk I was half-drunk on cheap kvass in a Rochester rep-house whose velvet seats bled more history than the film itself. The print was bruised, dupey, spliced together like a fevered confession; yet when Bertram Grassby’s hooded eyes filled the frame the room temperature dropped five degrees. That is the occult pull of Arthur Ashley’s 1917 curiosity: it leaks off the screen and puddles in your shoes. A Celluloid Séance Forget every stately biopic gramma..."


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