I'm right now reading a biography of Ingrid Bergman so I took it upon myself to watch this movie to remind me of her charms. And a better movie I couldn't have chosen. Bergman embodies the well-known role of Anastasia wonderfully, from rags to riches, from a vagabond half-mad to a princess in love. But it's a movie in which all the stars shine, and Yul Brynner blends dignity and resentment well as the fallen Russian general, and Helen Hayes is utterly believable as the exiled Dowager Empress who has lost her daughter and grandchildren to the Russian Revolution. Watching the trio interact is watching art in motion, which may sound melodramatic, but it's how I feel when I'm watching brilliant actors play off each other. When Anastasia and the Dowager Empress come to the realization that she is indeed the lost princess, I was brought to the brink of tears. It came as a surprise to me; I generally don't watch movies that would make me cry and I certainly didn't expect it from this one. Finding an unexpected gem is what makes slogging through piles of crap worthwhile.
