Russian Film Leviathan--Good Shot at an Oscar--Putin Hating it The Russian film Leviafan (Leviathan) won the Golden Globe last Sunday for best foreign language film, and has been nominated for the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film (which is probably has a good chance of winning. But you wouldnt know it in Russia, since even though only three Soviet/Russian movies have won that Oscar since 1968 (and only the second for a Golden Globe since War and Peace in 68), Russian media have said nothing about it. Nothing. Russian state TV is totally mum on the subject, and it is not even being allowed in theatres in Russia, as it is considered by Putins minions as being anti-Russian (read: anti-Putin regime). It is a horribly true story of how Russia functions these days. Surely not coming to Russian theaters this century. This powerful Russian film (with English subtitles in the link provided here) by Russian Director Andrey Zvyaginsev shows the truth about Putins Russia. It demonstrates how the system actually works there, with government, police, prosecutors, and judges all working together criminally backing each other with the help of the Orthodox Church, which is part of the corrupt power structure. It indeed works like that at every level. The film shows how there seems to be no hope to change it, even with the truth on your side. It takes place in a small decrepit Russian town somewhere in the north (Murmansk area), but everything in it is so typical for the whole of Russia (and the CIS states in general). Total hopelessness. An excellent and very watchable and suspenseful piece, but not a feel-good film by any means. smotrionline.tv/videos/leviafan/ Of course, many on comment boards have come out of the woodwork, including not a few trolls, writing the most vile comments against the director and the film, and claiming for one that the decrepit town shown in the film is nothing like what exists in Russia. Obviously they do not get out too much, since it is precisely what most of the real Russia looks like. Poor, shoddy, run down, and drowning in vodka. I have been to many of these same types of places in the Caucasus, outside Moscow, Pskov, and in large parts of Belarus. The reality is far from the glitz of Moscow or St Petersburg, though the reality of this film regarding how the system works is present throughout the land. As a backlash against the film, Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, known for his outlandish statements (including saying Russia gained an extra chromosome with the annexation of Crimea), now wants prohibition of any films like this which say anything negative about the state. This is no doubt part of his and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozins campaign to create a new patriotic Russian Internet, patriotic radio and TV, books, exhibitions and video games. Such pro-Russian media are necessary they claim, “to speak in support of the president’s policy and go on the ideological offensive on all fronts. We must consolidate the state and society based on the values instilled by our history. We need a patriotic trend in the public consciousness.” This is purely one of the tenets of Fascism. Control of all aspects of society and thought. The State educates the citizens to civism, makes them aware of their mission, urges them to unity; its justice harmonizes their divergent interests; it transmits to future generations the conquests of the mind in the fields of science, art, law, human solidarity; it leads men up from primitive tribal life to that highest manifestation of human power, imperial rule. The State hands down to future generations the memory of those who laid down their lives to ensure its safety or to obey its laws; it sets up as examples and records for future ages the names of the captains who enlarged its territory and of the men of genius who have made it famous. Whenever respect for the State declines and the disintegrating and centrifugal tendencies of individuals and groups prevail, nations are headed for decay (Benito Mussolini, The Doctrine of Fascism, 1932)
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 22:59:34 +0000
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