Trailer Tuesday - Khodorkovsky
A rendering of Mikhail Khodorkovsky from an animated sequence in Cyril Tuschi's documentary, KHODORKOVSKY
With Putin becoming a President again, I feel it's quite suitable to feature Khodorkovsky by Cyril Tuschi this week.
About the film:
This exhilarating documentary chronicles Mikhail Khodorkovsky's transformation from a self-proclaimed socialist to a fully realized capitalist – also recounting the stunning turn of events that made him one of the world's most famous political prisoners.
Weaving together in-depth interviews (including the first on-camera exchange with Khodorkovsky since his arrest), archival material, and stylized computer-animated reenactments, Tuschi shows us a man who embodies the paradox that is modern Russia – condemning the very corruption that helped make his fortune and envisioning a new Russia with respect for the rule of law.
Also covering the fight between Russia's richest man (Khodorkovsky) and the country's most powerful leader (Putin), Cyril Tuschi effortlessly integrates investigative journalism with in-depth political analysis, always contextualizing his narrative against political and cultural changes that reshaped Russian life in the last 20 years.
The film also dares to explore some of the still-unanswered questions about this mysterious story (e.g. Why didn't Khodorkovsky leave Russia before being arrested? How was Vladimir Putin threatened by Khodorkovsky? And if so, how?)
Stolen twice from the filmmaker's office before its Berlin premiere, Khodorkovsky is investigative journalism as political thriller – and an unflinching look at the state of the still-infant capitalist Russia.