The first part of the two films about the Russian Emperor Peter the Great, based upon the novel “Peter the First” by Alexei Tolstoy. Combined in this two-series epic are the colorful personality of Peter, the ever interesting “fatal minutes” of world history, the literary talent of “Red Count” Alexei Tolstoy and the mastery of one of the best Soviet film directors – Sergey Gerasimov.

The years of the tsar’s adolescence and youth were permeated with deadly danger coming from some of the Boyars, the rebellious Streltsy and Tsarevna Sophia who aspired for power. But already at that early time Peter demonstrates a profound, bright intellect, a strong will and the sense of purpose, which help him disarm both his open and secret enemies.

Awards:
XIV All-Union Film Festival in Vilnius – Special Prize for a large-scale representation of a historic-patriotic theme to director S. Gerasimov, 1981;
Dmitri Zolotukhin – Best Actor of 1981 as voted by the readers of the Sovetsky Ekran magazine

Special features:
Interview with actress L. Germanova;
Textual material about author A. Tolstoy;
Filmographies;
Photo album