User Reviews

This is the first Russian TV show that I've ever watched. Based on the poorly translated English title (it should really be "Life of a Lady" since it means "Mistress" as in counterpart to Master of the house, not side-piece) and the even more misleading synopsis I read on the streaming channel, I was expecting something racy, along the lines of "Moll Flanders." Well, it's nothing like that. The young heroine, Polina, is actually a paragon of virtue. That's not to say that the show is boring, though. I really enjoyed it. The acting is good, the story is engaging, the period detail is great (at least, I think so, not knowing much about Russian history), and the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous.

Polina grows up in luxury as the adopted daughter of the wealthy Duke Golovin. Only a couple of people, besides them, know that Polina was actually born a serf. When Golovin has a heart-attack, he tasks a notary with drawing up a freedom certificate for Polina (that will make her a free person and enable her to get a passport) and notarizing his will, which leaves Polina everything, but...stuff happens...

When Golovin dies, his estate is purchased by an enemy, Count Andrey Kretchetskiy, and all of the serfs, Polina included, go along with it. The grieving girl now has to learn to cope with; going from being an upper-class debutante to basically being a slave, losing almost all of her possessions, becoming a servant in the home that she was raised in, losing her fiancé, fending off unwanted advances from her new master, and more.

The cruel Kretchetskiy has a dashing younger brother but a nobleman can't fall in love with a serf. Or can he? Will Polina ever regain her freedom? Will she and her true love overcome all of the obstacles keeping them apart? Why does Kretchetskiy have such a grudge against Polina's late father? Whatever happened to Polina's absent mother? Will the person who complicated Polina's life do the right thing? You'll find out in just 18 episodes. There are sub-plots involving the notary, Boris (am I crazy or does he look a bit like a young Hume Cronyn?), and two of Polina's childhood friends. All of the threads come together in the last 3 episodes in interesting and sometimes surprising ways. I was riveted to the screen for the duration and not just because I had to read the sub-titles.

The performances of the actors are uniformly good. Tatyana Babenkova's expressive eyes show the depth of Polina's sorrow. Artem Krylov is just right as Dmitriy, her male counterpart in youthful beauty and virtue. Vladislav Abashin is perfectly slimy as the Count you love to hate. Ivan Shibanov makes Father Michail the priest you'd want in your local parish.

The show is visually stunning. The director and cinematographer really make the most of the scenic, outdoor locations. The lush greens of the fields and forest, the fog on the lake, etc. There was one low-angle shot, with the camera tracking through the estate's grounds at dusk, where the branches almost seemed to be popping out of my TV. There are many beautifully lit indoor scenes too, especially those in the church.

The only criticism I could possibly make of the look of the series is that the serfs always appear extremely neat and clean. When Polina is left with only one dress to wear (through several episodes), it never looks wrinkled or soiled, even after she works in the kitchen, dances in a field, sits on the grass, etc. It only finally gets dirty when she's forced to spend a day laboring in a charcoal pit, as it would be ridiculous otherwise.

One thing I find interesting is that there are undercurrents of morality and religious faith in this series that I don't think would be there if the same story were produced in the U.S. or UK. Most of the characters who do bad things feel guilt or shame about their actions. This is kind of refreshing at a time when shows about terrible people, delighting in doing terrible things ("Billions," "Scandal," etc.), are popular. One character refuses to do something that would solve all his problems because it would be at another person's expense. A couple of others eventually seek redemption for harm they've caused. Christianity is shown in a positive light. The village priest is a nice, normal, helpful guy with an interest in scientific things, not the regressive weirdo or hypocrite he would probably be in a British show.

If "LoaM" had been made by the BBC, 25% of the Russians would be played by POC, as totally absurd as that would be in the 1830s (or now, for that matter). Since Russia doesn't do PC nonsense, here we see Russian people who look like 19th century Russian people. The characters also speak and act the way they should, bucking the really annoying recent trend of period shows filled with characters who seem to have stepped right out of the present day, complete with 21st century attitudes, morals, etc. Female characters here have a quiet strength, they aren't ridiculously butch and constantly besting the men at everything. Male characters aren't all brutish, old-world stereotypes. Yes, some are awful but others are kind, caring, and protective. There's no gay romance with the obligatory "some day things will be different" comments either.

It's also interesting to see the time period and the serf experience depicted. Most TV shows or films we see in the U.S. that deal with Russia (aside from the classics) take place during the Cold War era. Before watching this, I had thought that serfs were indentured servants but I learned that they were no different than slaves.

There's really not much to criticize in this series. Towards the latter half, there are a few too many musical montages of times gone by (maybe I'd appreciate them more if I understood the Russian songs). Tatyana seems to go from learning to write a couple of letters of the alphabet to being able to compose a whole letter awfully quickly. There's a flashback, showing Andrey and Dmitriy as kids, where they seem to be way too close in age as Andrey must be at least 10 years older than his brother. The English subtitles in the version that I watched had a lot of typos/misspellings and when characters would occasionally speak in French or German, you'd hear a translated voice-over in Russian, talking over them, which was a bit weird. The English title of the show should be changed as "Life of a Mistress" makes it sound like a trashy bodice-ripper when it is, at heart, a very moral show.

Give it a try. The Brits aren't the only ones who can make good period pieces.