The latest from renowned filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa, Two Prosecutors is a stark warning of what happens when governments turn to coercive control and corruption to remain in power. Premiering in competition at Cannes, and based on the suppressed story of gulag survivor Georgy Demidov, the film is both darkly humorous and deeply disturbing in its exploration of the absurdities of totalitarianism and the lengths the establishment will go to in order to protect the status quo.
Soviet Union, 1937. Under Joseph Stalin’s tyrannical regime, detainees falsely accused by the administration try in vain to send letters out of prison. Instead, they are burned in a prison cell by the thousands. Against all odds, one letter escapes, reaching its intended destination at the office of the newly appointed local prosecutor, Alexander Kornyev.
Kornyev arrives at a prison in Bryansk holding Stepniak, an Old Bolshevik and local party stalwart imprisoned by the NKVD, the agents of the secret police. After many obstacles, Kornyev is granted a visit with Stepniak, whose letter accuses the local authority of widespread corruption. A dedicated Bolshevik of integrity, Kornyev is duty-bound to investigate these allegations, leading him on a quest for justice that will take him all the way to the office of the Attorney General in Moscow. In the age of the great Stalinist purges, his journey plunges him into the depths of the totalitarian regime and into the clutches of the dangerous characters who aim to maintain its domination.
Cer: 12A
Running time: 1hr 58mins
Russian with English Subtitles
