When Gregori Efimovich Rasputin Rasputin was murdered in 1916, rumour and political expediency set to work to paint him as a villain, responsible for the downfall of the Romanov empire, an insane alcoholic capable of any sexual extravagance. This film biography reappraises the myth of the "Mad Monk", using new information as well as first-hand accounts to rescue Rasputin from unjust historians. "He wasn'ta a Svengali figure, controlling the Tsarina," says producer Laurence Rees. "He didn't force people to kill themselves. That legacy is desperately unfair."