Inner Circle
by Andrei Konchalovsky
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Actor: Aleksandr Zbruyev, Bob Hoskins, Feodor Chaliapin Jr., Lolita Davidovich, Tom HulceDirector: Andrei Konchalovsky
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
Running Time: 122 minutes
Release Date: 1994-06-24
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Studio: Sony Pictures
VHS Movie Reviews of Inner Circle
Movie Review: When is this EXCELLENT movie going to be released on DVD?
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is to me Andrei Konchalovsky at his very best.
One of the darkest periods of the Russian history told through the eyes of the innocent Ivan Sanshin. Communist Joseph Stalin purportedly killed millions of fellow Russians through famines, executions, deportations, and in the Gulag, most of them for political reasons. No opposition was allowed whatsoever, and Russia experienced the horrors of a blood-thirsty despotic regime with an asphyxiating cult to the "leaders'" persona.
As we see Ivan Sanshin's story develop in the movie (Tom Hulce), we can't help but wonder how many peoples along history have blindfoldedly fallen in the depths of savage and ruthless regimes?
How many more will keep falling?
We have lessons to learn from "The Inner Circle" particularly in countries where rise of totalitarisms (this time with the dangerous ingredient of populism attached) seem to be growing stronger by the day.
Hulce and Davidovich performances are flaweless. Bob Hoskins role as "Komrad Beria" is both stunning and powerful.
And Aleksandr Zbruyev as "Komrad Stalin" totally creeps me out.
(...I'll keep waiting for the DVD...)
Movie Review: When the result is minor than the sum of the parts!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is one of these films in which the dimension of the script simply did not cover all the expectations; there was so much to grasp beneath this interesting plot but the one -dimensional approach of the main character and the anecdotic character weakens it deadly.
Movie Review: An eyewitness to history---behind Stalin's own Curtain.
Summary: 4 Stars
Buzz, buzz, goes the doorbell. A man in his underwear rises to answer the summons in the dead of night, leaving his new bride in bed. "Comrade Sanshin?" the uniformed agent of the KGB asks, as the door opens. "Sir!" Sanshin responds. "You'll be coming with us", the uniform announces. "Where are you taking me, Sanshin asks, nervously; thinking of his neighbor who had just recently been taken away in the middle of the night. "No questions," says the uniform, adding, "we must leave immediately." Toward the waiting car downstairs they go, Sanshin declaring that "there must be some mistake. I've done nothing wrong." His neighbor, having been arrested for being 'an enemy of the people' leads Sanshin to state, "I've had no contact with foreigners"---the charge leveled against that neighbor. They get into the black official car and begin to move through streets wet from recent rain. Through semi-fogged windows and lingering raindrops clinging to them, Sanshin spies the obscured outline, lights, then walls of the fortress that sits at the center of Moscow, the seat of Soviet power. More to himself then questioningly, Sanshin finally declares aloud what's increasingly obvious (though unbelieveable) to him---"We're going to the Kremlin?!" Hence the title of this film, for we---through this character---are taken into the heart of the inner circle of the USSR under Stalin; as this man, Sanshin, is not arrested, but rather has his skills as a film projectionist commandeered by the Soviet leadership. Alexander Ganshin, the real person on whom this character was based actually served as Stalin's projectionist for almost 20 years until that film enthusiast/tyrant died in 1953. That's why this film is important. No, it's not a great film---it's a bit slow at points, etc., but, as windows into Stalin's inner circle go, it is unparalleled. It was the first western film to shoot within the walls of the Kremlin (in 1991, thanks to Gorbachev's winds of change). Its feel is thus spot-on, very authentic in all respects: sets, dialogue, realism, etc. The (Russian) actor who portrays Stalin, moreover, does a wonderful job. "Variety", Hollywood's trade paper, called this film "misconceived;" no doubt because it attempted to show what Hollywood would rather ignore---ie., that life under Stalin's rule was repressive. (Have you ever wondered why there are dozens of films about the Nazis & Hitler and barely a handful about Stalin and aspects of Soviet history?) As I said, this film is a good film (Roger Ebert gave it 3 stars), but it isn't a genius film---hence my rating. But it IS probably the BEST western film, accurate across the board, of any made about the USSR since Doctor Zhivago. If you have a serious interest in what life was like under Stalin you cannot avoid this film. (PS: For a great book written by a former Soviet party official of what life was like under Stalin, by someone who experienced it firsthand, I recommend Viktor Kravchenko's "I chose Freedom.") Cheers! Movie Review: Haunting movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Even though this movie is very long and at times can be viewed as depressing, I think this is my all-time fave movie. Ever since the first time I saw it on the History Channel in July of 1996, coming on it during the scene where Ivan is first meeting Stalin and saying his hands are shaking because it's the first time he's stood so close to him, I've been enraptured by it, and always watched it from then on out whenever the History Channel showed it during Movies in Time. Thankfully I videotaped it in June of 1997 and got all of the quotes and commentary on the movie between commercial breaks (such as the quote from director Konchalovskiy about how he wanted to portray terror by showing the arrest of a single Jewish intellectual in lieu of mountains of dead bodies), as well as the interview and movie discussion with Daniel Pipes that took place right after the movie ended, stuff specific only to the History Channel's viewing of it. Unfortunately they no longer have Movies in Time and the video appears to be out of print, so I'm lucky to have it.
Maybe I'm biased because I'm a passionate Russophile, but this movie is extremely engrossing and emotionally compelling, as well as covering one of my favourite eras of Russian history, it's just one of those films where the three hours fly by in the blink of an eye because it's such a good movie you forget about its sheer length. The music and lighting also heavily contribute to the overall mood of terror, suspicion, fear, and poignancy. Though it's the story of Stalin's film projectionist, it could be the story of any family in the Soviet period, and the tragedy it brought to everyone involved--the arrested Gubermanns, the little girl Katya who was raised in orphanages, the overly trusting Ivan, and the idealistic Anastasiya, who saw what this personality cult was doing to her loved ones. Even though most of the movies I watch are either silents or historical dramas like this one, this movie is simply unforgettable and haunting; the powerful ending never fails to send chills down my spine, even though I know by heart what happens in the final scene, what the final words are, the final thing we see before the movie ends. Also haunting and chilling is the question it poses at the end: "Katya...How many Katyas there are still..."
Movie Review: How many Katyas are there?
Summary: 5 Stars
A poignant, chilling and fascinating look into what Totalitarianism does to the human mind, and how it destroys innocent lives.Ivan, played by Tom Hulce, is a simple-minded projectionist, who is devoted with all his heart and soul, the Communist Party and its leaders, first and foremost, the mass murderer Stalin.
He gets a job working for Stalin and his Ministers, and cannot see that this is the heart of evil.
Lolita Davidovich plays the role of his beautiful young wife, Anastasia, who is also a wonderful person, who cannot live in such an evil society.
The humanity of her relationship with the little daughter of their neighbors (Katya), the Kupermans (executed as enemies of the people) is extremely touching, but cannot survive the cruelty of the Communist system.
It is essentially a human drama, not a political movie, but humanity is destroyed in totalitarian systems, and after we see the suffering it has caused, we see how the old Professor in Ivan?s apartment is on the mark when he observes how ?Satan is; living in the Kremlin?
In regard to Katya?s fate, the movie asks us ?how many Katyas are there??
Indeed how many innocents where destroyed by Communist dictatorships around the world.
At universities around the world, the human cost of this system does not interest the academics, who have no time for ordinary humans.
It is left to the survivors to pick up the pieces, and the victims forgotten?
Summary of Inner Circle
Here's an intriguing little premise: Inside Stalin's Kremlin, as seen by... his movie projectionist! Now that's glasnost. As played by Tom Hulce, he's an optimistic little dweeb who believes that Fearless Leader has only his best interests at heart. Most of the film is about his waiting to do his job, getting occasional glimpses of Uncle Joe, not realizing that, when the ruthless dictator finally does engage him in conversation, Stalin might as well be talking to a bug. Bob Hoskins pops up as Berea, head of the KGB and master of deceit--but mostly he wags his eyebrows and looks amused. It's a long slog to the finish, but then, that's true of almost all of director Andrei Konchalovsky's films. --Marshall FineDrama Video
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