At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film is set amidst the massive break-down in Russia after the overthrow of the heirs of Ivan the Terrible. And shows how much Russia suffered in that time.It also shows the failed attempt by Poland-Lithuania, at that time a Great Power, to conquer Russia and convert it from Orthodox Christianity to Roman Catholicism. You see many shots of the Polish hussars, with their 'wings' making them look like angels, but behaving otherwise.The un-historical romance has a serf who escapes, loves a Russian princess and becomes a military hero. There is also a mystical element, featuring a holy man and a unicorn, which is also visually striking.You ought to enjoy this.

1612: KHRONIKI SMUTNOGO VREMENI is a strange Russian epic seemingly composed of pasted together bits of history, myth, and fiction by writer Arif Aliyev and directed with a complete lack of continuity by Vladimir Khotinenko. Why these production choices were made in what is apparently supposed to be a critical turn of events in the history of Russia is unclear, but the reason for making the film seems to be to out-Hollywood Hollywood without the benefit of CGI that serve as Hollywood's main 'character' in epics of this sort. Apparently from the title we are to accept this tale as a recreation of the death of Boris Fyodorovich Godunov (1551 - 1605) - de facto regent of Russia from 1584 to 1598 and then the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. The end of his reign and the murder of his son saw Russia descend into the Time of Troubles. There was a witness to these murders, one Andrei (Pytor Kislov) who fell into serfdom and then into being a mercenary with his friend Kostka (Artur Smolyaninov) for the Polish hetman (Michal Zebrowsski). Apparently one Godonov remained, the Tsarina Kseniya (Violetta Davydovskaya) and was loved by both the Polish hetman and by Andrei. The entire film is an extended battle between the Polish and the Russians for the control of Moscow and the dream of the Polish hetman to marry Kseniya and ascend the throne as the new Tsar. The referenced year 1612 is the year of the Battle for Moscow when the Poles were successfully defeated making way for the rise of the Romanovs as the royal family of Russia. Somewhere well hidden in this collage of decapitations and other examples of battlefield mayhem are the identities of the characters who populate this story, but the tale is so chopped up by amazingly bad editing (to the point that the film feels like there are large gaps missing as the screen simply goes dark frequently), by flights of fantasy that focus on a unicorn, moments when the past is recalled through the use of pixels of supposedly previously viewed material, and just plain lapses in plot details that the movie appears like a richly colorful blood bath with some unintentional (?) comedic moments. The machinations of the battle between the winged Poles and the oh-so-inventive Russians fighting against all odds border on absurd. But then perhaps that is the point of the film: war is madness and kingdoms are built by serendipity. It is a long song and tedious, but if you know the realities of Russian history it may be a very entertaining movie! Grady Harp

In 1605 the armies of Lithuania and Poland invade Russia and capture Moscow at the same time murdering the Godunov line of Czars save for Kseniya Godunova (Violetta Davydovskaya), who is captured by a Polish hetman (masterfully played by Polish actor Michal Zebrowski). An unwilling witness of these events is a 10 year old boy Andrei.7 years later Andrei is a ca 25 year old slave (yep, that's right... the kid aged a minimum of 15 years within the given timeframe) with no rights to his own life. Fate drives him to once again meet Kseniya, who is now the unwilling / willing (take your pick; the script gives you no favours and you don't really know what the uninspiring actress is actually trying to convey) lover of the Polish hetman. Luck takes a fortuitous turn as Andrei gets bought out by a hardened Spanish mercenary. Soon after the Spanaird dies tragically in battle and Andrei uses the opportunity to steal his identity. All this as part of the peasant Andrei's path to becoming the next Tzar of Russia...You can see the budget splashed out on this movie and everything glitters and overwhelms. All the set designs are exquisite and some scenes are breath-taking. But really this movie is evidence that throwing money at a movie does not a classic make.There is absolutely no tension or build-up and I had a nice 30-minute nap during the movie, which apparently didn't matter as nothing of consequence happened in the meantime. Storybuilding is pathetic and the overuse of slow-mos and 'mystical' flashbacks or dreams just mulls the pace even more. What's worse is that there are actually times where it would have been beneficial if they focused more on various parts of the story and fleshed out the background more. Instead the script rushes where it should have walked and crawls when it should be flying.The two redeeming things in the movie are the detailed and historically faithful set designs (the Polish hussars are especially beautifully done) plus the great role of Michal Zebrowski, who absolutely nails his character despite having the director and script against him. In the end those are the only two things you are sure to remember. That and the ridiculous unicorn (just what a historical movie needs... sic!) that plagues the picture every 5 minutes...I'm not sure what the game plan was here. It seems like the director wanted the aura of mysticism to dominate the story, but it failed miserably with the biggest and most ridiculous yawn of a movie I have viewed in ages.

Title in English is "1612. Chronicles of the Time of Troubles"Well, one should know post-Soviet cinema to rate this movie. As a whole, it is not so bad as it can seem, especially against a background of lots of new films (mostly very bad ones), which our TV shows everyday on every channel.Some expressions about History. The plot is fantastic. 1. Poor Xenia Godunova! If she knew what she would "do" in the director's imagination 400 years later, she would die of shame :))) Her travel with some "hetman" is a nonsense - just see any source about Xenia, she was one of the unhappiest women of the Time of Troubles. Also she never betrayed her country or used to live with a Polish robber. Actually she was not able to, because she had been in a monastery for about 7 or 8 years by the time of the movie action. 2. Fedor II Godunov was killed by Russian supporters of the Impostor, not by Poles! 3. Strangely enough, but the leather cannon is not a fantasm of the movie creators. Such cannons did really exist even though it is unlikely that they were used by Russians during the Time of Troubles. 4. Another (at least) strange thing is Kuzma Minin's absence in the action. Probably, he was just cut off as not wanted :)) Actors. It's impossible to understand the reasons Porechenkov was set as Prince Pozharsky. Porechenkov is no actor. If no actor tries to play such a great person you can imagine the result. Almost the same about the girl who played Xenia. She really tried and really did not manage. Zolotuhin is no doubt the great actor, but his character looks and behaves like Gandalf, but not an Orthodox Elder at all. Guys, you live in traditionally Orthodox country, is it really too hard to take a little care of your work? The actor who is absolutely excellent is Michał Żebrowski. Brilliant! Maybe, he saves the whole movie.Picture. Nice. Battle scenes, especially storm of the fortress, are quite good.Action. Not bad, not too slowly.The End. It is disappointing because it's a pure propaganda. They write "November 4th, 1612, Russians liberated Moscow". Ha-ha, they are as stupid as Duma of Russian Federation: both don't even know the difference between Julian and Gregorian calendars. Bad promotion for new "holiday".And one more thing. Positive. The movie is kind, and that's fine for such kind of film, I think.As a result my rate is 6, maybe 7. This movie is watchable but definitely not a masterpiece.