Customer Reviews

Inner Circle [VHS]

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is by far the most underrated film ever made. Granted, it might seem emotionally draining and depressing the first time you see it. However, it is still one of the most memorable pictures I have ever seen. The story is simple in a sense that everyone's motivations are clear, and that is precisely what is so good about the film; you don't have to spend hours figuring out who did what and why. The characters are not one-dimensional, as Leonard Maltin said. They are as complex as they need to be. Matlin also pointed out that the film lacks subtlety. Actually, the film is more subtle than it appears to be. Think about it. The Inner Circle is, among other things, a statement against Stalinism. Yet we never see any labor camps. We do not see anyone getting shot. The Inner Circle only tells a story of one family. After seeing what they have to go through we begin to understand the true extent of the horror that Stalin unleashed on his nation. Also, this film is truly moving. Part of the reason the movie is so successful is that it is about real people and real situations. Oh, the performances.... I do not where to begin. Tom Hulce is incredible. If I did not know him from Amadeus I would have thought he was a Russian actor. Just look at the expression on his face: He looks as if he is actually living the story. Other actors are great too. To make the long story short, if you are into Russian history and you don't mind watching powerful and thought-provoking drama once in a while than this movie is for you.

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..."

This film is not entertainment. It insists that a viewer become involved within the metaphors. The use of mirrors throughout the film invites one to view the "inner circle" as much more than those people closest to Stalin. This technique asks the viewer to question how normal people, like the one in the mirror, can allow evil to dominate. Even more, it asks how a normal person can actually sanitize evil, in one's mind (One's own inner circle), into something worthy of "love" above and beyond the "inner circle" of love of family, friends, country and even self. At the same time, this film answers these questions. One must "close" the inner circle just to survive physically, mentally and emotionally. This is a deeply psychological film. What Maltin views as "one-dimensional acting" is actually the representation (done brilliantly by Hulce)of the shut-down of the psyche. Stalin's questioning, during Ivan's psychotic break after the suicide of his pregnant wife, of how he (Stalin) can trust anyone when even his inner circle lies to him, is a statement of Ivan's psychological state where he can no longer trust his own preceptions, nor himself. It is not safe. This is the ultimate in oppression.

Not the cartoon evil, or Hitler evil, so popular in cinema. This is an incredibly powerful, unbelievably subtle, film. The other reviewers here are spot on; this is a gorgeous portrait of how evil utterly destroys all who even brush against it. Stalin, after Mao probably the greatest murderer in history, is here a genial guy who likes to gather his buddies and watch movies. Yet the results of the pals and their friendly evenings together are shown so gloriously that you watch on the edge of your seat, awaiting the disaster that you know must arrive.

And how the world acts in fright to keep those soirees pleasant. Fear stalks every person here. Every conversation might be overheard, every misguided look might send one to the firing squad. But no actual murders are necessary to tell the tale. No freight trains full of Siberia bound prisoners. No harrowing views into the Lubyanka. The faces, the dialog, the orphanage, the vast expanses all assemble a scathing portrait of pervading, ever-present, terror. There is no escape, save death. No alternative; this is the only world anyone can imagine.

Just a beautiful (if that word can be appropriate for an evil unimaginable to us) look at grotesque men who create a world where everyone is subordinate to an idea. What a great theme. Anyone watching?

Available on DVD, just not from Amazon. And worth the hunt.

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 Ivans apartment is on the mark when he observes how Satan is; living in the Kremlin

In regard to Katyas 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

The cover sleeve of this movie depicts it as one that features the inner workings of the socialist murderers that ran Russia and the USSR under Stalin (the worst mass murderer in history.) The "inner circle" of Stalinist Russia is only incidental to the monie's true plot which is a biography of one underling, a KGB movie projectionist. Do not believe the cover. That being said this is actually quite a good flick. The acting is excellent. The story is shown from the self-deluded viewpoint of the projectionist and so the horrors of Stalinist Russia are muted. Well worth viewing, don't expect a Grisham or Ludlum-style thriller.

I watched this film accidentally on TV one night, but then couldn't help myself stuck to it until finished it. It successfully captured the horrorifying atmosphere during the Stalin period, and it told far more than that. The film is more subtle than it appears. Many scenes may seem to be ordinary and common when you first see it, but are turn out to be deep insights and powerful description of Stalin's inner circle. You would think the name "inner circle" refers to the power center around Stalin at first, but then you'd find the whole Russia turned out to be the inner circle... As a Chinese, the film gave me a deeper impact. I guess the Jews and the Russians would feel the same. What's happening in the film was so alike what was happening in China during 1960s. It got wonderful scenes and actors. Tom Hulce surely did a great job; other actors are also great. They acted so well that I thought they're all Russian, actually they're not. I dunno how to describe it-- it's stunning-- I highly recommand it to all.

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!

I saw this movie years ago after purchasing it on VHS. Not sure why this has not been released on DVD. Reviewers can disagree about what this movie is about. Regardless of whether you feel it is about the character Sanshin (the Kremlin projectionist), or life under Stalin, I think you will be impressed with how powerful and yet underrated the collective performances are. I was impressed with how well the story conveyed the sense of paranoia and fear that pervaded Soviet life under Stalin.

This is a very powerful movie. It will teach you about communism and about life in the Soviet Union better than any history book. Stalin, as you probably know, spent ten years in a ministry college before he joined the communist party. He did not become a pastor of course. But he learned from this experience that a blind faith is a very powerful weapon to keep people in line. He managed to make the whole nation believe that he was a god while keeping them in misery. Watch this and you will see.