All My Lenins

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All My Lenins
Estonian: Minu Leninid
Directed byHardi Volmer
Written byToomas Kall
Produced byMati Sepping
CinematographyArko Okk
Edited byMarju Juhkum
Music byThomas DeRenzo
Release date
  • 2 October 1997 (1997-10-02)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryEstonia
LanguagesEstonian
Russian
German
English

All My Lenins (Estonian: Minu Leninid) is a 1997 Estonian historical comedy film by Hardi Volmer.[1] It was produced by the Faama Film company in cooperation with Lenfilm.

Synopsis

In 1908, young

Bolshevik, Vladimir Lenin (portrayed by Viktor Sukhorukov
). Lenin believes tsarist Russia to be "the prison of nations".

When

Finno-Ugric territories, including Saint Petersburg
.

Kesküla and the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs make a deal to support Lenin financially. Lenin accepts the help. The Germans then install their super-spy Müller (

doppelgängers
; they want to be sure they can replace the real Lenin at any moment should something happen to him or should Lenin become a liability.

Historical accuracy

The authors of the film (screenplay by Toomas Kall, story by Hardi Volmer and Ott Sandrak) called it pseudo-historical, as the film contains some historical accuracies, but is mostly fiction. In fall 1914, the German ambassador in Switzerland, Freiherr Gisbert von Romberg (Linnar Priimägi) informed his government about "an Estonian, Alexander Kesküla, who made a proposal to use Lenin in our plans against Russia." German intelligence clarified that Kesküla indeed had access to Bolshevik inner circles and to Lenin himself (as in the film). Moreover, Kesküla had prior experience using foreign assistance to support rebels in Russia; in 1905, he received money from Japanese spy Akashi Motojiro to advance his interests in Tallinn, Tartu, and Riga.

The Germans were initially skeptical of Kesküla's proposal. The

German Foreign Ministry viewed the Bolsheviks as a fringe group that lacked the influence to change hearts and minds in the Russian state (as in the film.) However, the situation soon changed; in December 1914, Kesküla received 10,000 Reichsmarks from Germany to distribute to the Bolsheviks.[2]

Although Kesküla informed the German government about Lenin, Kesküla may not have been the only one to fund Lenin's cause with outside money. The film, however, focuses solely on Kesküla.

"The school of Lenin's doppelgängers in Zürich" is also fictional, as are the doppelgangers themselves (Lenin-Monk, Lenin-Beggar, Lenin-Electrician and Lenin-Criminal).

Cast

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-313-33125-1
    .
  2. ^ "Aleksander Kesk?la". Archived from the original on 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2007-11-07.

External links

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