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The Trial

The Trial

128 min

Russian

English

8
Artdoc rating

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Moscow, USSR. 1930. The Pillar Hall of the State House of the Unions. A group of top rank economists and engineers is put on trial accused of plotting a coup d'etat against the Soviet government.

It's alleged that they made a secret pact with the French Prime Minister, Raymond Poincare, and with other Western political leaders, aiming to destroy the Soviet power, restore capitalism and break up the USSR. All charges are fabricated and the accused are forced to confess to the crimes they never committed. The court, presided by Andrey Vyshinsky, who later became known as the diabolical prosecutor, key-figure in Stalinist show trials and the advocate of mass repressions, delivers death verdicts.

Unique archive footage reconstructs one of the first show trials, masterminded by Stalin, which unfolds as a theatrical performance with actors - prosecutors, witnesses, defendants, judges - lying to themselves, to the audience and to the world. The drama is real, but the story is fake. The film gives an unprecedented insight into the origins of a deadly regime, which made the slogan "Lie is Truth" its everyday reality.

Film crew

Director
Sergei Loznitsa
Screen writer
Sergei Loznitsa
Producer
Sergei Loznitsa, Maria Choustova
Sound producer
Vladimir Golovnitski

MOVIE ABOUT

Theme
History, Human rights, Propaganda, Politics
Country
Netherlands
Film studio
ATOMS & VOID
Genre
Essay, Archive footage
Country of action
USSR
Place of action
Moscow
Period of action
1925-1940
Festivals
Artdocfest 2018
Financing
Independent
Languages
Russian
Subtitles
English

Tags

суд
правосудие
промпартия
террор
Сталин
Вышинский
НКВД
Москва