Charming and brutal

A Disappointing Continuation

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Anyone who believes that government-sanctioned repression and political skullduggery ended in Russia with the collapse of the Soviet Union - and the attendant dissolution of the KGB - will find much to disabuse them of that notion in "Poisoned by Polonium: The Litvinenko File," a disturbing and eye-opening look at what life is like in that recently "liberated" country.Alexander "Sasha" Litvinenko was, of course, the outspoken critic of the Putin government whose death by polonium poisoning in 2007 made international headlines. Litvinenko's "crimes" went beyond mere criticism of policy, however; an ex-KGB agent himself, he accused the FSB - the Russian secret service, a direct descendant of the old KGB - of being behind the terrorist bombings that rocked Moscow in 1999, bombings that he and others claim were carried out for the express purpose of ramping up public outrage against the Chechens whom the government knew would be blamed for the atrocities. It was Litvinenko's "insider" knowledge and willingness to speak out despite tremendous risk to himself and his family that led activist filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov to seek out and befriend him. With this unlimited access, Nekrasov was able to interview Litvinenko at great length for the several years leading up to his death. He even got to film him as he lay dying in a hospital room in London, where Litvinenko had been granted political asylum. It is these interviews that make up the bulk of Nekrasov's informative and shocking film.With these interviews and others - for Litvinenko is not the only one fearless enough to speak out on camera - Nekrasov has provided a scathing portrait of life under the Putin regime: the state-sponsored secrecy, the corruption and torture that is still being carried out on a regular basis, the repression of intellectual and political dissent - all holdovers from the dark days of Communist rule. Nekrasov's main thesis is that things haven't changed all that much in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and that the promises of a fledgling democracy are being perpetually undermined by those at the highest echelons of governmental power. And, as Litvinenko saw it, one of the reasons the Russian leaders ginned up a war with Chechnya in the first place was to legitimize its continued use of strong arm tactics in an ostensibly non-totalitarian society. Hence, the explosions in Moscow.Of course, none of this willingness to speak out against injustice comes without a steep price for all who choose to do so. And make no mistake about it; Litvinenko is not the only person Nekrasov interviews who turns up dead under mysterious circumstances before the movie is over. But for other whistleblowers the pushback from the FSB has come in the form of threats, blackmail, fabricated evidence, trumped-up criminal charges, destroyed reputations and false imprisonment.Perhaps most depressing of all is the general indifference Nekrasov has found to what is happening in his country - indifference on the part of not just the Russian populace and the national press but the world at large, an apathy that only encourages the government leaders to continue their suppressive ways.This may be a tough movie to sit through at times, but what it has to say about a nation - and about the few citizens courageous enough to stand up against its systematic abuses - cries out to be heard. It helps to ensure that Litvninenko will not have died in vain.

What is remarkable about this meandering documentary is that it contains archival footage before the sinister murder, by radioactive poisoning, of the FSB defector who is the subject of the film. It leaves no doubt that the Putin regime murdered Alexandre Litvinenko in London in a particularly brazen crime. It imparts some warmth to Litvinenko and his wife and a few other dissidents, but the downside is the overwhelmingly dark, and apparently accurate, description it provides of a Russia hopelessly corrupt at the top and hopelessly servile in the mass. It is a disturbing film, made on a shoestring (with a bad musical score tacked together), but the human tragedy at its heart is inescapable.

A fascinating piece, both in its contents and cinematic form. Editing is particularly strong, given the nature of the access which became impossible the moment the world started to pay attention. Nekrasov had been interested in Litvinenko before the latter's tragic fame but this film was apparently put together only after the poisoning. I've seen some other pics on the subject but none came anywhere near creating this unsettling sensation of being in the middle of it all. That is partly because of the director's on screen interaction with Litvinenko, which allowed me to identify with the narrator and made Litvinenko more credible (half of the Russians think he was a criminal, going by the official propaganda). I lived in Russia and Ukraine but somehow watching "Rebellion..." in Toronto really shocked, frightened and angered me forcing to redefine the term "corrution" in my mind. In some parts of the world corruption evidently means murder. "Rebellion" is structured like a novel, divided in chapters, and it masterfully controls various lines of the complex plot; but ultimately it is not a murder story and those who expect one might be disappointed. I admit I had myself wondered why a "Litvinenko movie" should be called "Rebellion", but having watched it I cannot think of a more appropriate title.

This is a bad film about a fascinating subject. Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian FSB agent murdered by his former colleagues, was a fascinating man. Unfortunately, the director decided to make the film as much about himself as about Litvinenko. The film meanders for close to two hours, delving into this tangent and that, never entirely finishing a thought or even making much sense, and lingering far too often on the director's handsome but ultimately irrelevant face.And the tangents? Mostly incomprehensible. Something about Putin and money laundering? Forgive me, but I have no idea what that was about, despite having watched a German journalist explain it to the filmmaker for what felt like an eternity. And then there's the camera-work. Some interviews have a fixed master shot that's cut with shots from a hand-held camera that appears to have been wielded by a 10-year-old with ADD. Other interviews don't even have the benefit of a steady master shot, and zoom suddenly to the subject's hands, eye, ear, whatever's handy. Now, it's one thing to use the point-of-view handycam technique to create a sense of intimacy and danger and illicit observation - we are, after all, talking about spies and secrecy. But the filmmaker doesn't know when to stop, and after the first two or three times, the effect is distracting and alienating.And finally... the film has at least half a dozen endings. Just when you thought it was over... NO! We're not done yet. Islam! He converted to Islam! Huh? What's this film about again?