How Czar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor (Russian: Сказ про то, как царь Пётр арапа женил; A Tale of How Czar Peter Married Off the Moor) is a 1976 Soviet Russian historical melodrama movie directed by Alexander Mitta and loosely based on Alexander Pushkin’s unfinished novel The Moor of Peter the Great, which in turn was a fictionalised biography of Pushkin’s own ancestor.
Ibrahim Gannibal (Vladimir Vysotsky), Tsar Peter the Great’s African-born godson and protégé, is forced to return to Saint Petersburg after his study time in Paris culminates in a scandalous love affair. Peter wants his godson to have stronger ties to Russia and decides to have him married to Natalya, a girl from an old boyar family. Ibrahim genuinely falls in love with the girl and develops an Intergenerational Friendship with her little brother, however, once he sees that Natalya doesn’t love him and that there is another admirer of hers who says she prefers him, he withdraws his suit. But it turns out that a Ship-to-Ship Combat with the czar isn’t something to be trifled with, and Ibrahim finds himself falling out of favour.
The film contains examples of:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Natalya is frightened of Ibrahim and disgusted by Govorov. The former opinion later changes for the better, while the latter, well… does not.
- Accidental Pun: The film was created long before "Shipper on Deck" and other shipping-related phrases were coined, making Czar Peter's preoccupation with shipbuilding and shipping Ibrahim and Natalya an example of the trope.
- Actually Pretty Funny: On his way to his wedding with Natalya, Govorov gets beaten up by two strangers. At first Govorov thinks the men were sent by Ibrahim, but Sergey reveals that they were sent by him and have in fact mistaken Govorov for Ibrahim, because Ibrahim was scheduled to marry Natalya at that time and place but, being his noble self again, wanted to let Govorov secretly marry her instead. As Sergey and Govorov realise the sheer level of absurdity in this mess, they both burst out laughing.
- Adaptation Name Change:
- Countess Leonore D. became Countess Louise de Covignac.
- Natalya’s last name was changed from Rzhevskaya to Rtishcheva, most likely, to avoid association with Lieutenant Rzhevsky.
- Adaptational Heroism: Ibrahim’s flat-out refusal to marry Natalya unless she loves him is something that never happens in the novel. In the novel, he completely agrees to the marriage and even gets angry when his friend tries to talk him out of it and brings up the fact that she doesn’t love him. Here, he gets angry when Filimon tries to talk him out of refusing the marriage.
- Adaptational Jerkass:
- In the novel, Ibrahim’s French lover does have genuine feelings for him, writes him a tearful farewell letter and only finds solace with another man a while after Ibrahim leaves Paris. In the film, Countess de Covignac never loves him and coldly states as much in her last letter.
- Combined with Character Exaggeration in Rtishchev's case. In the novel, Natalya's father is passionately conservative but loyal to Peter; moreover, he is a level-headed man who, in particular, realizes that Blue Blood isn't a merit in itself (although he sadly thinks that it used to be different in the olden days). Here, Rtishchev only obeys Peter out of fear, his conservative views are exaggerated to grotesque levels, and he thinks that his moronic elder son should have been a senator rather than a sailor simply by virtue of belonging to the old Russian aristocracy. In addition, his treatment of Natalya in the novel never goes beyond Deliberate Values Dissonance 18th-century norms (namely, he decides she will marry Ibrahim rather than his own penniless ward), while his film counterpart is outright abusive to his daughter, including in public.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul:
- In the novel, Natalya's family warms up to Ibrahim within the space of two weeks. Here, months pass but the Rtishchevs (save for Vanya) still look down on him; they only start to change their minds in the very last scene when they see Natalya has fallen in love with Ibrahim.
- In the novel, Ibrahim never refuses the betrothal and therefore never quarrels with Peter. Here, Peter spends the better part of the film absolutely mad at his disobedience.
- Adapted Out: In the novel, Ibrahim has an older brother who lives in their home country but has visited St.-Petersburg at least once. The brother is absent from the film (in the beginning, Ibrahim explicitly tells Peter he has no family except him).
- Age-Gap Romance: Ibrahim is much older than Natalya, which he brings up to Peter as an additional reason why he can’t marry her. However, he only cares about it as much as it’s a drawback for Natalya, because it doesn’t deter his own feelings.
- Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: Downplayed. In the beginning, Natalya wants nothing less than to be married to Ibrahim, but when Peter tells the Rtishchevs Ibrahim has refused to marry her, she feels hurt and later asks him what fault he has found in her.
- Artistic License – History: Neither of Ibrahim's wives was called Natalya Rtishcheva, and his first marriage occurred several years after Peter the Great’s death.
- Badass Bookworm: Ibrahim is, by his own admission, "an officer who loves the book more than the sword". He loves reading and studies but is an extremely capable fighter.
- Batman Gambit: Peter announcing he'll fight Govorov in Ibrahim's place. At that time he is pretty angry at Ibrahim, but still doesn't want some punk to even attempt to hurt him. So, he makes a calculated move, accepting the challenge in Ibrahim's stead. After Govorov — predictably — backs out, Peter reveals that the dueling code — which he himself wrote — specifies that if a challenger gets cold feet, he should be beaten with a stick. Having recited that, Peter produces a big stick and goes Papa Wolf on Govorov, which seems to be his intention from the beginning.
- Bear Hug: As he reconciles with Ibrahim, Peter wraps his arms around both Ibrahim and Natalya.
- Berserk Button:
- Czar Peter will forgive anything (eventually, at least), but laziness and negligence is something he can't abide, and woe betide you if you are lazy and negligent with shipbuilding.
- Unless you are a priest, don't let the Czar see you wearing a beard. Peter will chop off the beard at once and give you a humiliating "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Blackface: Vladimir Vysotsky as the Moor Ibrahim.
- Chocolate Baby: Ibrahim’s affair with Countess de Covignac is discovered by the latter’s husband after the Countess gives birth to a black baby.
- Dance of Romance: Ibrahim falls for Natalya after they dance at a ball.
- Dance Party Ending: The film ends with an outdoor Christmastide celebration that all of the main characters attend.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Ibrahim's home country was ravaged by a cruel war, he saw (according to the film's animated opening) his father die right in front of him, was captured and enslaved by enemies, and eventually brought to a foreign monarch. By an enormous stroke of good fortune, the monarch was Peter who took him in and raised him like his own son, but with such a past, it's no wonder Ibrahim is so withdrawn and solemn. In addition, in the more recent years, he has been forced to give up his child – after learning that the child's mother had the affair with him for nothing but amusement.
- Death by Adaptation: The one to be worse off in this Lighter and Softer adaptation is the Count whose wife was Ibrahim’s lover. In the novel, he survives and never finds out anything about the affair. In the film, Ibrahim kills him in a duel.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance:
- In the arrangement of a marriage, the bride's consent is optional. Ibrahim shocks everyone when he refuses to marry Natalya without any love from her side. Even Peter, who is extremely progressive for his time, is baffled as to why Ibrahim would go against his will over "such a trifle".
- Corporal punishment is the absolute norm. Ibrahim gives five lashes to Vanya Rtishchev for slacking during a lesson, and explains that when Vanya becomes an officer himself, he would have to discipline his underlings and would know never to order beatings out of sadism due to knowing what it feels like.
- Meanwhile, participating in an extramarital affair (if you are a man, that is) and killing the cuckolded husband in a duel (which, admittedly, the husband provoked) merits little more than a slap on the wrist.
- Dramatic Irony: In the beginning, when Peter is in doubt on whether Govorov should be made an officer of the fleet, it’s Ibrahim who comes to Govorov’s defence, and later it’s he who brings Govorov to the very ball where both of them meet Natalya.
- Entitled to Have You: Right from the start, Govorov acts as if his marriage to Natalya is merely a matter of time and has No Sense of Personal Space around her. If anything, it only helps her realise her feelings for Ibrahim, whose attitude is as contrasting as possible.
- Faint in Shock: Natalya’s first reaction when the czar announces he wants her to marry Ibrahim.
- The First Cut Is the Deepest: After learning that Countess de Covignac never really loved him and only viewed him as Foreign Fanservice, Ibrahim says he will never love again.
- Foreshadowing: Natalya might seem an utter Shrinking Violet due to her youth and sheltered upbringing, but at her first appearance, she is the one among her family who shows the least trepidation about coming on board a ship when a ball is held there (and that's considering her father is the ship's overseer and her brother has studied sailing and navigation), and later admits she wasn't in the least scared when Peter flooded the frigate. Looks like there's steel hidden under all that silk.
- Going Native: Having been brought to Russia in childhood, Ibrahim considers himself a Russian.
- Gone Horribly Right: When Ibrahim plans Natalya’s elopement with Govorov, he tells Govorov to come to the church in disguise. Govorov, probably figuring out the plan, decides to disguise himself as Ibrahim himself – and does it well enough to be mistaken for the latter (it helps that it all happens late in the evening) by two men Sergey has sent to beat up Ibrahim.
- Graceful Loser: The Shipping Torpedo team of Gavrila Rtishchev, Sergey and Govorov isn’t too angry in the finale. Gavrila and Sergey smile cheerfully as they see Ibrahim and Natalya and, clearly touched, comment on how happy they look, and even Govorov is last seen laughing at the failure of his own half-baked schemes.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Natalya, an innocent, kindhearted girl, is golden-haired.
- Historical Beauty Update: This
◊ is how the real Catherine I looked as early as 1717. This is her actress Lyudmila Chursina in 1977. The only thing done to make her resemble the Tsarina closer was giving her a black wig. - Honor Before Reason: After asking the czar's forgiveness in the final scene, Ibrahim still feels the need to explain he did the right thing, despite Natalya frantically signalling to him not to push his luck. Thankfully, Peter is in a good mood and laughingly tells Ibrahim to be quiet, otherwise they'd quarrel again.
- Hot-Blooded: Peter the Great is a generally good man and sovereign, but his temper can flare up pretty high.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: When the Rtishchevs come to plead with Ibrahim, Sergey, who had allegedly never been at the latter's house before, tells his father to be careful with one of the chairs as its leg is broken. Ibrahim immediately realises Sergey was one of the masked guests who pranked him earlier.
- The Ingenue: Natalya is a gentle-hearted and innocent sixteen-year-old.
- Innocent Bigot: Natalya is frightened of Ibrahim at first and faints when she hears she is to marry him, but she is a sixteen-year-old Sheltered Aristocrat from the early 18th-century Russian Northwest who has never seen black people before and doesn't even know much about them either.
- Irony: Ibrahim is absolutely horrified at the idea of deciding Natalya's fate without considering her own opinion… only to, unwittingly, attempt to do the exact same thing in the final scenes of the film, since he arranges Natalya's elopement with Govorov without asking her if she actually loves the latter. Of course, in his case, he simply makes the mistake of completely trusting Govorov who claimed that Natalya adored him.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Peter is way too pushy about arranging Ibrahim’s marriage, but he does it out of concern for his godson's future which does look pretty uncertain. When Peter dies (and he feels it will be sooner rather than later), Ibrahim will instantly become a nobody – he needs to have an old Russian family to back him up, even from the wife’s side, and give him prestige among the nobility.
- Literalist Snarking: A trait Ibrahim and Natalya share.
- Peter floods the frigate to make the defects in its construction obvious – while a ball is taking place on that frigate. Afterwards, Natalya is attended to by her maid:
Maid: You nearly drowned, my little fish!Natalya: Why, can fishes drown?- Ibrahim’s batman Filka complains he is constantly sitting behind the oven and cooking shchi like a cockroach.
Ibrahim: Cockroaches, mon cher, don’t cook shchi. And you haven’t cooked any for a week, either. - Maligned Mixed Marriage: The Rtishchevs are far from enthusiastic about letting Natalya marry a black man.
- Mathematician's Answer: On the day of Natalya's wedding, we have this exchange:Natalya's grandfather: That Moor… what's his birth? Royal or common?Natalya's father: Royal, Dad, royal... or common.note
- Mistaken for Flirting: Ibrahim thinks that Natalya was interested in him at the ball since she asked him to dance during the gavotte. The viewers are aware that she only did that after repeated prompting from her friends. Of course, when she faints after learning of their betrothal, Ibrahim realizes his mistake as well.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Though calling Entitled Bastard Govorov a full-fledged villain might be a stretch – if he hadn’t claimed to be Natalya’s beloved fiancé in an attempt to discourage Ibrahim, Ibrahim wouldn’t have arranged Govorov’s wedding to Natalya, and that magnanimous gesture is the very thing that prompts Natalya’s Love Epiphany towards Ibrahim.
- Oh, Crap!: When Peter the Great learns about Govorov challenging Ibrahim to a duel and Ibrahim refusing, he says he'll fight Govorov himself as Ibrahim’s superior. Govorov is mortified and immediately tries to back out.note
- Parental Abandonment: Ibrahim’s son by Countess de Covignac is sent away to be raised by rich guardians in Haiti, and neither Ibrahim nor the countess are allowed to see him again.
- Parental Substitute: Ibrahim views Peter as a father-figure. Even his Patronymic Petrovich is taken after Peter rather than Ibrahim's biological father.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Natalya comes to return Ibrahim's feelings, and despite their marriage being arranged by the czar, the couple ends up very happy.
- The Quiet One: Ibrahim doesn't talk much. When he dances with Natalya, she even thinks he can't speak Russian since he stays silent until she addresses him.
- Rags to Riches: Many of Peter's favored courtiers, such as General Yaguzhinsky, are lowborn, since he chooses advisors for their abilities rather than their origins (much to the irritation of some Blue Blood families).
- Royal Favorite: Ibrahim is powerful and influential as the royal protégé but rarely exploits it. If anything, the czar’s titular scheme to get Ibrahim married to Natalya embarrasses him, to the point he quarrels with Peter just to avoid it.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Peter the Great personally works in the shipyards (and not just of this kind). Not to mention that the city the plot is set in had only been in existence a few years and was built thanks to Peter’s initiative. He says right in the beginning of the film he is working on building port cities to secure Russia on the shores of the Baltic and the Black Seas.
- Secret Test of Character: Peter orders Ibrahim to cut off a rebel’s head. Ibrahim refuses point blank, saying he is ready to cut off ten heads in battle but won’t kill anyone who is defenceless. Turns out the "rebel" is Peter’s favourite jester Balakirev, and the "test" was a trick, a punishment for Ibrahim's scandalous affair and duel in Paris.
- She's All Grown Up: Govorov hasn’t seen Natalya since childhood and is astonished at how beautiful she has become.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Peter the Great himself ships the main characters, and gets very angry when the main characters don't agree to be shipped.
- Ibrahim starts shipping Natalya with Govorov after the latter tells him they have long been in love. Problem is, Govorov has lied – he started courting Natalya roughly at the same time as Ibrahim did (Ibrahim even beat him by a few minutes!), and Natalya doesn’t love him.
- Natalya’s brothers ship her: Sergey with Govorov and Vanya with Ibrahim.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Natalya's brothers, The Bully Dumb Muscle Sergey and studious Nice Guy Vanya.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Natalya is won over by Ibrahim’s kindness first and foremost.
- Spoiler Title: Will Ibrahim get married to Natalya or not? Well, the title gives you a hint on that.
- Unexpected Kindness: When Ibrahim refuses to marry Natalya after the czar personally announces their engagement, she thinks he has found some fault in her. She is astonished when Ibrahim admits he simply doesn't want to marry her against her will, because, as she tells him, usually the bride's opinion isn't asked for. After that, she ceases to be afraid of him and slowly begins to fall in love with him herself.
- What's Up, King Dude?: Peter often doesn't bother with long ceremonies and is happy working with simple shipbuilders or taking part in street celebrations.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Peter is sick and overtaxes himself greatly, and he confesses to Ibrahim he feels he won’t last long.
