Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A unique and timeless examination of the psychology of terrorism, January 30, 2007
This film is closely based on a book that was originally published pseudonymously by Boris Savinkov a century ago, but despite the fact that Savinkov is virtually unknown in the West outside of the world of professional history (it's worth mentioning that he was portrayed as a major character in the largely inaccurate 1980s BBC series "Reilly: The Ace of Spies"), his life and writings should be better known as a testimony to a very pertinent aspect of present-day living: terrorism. Savinkov devoted his entire life to the cause of terrorism, at first giving his services to the cause of revolution in turn-of-the-century Imperial Russia as a Social Revolutionary, and then later, after 1917, to the cause of counter-revolution against the Bolsheviks until his capture and death at their hands in 1925. He left behind an extensive body of writings detailing his experiences as a terrorist, four works of which were translated into English: a book of memoirs, Memoirs of a Terrorist; The Pale Horse (upon which this film is based); The Black Horse; and What Never Happened: A Novel of the Revolution. All of these works should be studied by anyone interested in obtaining a unique look into the soul and psyche of a terrorist. "The Pale Horse" was written at a mid-point in Savinkov's career, after many of his notorious assassinations in the cause of socialist revolution, but before his later counter-revolutionary identity emerged. Although the book and the film present themselves as fiction, the incident portrayed is based on an assassination which Savinkov actually carried out in 1905. However, "The Pale Horse," and as a result this film, is far from being a justification of his lethal actions in the cause of revolution. It is instead a meditation on the contradiction with which every terrorist must come to terms in the pursuit of his trade: the constant deviation between the sense of nihilism that lies behind any act which seeks to turn random murder (although Savinkov's assassinations are directed against specific targets in the Czarist aristocracy, many innocents die in the bombings as well) into a political symbol, and the resulting need for fanatical hate that is the only force that can drive his conscience to carry out such deeds. Savinkov's stories, and as a result this film, deserve to be considered as art, as despite his intimate involvement in the actions he is describing, he manages to maintain a metaphysical point of view that is exterior to them. This enables the viewer to arrive at his own conclusions about the killings that are portrayed. Additionally, this film does a brilliant job of recreating the sense of the novel, as well as the world of late Imperial Russia itself, although the dilemma with which it deals is as timeless as politically motivated violence itself. And even for those who have read the novel, the filmmakers give an interesting twist to the ending, based on the facts of Savinkov's later life, which adds an extra layer of meaning in light of what we know about Savinkov's death and political goals a century later.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Portrait of an assassin, August 27, 2007
Based on a real person, Boris Savinkov, A Rider Named Death is an interesting but somewhat flawed film. Aside from obvious anachronisms--there are automobiles circa 1925 or even later being driven around when the setting is Moscow, 1905--the psychological and emotional background of the main character, Georges, is only partially realized and/or explained. Georges is fanatically committed to the death of Czarist Russia nobles and in particular, the Grand Duke.
But exactly which Grand Duke is never explained, nor is it fully explained why Georges focuses on this noble rather than, as is cursorily brought up, the Czar himself. The philosophical basis of Georges' need to exterminate only the Grand Duke, or for that matter, anyone at all, is touched on, but teasingly and usually in the context of an equally fanatical colleague, Vanya, who cannot reconcile Christian love with violent terrorism. Georges does point out the contradictions inherent in the writings of the New Testament, but that in and of itself seems a somewhat superficial basis for terrorism and violence.
The look of the film, however, is sumptuous and elegant and, as mentioned previously, forgiving the "auto-anachronisms", decidedly entertaining. The actor portraying Georges is fine, as is the majority of the cast. In fact, the film seems, more than anything else, to show how great a job Russian filmmakers can do in the production of a period piece. Additionally, there is some degree of historical interest in the re-creation of Savinkov's activities, however incompletely described and/or backgrounded, and as well in the romantic interests portrayed here--his bomb-making female lover and a beautiful married woman with whom he has an affair.
Had there been more emotional context, this could easily have been a richly satisfying film. As it stands, it is partially fulfilling.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
visual and filmic masterpiece, story not so much, April 1, 2007
A very interesting movie and fantastically well made, but lacks the pacing and action western moviemakers expect, even in their highbrow fare. It's just difficult to make an interesting movie about these real events if the main character is so cipher-like that you only have second-hand evidence of his motivations and drives. Perhaps the fact that his life was defined by moral and emotional contradictions gives us analagous insight into why the Russian revolution turned out the way it did.
The main character is a man of action, as opposed to the western charicatures of revolutionaries of the time, talking each other to death with theory and dogma. Perhaps because so much of that talking process was actually merely manipulation and indoctrination shows why its absent from here. These people are already committed to their cause.
This might have been more substantive to the western viewer if it broadened its scope of time. If we saw how Savinkov came into his craven career, and how he ended it, perhaps we could have come away with more lessons. He leaves one utterly cold, and that may be the point, because everyone around him is warm and alive. Perhaps the great lesson to be drawn is one of the futility of violence even in desperate times. One imagines that even if the Russian revolution had not occured, the autocratic regime of the Czar still could not have long endured the continued assault of democratic and western influences. Partly because of the destabilizing actions of The Rider Named Death, his nation was plunged into a half-century-long nightmare of Stalinism.
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DVD ~ Oleg Menshikov
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