Assassin of the Tsar: Standard Edition – Deaf Crocodile (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Soviet Union/UK, 1991
Director: Karen Shakhnazarov
Writers: Aleksandr Borodyanskiy, Karen Shakhnazarov
Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Oleg Yankovskiy, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Yuriy Sherstnyov, Anzhela Ptashuk, Viktor Seferov, Olga Antonova, Dariya Majorova, Evgeniya Kryukova, Alyona Teremizova, Olga Borisova, Anastasiya Nemolyaeva

Release Date: October 14th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 104 Minutes 45 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"From Karen Shakhnazarov, director of Zerograd, Assassin of the Tsar is a mysterious and labyrinthine psychological drama in which the tormented chambers of a patient’s mind come to warp everything around him, even the folds of history itself. In one of his finest latter-day performances, the great Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, Time After Time) stars as Timofeyev, a severe schizophrenic in a dreary Soviet mental hospital who is convinced that, impossibly, he’s the killer of two Tsars: Alexander II in 1881 and Nicholas II in 1918. The thoughtful new head of the hospital, Dr. Smirnov (Oleg Yankovskiy), is determined to cure Timofeyev of his madness—but instead finds himself literally pulled back through time, inhabiting the ghosts of the past as they march towards their tragic destiny." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (Both Versions)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "New restoration from original 35mm picture and sound elements by Mosfilm. The Assassin of the Tsar was shot in both English and Russian language versions using separate 35mm negatives for each. The English-language version features Malcolm McDowell's original voice; the Russian cast members learned their lines phonetically in English and were post-dubbed. For the Russian-language version, McDowell spoke his lines in English and was post-dubbed in Russian. The two versions have slightly different edits and running times, and the Russian-language version has a different score."

Assassin of the Tsar comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.4 GB

Feature: 22.4 GB (English Language Version), 18.1 GB (Russian Language Version)

This is another solid encode from Fidelity in Motion. The source looks excellent; flesh tones look healthy, and color saturation, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid.

Audio: 5/5 (Both Versions)

The English language version comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English with removable English SDH. The Russian language version comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Russian with non-removable English subtitles. Both audio tracks are in excellent shape; dialogue always comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an interview with actor Malcolm McDowell, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile Films (54 minutes 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with director Karen Shakhnazarov, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile (68 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Russian with a translator for Russian), an audio commentary with film writer and historian Samm Deighan, an 8-page booklet with an essay titled Time and Tides written by Walter Chaw, and the Russian language version of the film with a different edit and score (102 minutes 33 seconds, 1.37:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD mono Russian with non-removable English subtitles).

Summary:

Karen Shakhnazarov directed Assassin of the Tsar. He’s known for In the Moscow Slums, Zerograd, and White Tiger.

Set in the present in an asylum, Assassin of the Tsar is an enthralling blend of lived history and fiction. The narrative centers on a man named Timofeyev, who believes he is the two individuals who assassinated Tsar Alexander II in 1881 and his grandson, Tsar Nicholas II, in 1918. Although such a thing is improbable because of Timofeyev’s age and the time that’s elapsed since these two events, he never convincingly lays out the details surrounding them.

The narrative weaves some unexplained elements, which further blurs the line between reality and fantasy. Timofeyev's connection goes beyond these two men's memories and their ailments; on the anniversary of their execution, marks appear on him that resemble the means by which they died. There is another character named Dr. Smirnov who embraces what Timofeyev is telling him, and over time he begins to believe he was Tsar Nicholas II. Are these two men engulfed in a madness of their making, or are they just remembering moments from past lives? There is an ambiguity to this question, which makes its moment of truth all the more potent.

Although Malcolm McDowell is most known for Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange, since that film he has delivered other iconic performances that deserve to be held in the same high regard. Case in point, his remarkable portrayal of Timofeyev and Yakov Yurovsky in Assassin of the Tsar. He creates two fully unique characters who are utterly believable. Another performance of note is Oleg Yankovskiy (Nostalghia) in the dual roles of Dr. Smirnov and Tsar Nicholas II. He delivers an equally exemplary performance, and the moments he shares with Malcolm McDowell are most captivating.

Assassin of the Tsar was made at an important time; two weeks after it was released, the Soviet Union officially ended, and because of this impending change, it was allowed to tell Russian history that had long been suppressed. Its premise is flawlessly executed, and the narrative does a superb job drawing you in and holding your attention. Another area where Assassin of the Tsar excels is its exceptional production design, which does a phenomenal job recreating a believable past. Ultimately, Assassin of the Tsar is a fascinating blend of moments in the present and recreations from Russia’s past that far exceeds the sum of its parts.

Assassin of the Tsar gets an excellent release from Deaf Crocodile that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and insightful extras; highly recommended.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer