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Ewan McGregor as Count Rostov In a Gentleman in Moscow. (Photo: Ben Blackall/Paramount+ With Showtime)

Alexander’s aristocratic background and general air of superiority don’t exactly make him an instantly appealing character, especially when he’s surrounded by members of the working class who’ve suddenly been elevated in the eyes of Mother Russia. But that’s where McGregor’s performance comes in. Broader complications of playing someone across several decades aside, McGregor instills in Alexander an unwavering dignity, a twinkling sincerity, and endless empathy for others. We do not learn about his aspirations, nor do we hear about the life that he had imagined for himself. That would be too cruel, and Alexander has already experienced unreasonable cruelty. A Gentleman in Moscow doesn’t let him wallow, although it allows him a bout of sadness when he needs it. Almost in an act of solidarity, the show incarcerates itself along with Alexander, barely leaving his side as he surrenders to the reality of his new life as a prisoner in the country he loves so dearly. In his entrapment, he finds emancipation.

To penetrate the protagonist’s mind with such clarity would be difficult for any show to accomplish, but it is especially admirable here, because Towles’ towering novel would make frequent detours into the inner landscape of its protagonist’s psyche. Creator Ben Vanstone and his team strike a fine balance between the cruel irony of Alexander’s predicament, and his ability to make the most of his surroundings — he lives in relative luxury, while the world outside witnesses upheaval. “It is the business of times to change, and of gentlemen to change with them,” he says in one scene, having embraced life’s eternal truth, that go on it must, come rain or new regime.

A natural charmer — Alexander is well-versed in virtually all matters under the sun, including gastronomy, literature, and, somewhat significantly, apples — he makes friends everywhere he goes. And before long, he begins to view the hotel’s staff — the receptionist Vasily, the head waiter Andre, the barman Audrius, the seamstress Marina, and the chef Emile — as his family. Over time, they become equals, a transformation that the show symbolically communicates in a scene where thousands of wine bottles in the hotel’s cellar have their labels removed by the newly empowered proletariat. In the eyes of an aesthete like Alexander, it is an act of vandalism akin to Tchaikovsky being performed on a Casio keyboard.

But it is only when he befriends an unsupervised little girl named Nina — a long term resident of the hotel like himself — that Alexander truly evolves as a person. And in episode three — every episode functions as a self-contained story in itself — Alexander enters into a romance with a silent film star named Anna Urbanova, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. What begins as a brief fling turns into an epic love story, as Anna and Alexander’ re-encounter each other across several years. We never follow Ana outside the Metropol’s four walls, but like every supporting character in the show — a glowering ‘villain’ named Osip gets perhaps the most resounding arc — she emerges as a fully fleshed-out person by the time Alexander is ready to make more active choices, following a lifetime of passively adjusting to whatever googly was hurled at him.

Ewan McGregor as Count Rostov in A Gentleman in Moscow. (Photo: Ben Blackall/Paramount+ With Showtime)

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A Gentleman in Moscow is unflinching in its affection for its hero, rarely making the mistake to suggest that he is in any way at peace. Alexander might have adapted to his surroundings, but crucially, he hasn’t become acclimatised to them. Artfully filmed flashbacks project him as a more complicated man than we’d been led to believe, and McGregor grabs every opportunity that he gets to milk his melancholia. The world, as Alexander learns quite literally, waits for no man. On the outside, Hitler’s forces make inroads across Europe; some years later, they are defeated. A few decades into his imprisonment, Stalin dies. But Alexander’s existence revolves not around the whims of the universe or the petty politics of man, but around his found family, which, in episode four, grows in more magnificent ways than he could ever have imagined.

This is, ultimately, a story about repression — a repression of emotions, of culture, of expression. Alexander experiences tremendous injustices, but he channels whatever resentment that he might hold in his heart by opening it up to others. This might sound like high praise, but watching A Gentleman in Moscow isn’t unlike watching The Shawshank Redemption for the first time. It’s the kind of show that can, with a well-placed wail of a cello, or a perfectly timed close-up, sweep you off your feet with its unique blend of old world charm, soaring romance, and immersive thrills.

A Gentleman in Moscow
Creator – Ben Vanstone
Cast – Ewan McGregor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Fehinti Balogun, Johnny Harris, Alexa Goodall, Beau Gadsdon, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Leah Harvey, John Heffernan
Rating – 5/5