The Chekist

The Chekist

Film poster
Directed by Aleksandr Rogozhkin
Written by Jacques Baynac
André Milbet
Starring Igor Sergeyev
Cinematography Valeri Myulgaut
Edited by Tamara Denisova
Release dates
  • 1992 (1992)
Running time
91 minutes
Country Russia
Language Russian

The Chekist (Russian: Чекист) is a 1992 Russian drama film directed by Aleksandr Rogozhkin. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.[1] The film is currently not in distribution.

The film depicts the Cheka executions during the Russian Civil War (1917–1923) through the eyes of a senior officer of the Cheka in a small Russian town. Most of the film is taken up by the unrelenting and merciless series of executions, carried out in the basement of a slaughterhouse. We also see lightning interrogations and dozens of summary death sentences pronounced by Chekist troikas.

Piers Handling, director of the Toronto International Film Festival, said of the film:

"Rogozhkin eventually penetrates into the psychotic mind of the Chekist with a moment of sublime insight, reminiscent of Bertolucci's equally disturbing portrait of the fascist killer in The Conformist. The Chekist is an overwhelming cry in the face of such madness."[2]

Cast

References

  1. "Tchekiste" [The Chekist]. Cannes Film Festival (in French). Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  2. "Rogozhkin". cinemaparallel.com. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
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