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Movies Forum Index » Movie Reviews Forum » Review: Refusenik (2007)
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| Mark R. Leeper |
 Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 1:05 pm |
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REFUSENIK
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: This is the saga of the Refuseniks, Jews
in the Soviet Union who requested to leave knowing
they would be treated as enemies of the state and
given harsh and at times barbaric treatment. A new
documentary written and directed by Laura Bialis
tells the story of the nearly thirty years of
courage in the face of repression in the Soviet
Union. This is polished and evocative filmmaking.
Rating: +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10
It is spring. This is time of Easter and Passover and the time
of year that it is traditional for television to run the film THE
TEN COMMANDMENTS. This year there is another and somewhat
parallel story being released, though this one is a documentary
of recent history. The film is REFUSENIK, and it tells the story
of Jews again held against their will in a country that will not
let them go. The country was Russia in the last decades of the
Soviet Union. Russia's tradition was to suppress and abuse the
Jews with discrimination building to pogroms back in Tsarist
times. The coming of communism to Russia brought only a short
respite before the new rulers of the country continued with their
repressive policies. Under Stalin the repression began again and
it specifically targeted the Refuseniks--Jews who had requested
to leave the country--for almost three decades. With American
and the newly founded Israel ready and anxious to provide a haven
for these Jews they needed only the permission of the government
to exit. As a policy permission was never granted. Being
refused the people came to be called Refuseniks, but their
punishment went beyond merely being refused. Jews who requested
to leave were treated with barbaric hatred. They typically lost
their employment and frequently were imprisoned and even
tortured. Many were exiled to the frozen Gulag. Others were
treated as mentally ill for wanting to leave the "ideal workers'
state" and were committed to mental institutions. With the fall
of the Soviet Union and with pressure from the West and worldwide
eventually the Jews of the Russia were allowed to leave.
1,500,000 of them did leave, most settling in Israel and the
United States.
While in the 1970s and 1980s the Refusenik movement got some
public attention, little has been said about it since. So as not
to forget what happened Laura Bialis writes and directs this
documentary about the story of the Refusenik movement. The style
is mostly eyewitness accounts by participants, many of whom were
activists in and out of the Soviet Union in the events of the
movement. Their stories are illustrated with archival and
newsreel footage. Best known among the activists is Natan
Sharansky, who had requested and been denied an exit visa. In
1977 Sharansky was arrested and tried for invented charges of
treason and spying for the United States. These charges have
since been shown to be false. Sharansky was incarcerated in
Leftorovo Prison were he remained under barbaric conditions for
16 months. He was then sent to a prison camp in the Siberian
Gulag where he remained for nine more years as his wife
desperately worked for his release. By 1986 the USSR was
foundering and was anxious for Glasnost. Then President Ronald
Reagan made clear that the treatment of Soviet Jews would be a
strong consideration in the negotiations. Sharansky was released
in 1986. His story and the stories of Kirov Ballet star Valery
Panov and of physicist Andrei Sakharov, all Refuseniks, are part
of the story.
Where the documentary falls down a bit is in not discussing the
motives of the Soviets in repressing the Refuseniks. Michael
Gorbachov is quoted as saying that these people were considered
to be people of value to the Soviet Union, but they could make
little contribution as laborers in the Gulag. It is more likely
that he did not want to set a precedent of letting one group go
when so many other groups might have wanted the same privilege.
And eventually they as well as the Refuseniks got it.
REFUSENIK bears witness to the struggle of the Refuseniks and of
the changes that their courage and that of the international
community brought about. This film makes a good pairing with THE
SINGING REVOLUTION (2007), which was released earlier this year
and tell the story of Estonia's campaign to free themselves from
the yoke of the Soviet's. Both have messages that we need just
now. I rate REFUSENIK a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10.
REFUSENIK scheduled to be released in New York City May 9 and in
Los Angeles on May 23.
Film Credits: <http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1187354/>
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Copyright 2008 Mark R. Leeper |
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