The Revolution that wasn't
Director Aliona Polunina
Countries Estonia, Finland
Duration 96 min
Synopsis
Russia, 2007: exactly one year before the next presidential elections. The opposition is set to act decisively and to take power. The two central figures, Anatoly and Andrei, are veteran revolutionaries. Since 1997 they are members of a banned political organisation: the National Bolshevik Party. Both represent archetypical characters from what seems like 19th century history and literature: idealists who carry the virus of revolution. Their strong sense of right and wrong may lead them either to the barricades or to a monastery but never to bourgeois values or to opportunism. The film's action begins in early 2007 and ends a year later, after the presidential elections. Politics, however, serves only as the background for the main action, providing the environment in which the protagonists exist. The film is not about politics as such but rather about people in politics and politics in people. And the question remains: is it worth sacrificing your life for a political ideal when it seems that the system cannot be broken?
Russia, 2007: exactly one year before the next presidential elections. The opposition is set to act decisively and to take power. The two central figures, Anatoly and Andrei, are veteran revolutionaries. Since 1997 they are members of a banned political organisation: the National Bolshevik Party. Both represent archetypical characters from what seems like 19th century history and literature: idealists who carry the virus of revolution. Their strong sense of right and wrong may lead them either to the barricades or to a monastery but never to bourgeois values or to opportunism. The film's action begins in early 2007 and ends a year later, after the presidential elections. Politics, however, serves only as the background for the main action, providing the environment in which the protagonists exist. The film is not about politics as such but rather about people in politics and politics in people. And the question remains: is it worth sacrificing your life for a political ideal when it seems that the system cannot be broken?