User Reviews

This series is really great and I really enjoyed it but it is much more about ivan iii and his mother with a little bit thrown in about Sofia

I love this series. The scenery is beautiful and the acting is great. It is a very good portrayal of a part of Russian history that I knew nothing about. But the title is Sofia. And she is at best a supporting character. The series focuses much more on the Male characters.

The Russian TV miniseries Sofiya (2016) was shown in the U.S. with the anglicised title Sophia. The series was directed by Vyacheslav Ross and Aleksey Andrianov. Mariya Andreeva is superb in the title role of Sophia Palaiologina, who was a Byzantine princess.

By the time the movie begins--in the late 15th century--Constantinople had been conquered by the Turks. Sophia and her family had escaped to Rome, where they were treated well by the Pope and a cardinal.

Her marriage was arranged with Ivan III, Prince of Muscovy. It was thought that her influence would be enough to lead Russia, which was Eastern Orthodox, back to Roman Catholicism. We learn immediately that four years in Rome had not permanently changed Sophia's belief in Eastern Orthodoxy. Once she crossed into Russia, she returned to her original faith.

One plot of the movie is agents of the Pope trying to kill Sophia. Another is the castle intrigues, heresies, and political infighting. (We call such matters Byzantine for a reason, but they were not restricted to the Byzantine Empire.)

We heard a lecture about the historical Sophia, and as far as I can tell, the plot of the miniseries is historically accurate in the overall sense. Whether the dialog actually played out in real life the way it did on the screen is beyond my knowledge.

Incidentally, the lecturer called the movie a soap opera. Well, yes and no. Most miniseries could be called soap operas if you think of them that way. Episode one--crisis, then resolution, then a teaser. Episode two--crisis, then resolution, then a teaser. Downton Abbey was a soap opera too, if that's how you define soap opera.

My thought is that this is a miniseries about a fascinating episode in Russian history, well acted and well directed. Other raters agreed with me, because Sophia has a very high IMDb rating of 7.8. I thought it was even better than that, and rated it 9.

This series is not only absolutely gorgeous and fascinating to look at (not just the costumes, but ALL of the sets and even the make-up -- or the authentic-looking lack thereof) but extraordinarily entertaining, intelligently produced, and beautifully acted. Neither American nor British television (including the BBC) has EVER produced anything half this good.

I don't care about historical accuracy (and I disagree with reviewers who say you need to research the history in order to enjoy this series), but I care very much about historical believability, and there is not a single frame or word or movement that feels like anything but 15th century Russia.

There is much thoroughly believable drama, but not ANY melodrama, which is what sets it miles apart from American and even British productions. It's like a time machine, letting me watch these people living their lives as they really lived them more than 500 years ago. It seems so real and so true that I'm amazed when I remember occasionally that these are 21st-century actors only pretending to be historical persons.

First, I must echo other reviewers-- this is an experience that leaves you longing for more. The plot, complex as it can be, is nevertheless easy to follow and totally engaging. The acting is superb--never did I feel that I was watching "a performance." The characters were far too convincing and complex. The settings capture both the splendor and the squalor of the period.

Do you need to brush up on Russian history first? If you are not familiar with the reign of Ivan III, I suggest watching the series first and learning the facts afterward. Yes, there is much of the epic and the mythic here, but there are also truths transcending accuracy. Critique the historical elements once you have yielded to the world in which the series creates.

Even the subtitles were not bothersome, and unlike many translations, this one was idiomatic and (I think) correct.

Well worth a binge. My sole quibble is that Zoe/Sophia is just too entirely good and "the villain" (unnamed here) just too relentlessly bad. The flaws and virtues of every other character are conveyed, giving the series depth and verisimilitude.

I am no fan or scholar of Russian history, so I was initially reluctant to invest time in the series. Not only did my viewing teach me a lot, however--It made me hungry to learn more.

I love period drama and the Russians always do a wonderful job, even if at its heart is a political statement. Strong female characters, strong male characters, strong story. The only thing I find myself missing is a 2nd season

I absolutely love Russian miniseries! They are simply beautiful. Not only are the historical dramas educational and create a desire to learn more about a particular era or person in Russian history, but the costumes and sets are magnificent. For many of these miniseries, the dialog is slow enough that you can easily follow along with the subtitles. I first came upon Russian tv by watching Ekaterina (highly recommend). Since that time, I am completely addicted and anxiously awaiting an opportunity to watch the latest production on the life of Tzarina Elizabeth.

I never knew about Sophia before watching this. It is a beautiful series. Also worth watching is Gudanov. I find these on Amazon Prime.

SOPHIA (2016) was an exceptional Russian historical mini series drama, focusing on the lives of the historical figures of Grand Princess Sophia Palaiologina (played by Mariya Andreeva) and her husband the Grand Prince / Csar Ivan III (played by Evgeniy Tsyganov).

"In 15th Century Russia, the last Byzantine princess, Sophia Palaiologina, moves from Rome to far away Moscow to marry Czar Ivan III. Destined to become the first influential female figure of the Russian Empire, Sophia overcomes court intrigue and betrayals, and helps Ivan consolidate the fragmented country, push Mongolian invaders out, and build the Kremlin, the most magnificent symbol of Russia."

This series was excellent, captivating and visually appealing. The costumes and settings for one were incredible and made the show quite immersive. The cast, especially Princess Sophia (Mariya Andreeva), Czar Ivan III (Evgeniy Tsyganov), Grand Princess Maria Yaroslavna (Nadezhda Markina), and a quite few many others are all excellent and the story was quite intriguing though filled with relevant politics that may be dull to some. Liking historical politics and intrigue, I rather enjoyed it, myself.

On a side note, Evgeniy Tsyganov, who was really great in this role as Prince Ivan III, was also known to me by his previous role in the Russian historical WWII war movie, based on true events about the life of the extraordinary female sniper, Lyudmila Pavlichenko; the movie was called Battle of Sevastopol, a great movie for anyone interested.

Moving on and without spoilers, I will just say I wasn't really satisfied with the last few episodes. It was an alright ending, but not really as powerful as the rest of the series had been. Things just didn't feel very organic or natural but overly dramatized compared to the rest of the series. The other issue for me was an unusual shift that happened somewhere around the mid-point of the series, in which the focus drifted from Sophia being the central character POV to others, namely Ivan but others as well, being the central focus and her feeling more and more like a side character. This weakened the story a bit for me, as it felt that the series treated her as less valuable past a certain point, naturally after having children. *eyeroll*

Other than that, the series was a very nice hidden gem free on Amazon Prime Video. The costumes, settings, and production value, as well as much of the acting, were visually stunning and the story was intriguing. Wish the writing hadn't faltered towards the end. But overall, happy to have watched it. Great period drama focusing on the Russian historical era of Czar Ivan III. I would love to see move Russian series, in this era or others. A great find!

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this "historical" account of Sophia. It was interesting and beautifully filmed. However, after a while it got bogged down with the Politics vs Religion wars. I also found it telling that the writers put in contemporary slang for something set in the year 1472. For instance, one of the palaces servants says, "I'll bring snacks in a jiffy." No joke, I immediately wrote it down. Then the Prince later says, "when pigs might fly." I guess they wanted to make sure we were still paying attention. I did. Was it purposely done that the Fydor looked like a dead ringer for Lenin? The only reason why I lowered the score is because of the above, but mainly the ongoing and boring wars between the two factions. Yawn.

Historical drama. It just so happened that this historical series ran past me at the time, but then I was not up to it, but I remotely heard pretty good reviews about it, and since I have a patriotic theme now, then why not watch this creation of the second channel? And all these eight episodes passed me in one breath, and so I decided to leave my review about him. And here is my brief opinion - The Great wife of a Great husband. There were both pros and cons in the series, and I want to dwell on them in more detail, so I finish with the introductory part.

So, the pros: Russian Russian filmmakers and TV series makers very rarely cover the fifteenth century of our history, namely the reign of Ivan the Third Vasilyevich, who was nicknamed the Great for his deeds, because he remained in the shadow of his grandson Ivan the Fourth, who continued his grandfather's work and was able to strengthen the Russian kingdom and rid the country of the hated Kazan raids, strengthened the army and he did many more things, but it was his grandfather who started it - Ivan the Third the Great, who in turn did a lot of glorious deeds, but about whom very little is said, written, filmed, well, at least this series was made.

2. The script - the series tells the story of Sofia (before Zoya's marriage) Palaiologos is the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, who lost her home and family, but it was this young princess who, having arrived in distant Muscovy, became a Russian princess and the support of her great husband in all her endeavors, because Russia still had to unite, throw off the Mongol yoke, conquer rebellious cities and principalities, and fight with a mighty western neighbor - Russian Russian Grand Duchy, arrange children and provide a dynasty, while intrigues constantly flare up, and enemies will interfere at every step, and the brave and resolute Sofia will be a reliable support for Ivan Vasilyevich, she will love Muscovy and everything Russian, and her ancestral coat of arms - the double-headed eagle - will become the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and then the Russian Kingdom, and now he is one of the symbols of our great state. Almost all the characters of the series are real historical figures, information about which has been preserved in quite detailed. And almost all repeat the characters of their historical prototypes. Although, I was a little deceitful, because Ivan Vasilyevich is the second main character here, along with Sofia. Each episode ends in such a way that you definitely want to know the sequel. Of course, the scenario is not perfect, but it will pull on a solid four because of its twisting and dynamism.

3. Costumes and scenery - the series was filmed in Italy (and it is visible and even felt) and in Russia, in particular in Moscow and Pskov (again) Kremlins, Novgorod and, of course, pavilions where authentic scenery of the fifteenth century was recreated. I have climbed the Pskov Kremlin and memorized every corner there (even the Pokrovskaya Tower was filmed for some episodes). The creators managed to plunge the viewer into that era, and even me, who in the Pskov episodes tried hard to pretend that it was not Pskov but Moscow. And the costumes are generally beyond praise, because they are magnificent and look like the things of the aristocracy on the aristocrats, the chain mail on the warriors look like chain mail, and the shirts of the poor look like the shirts of the poor. My respects to the costumers, because they really did their best (except for some points, which are discussed below).

4. Acting - the old Soviet school (Boris Nevzorov, Nadezhda Markina, Pyotr Zaichenko) - my respects! But even the young (Sofia Nikitchuk, Ilya Ilyinykh, Miriam Sekhon, etc.) generally cope well with the assigned roles, the majority. And I already thought that the acting school in Russia was dead, but it's not! They can surprise you!

So, the cons: 1. Historical mistakes - Ivan Vasilyevich tore up the khan's charter (basma), and the ambassadors did not have any paizi, as shown in the series. Why do the khan of the Great Horde and his closest military leaders wear rags? After all, this is to know, and the khan is from the Genghisid clan, and no one has canceled the hierarchy, no one really knows about the fate of the brave voivode Fyodor Davydovich the Lame, and of course collective images of people who were given out for real. One question - Why? I'm talking about the Metropolitan of Moscow and the Pope of Rome. There are still a lot of these mistakes, and if we list them all, then this review will turn out to be very long, and we don't need it. Well, at least it pleases that they are baptized with a double cross, and not with a triple cross.

Russian Russians did not actually show the unification of Russia with Moscow at the head (especially the confrontation with Tver), a serious conflict with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (it was a continuation of the unification of Russian lands), namely two Russo-Lithuanian wars (1487-1494 and 1500-1503, respectively), the struggle with the Kazan Khanate, the development of the Kama region, and of course the famous Sudebnik of 1497. Sofia's story was shown almost completely, but her husband's merits were not very much, because they stopped only at the most important (from the point of view of the screenwriters) events. Personally, I would not mind sixteen episodes if they would fully reveal the identity and deeds of Ivan Vasilyevich.

3. Speech - and again we are about it. Well, we didn't talk at that time as well as now, well, there was no such thing, even if you crack. The same problem was in the "Squad", but here it cuts the ear more strongly, because "Squad" is an action movie, and "Sofia" is a historical drama, where the emphasis is on conversations and occasionally battles and important historical events. Only a few actors are trying to squeeze out some semblance of an Old Russian reprimand, but that's it.

4. The unsuccessful selection of actors - Amadou Mamadakov in the role of Akhmat - is such a bad choice that it remains to beat your head against the wall. Amadou is more of a comedic actor (cult TV series "Soldiers" this confirms), and here he looked very comical when he uttered the pathetic phrases of the ruler of a large state. Boris Tokarev in the role of Aristotle Fioravanti looked too pale, but his historical prototype was the smartest man of that time, a great engineer and gunsmith.

5. A sharp finale - the finale catches the viewer extremely unexpectedly, just in one second everything stops - and the credits (although it turned out very emotionally). And they will not tell us about the fate of the main characters, and this is at least unfair to the viewer.

A little about the main characters: 1. Ivan the Third Vasilyevich the Great, performed by Evgeny Tsyganov, is the Grand Duke of Moscow, the collector of Russian lands, who ended the Horde rule in Russia and so on. A great husband of a great country, who got a smart wife to be proud of. I didn't think that the namesake of the Gypsies would please me, and he showed strength, and pride, and anger, humility, pain, joy. Only one minus - well, he doesn't have a royal bearing! Everything is there, but the posture spoils the overall impression.

2. Sofia (before her marriage Zoya) Fominichna Palaiologos, performed by Maria Andreeva, is the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, who unwittingly turned out to be the wife of the Grand Duke of Moscow, and turned Moscow into the "Third Rome" with him, sincerely fell in love with the Orthodox faith, introduced several useful Byzantine customs, advocated attracting foreign specialists to serve Ivan Vasilyevich and in the moments of disgrace, she remained faithful to her husband and the prince, which showed genuine Christian humility and wisdom. It's not for nothing that they say that a great woman builds behind every great man. Sofia is one of those women. She sets an excellent example of wisdom and generosity, foresight and Christianity, reasonableness and modesty. And the actress played this role very well.

The series covered many events of those years (for example, the famous "Heresy of the Jews", the conflict of Ivan with his younger brothers, and so on), and for fans of the history of Russia it will be clearly useful, as well as for ordinary people completely unfamiliar with this era. A solid four, although we could have made a five, but we have what we have.

As a result, we get a good historical series about a great woman, with a good script, interesting characters, a lot of significant events in the history of Russia, good music and good acting.

My rating is 8 out of 10 and my recommendation for viewing!

That situation when leading actors are so bad and unfit for their roles that you can only take background and secondary actors seriously and try to block yourself when the "Prince" and his wife show up. This series is a junk, not worthy of the time, unless you are curious from historical standpoint. However judging by the series, the prince seem psychotic detached, aloof and rather unpleasant character, while per wiki he was complete opposite- strong, powerful, aggressive. Strange series.

Russian historical series related to Zoe-Sophia Palaiologina, niece of the last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI, Palaiologos, and later Grand Princess of Moscow. She was the grandmother of Ivan IV, the Terrible.

The series is well directed and shut and the acting very good. It is recommended to those who are going to see it and do not know who Zoe-Sophia Palaiologina was, to have a look in a history book, or just in Wikipedia, in order to have a basic idea for her and the history they are going to see.

My vote 10/10.

An expensive production with nice scenery and costumes and a bit of historical facts. I expected it to be more historical accurate and less superficial.

I don't say it doesn't worth a view but don't expect too much as not to be disappointed.

One gets a general view of the era but don't brag about your knowledge later based on the TV series.

The first episodes are better and my rating was a bit higher. After watching the last two episodes the score dropped down because the fiction seemed to have overcome reality.

As a non Russian speaker this TV series was something out of the ordinary for me to watch for one time.

The term is not the most inspired because it is not about costumes, performances, locations or plot. But a sort of embroidery who you discover step by step, becoming not exactly its viewer but its part. More than a serie, it is a fresco. Credible, precise created, example of high craft and inspired manner to reflect the past. It does not propose a melodramatic perspective about events . Or perfect heroes. But the respiration of the time. The influence of a Bizantine princess, the evolution of a Russian leader who creates a state . To write about it is not easy because, after each episode, something who could be emotion or reflection leads your opininions about "Sofiya".