Two Prosecutors (Drama)

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Director: Sergei Loznitsa
Producer: Kevin Chneiweiss
Screenwriter: Sergey Loznitsa,Georgy Demidov
Cinematographer: Oleg Mutu
Composer: Christiaan Verbeek
Editor: Danielius Kokanauskis
Production Designer: Yuriy Grigorovich,Aldis Meinerts
Costume Designer: Dorota Roqueplo
Key Cast: Alexander Kuznetsov,Aleksandr Filippenko,Anatoliy Beliy

Adapted from a Soviet Gulag survivor’s story, Sergei Loznitsa’s return to fiction is a Kafkaesque fable that echoes loudly amid contemporary political corruption.

In 1937, fresh-faced lawyer Kornyev (Alexander Kuznetsov) receives a letter – written in blood – from a man alleging miscarriage of justice by the state secret police. The sender, Stepniak, has been imprisoned and severely beaten; he is near death’s door. Kornyev is a member of the party faithful, a true believer. He’s horrified by what Stepniak reveals, and decides to investigate, facing administrative hurdles along the way. Later, believing Joseph Stalin will want to know, he vows to take the case to Moscow.

Anyone familiar with the history of the Soviet Union’s Great Purge already knows this story doesn’t end well. It’s not unfamiliar territory for Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa, either, having previously visited the era with his documentary The Trial (MIFF 2019). Two Prosecutors, his first fiction feature since Donbass (MIFF 2018), is based on a novella by dissident physicist Georgy Demidov, who was imprisoned in the Gulag for 14 years. Kuznetsov brilliantly conveys Kornyev’s perseverance against a system designed to intimidate and deter him from his course, while the film’s beautifully chilling and desaturated visual design underscores its oppressive atmosphere. Picking up the Prix François Chalais at Cannes, this bitingly topical, darkly absurdist legal drama is a terrifying vision of authoritarian abuse and malignant bureaucracy.

“Five stars. Starkly austere and gripping … a very disturbing parable of the insidious micro-processes of tyranny.” –  The Guardian


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