The Inner Circle (1991)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Andrei Konchalovsky

Writers (WGA):

Andrei Konchalovsky (written by) &
Anatoli Usov (written by)

Release Date:

25 December 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The true story of Ivan Sanchin, the KGB officer who was Stalin's private film projectionist from 1939 until the dictator's death...

Plot Keywords:

Projectionist | WWII | Josef Stalin | Socialism | 1930s

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Tom Hulce	...	Ivan Sanshin
Lolita Davidovich	...	Anastasia
Bob Hoskins	...	Beria
Aleksandr Zbruyev	...	Stalin
Feodor Chaliapin Jr.	...	Prof. Bartnev
Bess Meyer	...	Katya (16 years)
Mariya Baranova	...	Katya (10 years)
Irina Kupchenko	...	Directress
Vladimir Kuleshov	...	Colonel Schelkasov
Vsevolod Larionov	...	General Rumiantsev
Aleksandr Filippenko	...	Major Khitrov
Yevdokiya Germanova	...	Governess
Lyubov Matyushina	...	Sonia Gubelman
Aleksandr Garin	...	Vasily Morda
Mariya Vinogradova	...	Fedosia

Also Known As:

Ближний круг (Soviet Union: Russian title)
Blizhniy krug (Soviet Union: Russian title)
Il proiezionista (Italy)
The Projectionist (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

137 min

Country:

Italy | Soviet Union | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | Peru:14 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Moscow, Russia

Company:

Numero Uno International

Trivia:

While in Russia, Tom Hulce met with Alexander Ganshin (upon whose life the film was based) to better learn what it was like to work for Stalin.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The movie covers the years 1939 to Stalin's death in 1953. However, it constantly refers to the KGB, an organization that did not come into existence until 1954. Until then the USSR security service was known by a variety of names, most notably the NKVD (Narodny Komisariat Vnutrennykh Del or People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs) between 1934 and 1943. It is this organization that Ivan would have joined in 1939. However, the sign on the NKVD headquarters in the film does read "NKVD" not "KGB". This refers only to foreign versions of movie, because in russian version names are correct. "NKVD" is used in early scenes and "MGB" in '50s.

Quotes:

Anastasia: Who do you love more, me or Comrade Stalin?
Ivan Sanshin: [without hesitation] Comrade Stalin, of course!

Movie Connections:

Features The Great Waltz (1938)

Fascinating

As an armchair historian who's read dozens of book on Stalin and the Soviet Union under his control, I was fascinated by this movie. A great cast helps underscore the paranoia, backstabbing, and fear of the Stalinist system as seen through the eyes of a small-time player who's been thrust into a very dangerous circle.

Hulce is terrific as the simple, hard-working Soviet citizen who wants nothing more than to believe in the system that dominates his life, yet he knows it's a system riddled with traps and monsters. Hoskins is equally good as the real-life monster Beria - Stalin's chief of state security and main hatchet-man.

A highly underrated movie.