Trotsky (TV series)

Trotsky
Genre Biographical
Written by
  • Oleg Malovichko
  • Ruslan Galeev
  • Pavel Tetersky
Directed by Alexander Kott
Konstantin Statsky
Starring
Composer(s) RyanOtter
Country of origin Russia
Original language(s) Russian
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 8
Production
Producer(s)
Cinematography Sergei Trofimov
Nikolai Bogachov
Production company(s) Sreda
Distributor Eccho Rights[1]
Release
Original network
Original release 06.11.2017 – 09.11.2017
External links
Website

Trotsky (Russian: Tроцкий) is a Russian biographical eight-episode television mini-series about Leon Trotsky directed by Alexander Kott and Konstantin Statsky. The series stars Konstantin Khabensky in the title role. It debuted on Channel One in Russia on 6 November 2017,[2][3] for the centenary of the Russian Revolution.[4][5] The series is a rare high-budget artistic representation of Trotsky in post-Soviet Russia, as his name was a taboo during the most time of the Soviet period.

Plot

In May 1940, on the outskirts of Mexico City, a detachment of Mexican Communists dressed as policemen attack the house of the former leader of the Russian revolution, Leon Trotsky. For a quarter of an hour they shoot at the house, but by an incredible coincidence, Trotsky and his wife survive. Having lost during the eleven years of expulsion almost all close ones and relatives, Trotsky understands: his eternal enemy, Stalin, will continue to pursue him until the end of his days. He decides to leave a political testament, for the first time to tell in full and sincerely how a man from an oppressed minority managed to become a prophet of a new world and overthrow an empire. To write his memoirs, Trotsky invites his ideological opponent – a Canadian journalist sympathetic to Stalin — to convert him into his faith, so that he in turn can convert the whole mankind.

Cast and characters

Production

The proposal for the series came from Konstantin Ernst, the chief of Channel 1[6] (other series produced by the Sreda production company were offered to TV channels during the screenwriting stage).[7]

According to Elena Afanasieva, Director of Creative Channel Planning Directorate of the Channel 1, less than a year passed since the idea of the series was introduced and until the end of the shooting.[8] Subsequently, Konstantin Ernst confirmed this, saying that another TV series about the revolution that the channel planned to implement was shelved, as a result which he had to urgently appeal to Alexander Tsekalo with a proposal to shoot a series about Trotsky.[9]

Konstantin Khabensky previously portrayed Lev Trotsky in the 2005 TV series Yesenin. According to Konstantin Ernst, producer of both TV series, Khabensky played "incorrectly".[10] Khabensky himself claims that 80% of his role was cut out, and in the new television series he plays Trotsky in accordance with his first idea.[11]

Reception

Release

It premiered on 16 October 2017 at the MIPCOM in Cannes, which was the featured highlight of the "Russian Content Revolution" program.[12]

According to Mediascope, the series started on Channel One on November 6, 2017 with a rating of 4.9% and 14.8%, becoming the most popular TV series of Russian television for the period from November 6 to 12, 2017, having overtaken another series about the October Revolution Demon of the Revolution in the same time slot (rating - 3.6%, share - 9.7%) on Russia-1.[13]

Criticism

The series has been criticized for numerous historical inaccuracies in its depiction of Trotsky as a megalomaniacal leader who masterminded the revolution, invoking many of the antisemitic tropes used by the White Guard during the Russian Civil War. Amongst the many historical falsehoods are that Trotsky personally ordered the execution of the Russian royal family (currently the subject of a Federal Investigation for "ritual murder"[14]) and that he knew his assassin to be a Stalinist and invited him to write his biography for him.[15][16][17]

Awards

The Association of Film and Television Producers in Russia awarded the series in the categories Best Sound, Best Editing Best Makeup, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Special Effects, Best Actress (Olga Sutulova), Best Actor (Konstantin Khabensky), Best TV series.[18][19]

References

  1. ↑ "Russian Drama Trotsky Being Launched by Eccho Rights". TVDRAMA.
  2. ↑ "Самая долгожданная премьера сезона, многосерийный фильм "Троцкий", на Первом канале уже сегодня" [The most long-awaited premiere of the season, miniseries "Trotsky", on Channel One will air today] (in Russian). Channel One Russia.
  3. ↑ Sergei Yuriev. "Константин Хабенский: "Как человек Троцкий мне неинтересен!"" [Konstantin Khabensky: "As a person, Tortsky is uninteresting to me!] (in Russian). Argumenty i Fakty.
  4. ↑ "Russian state-run TV marks revolution's centenary with surprise series recounting rise and fall of Leon Trotsky". The Independent. 2017-10-16.
  5. ↑ Joshua Yaffa. "Putin's Russia Wrestles with the Meaning of Trotsky and Revolution". The New Yorker.
  6. ↑ "Russian Revolution's 'rock'n'roll star' Trotsky gets centenary TV series". The Guardian. 2017-11-03.
  7. ↑ "Метод Цекало: как шоумен стал первым российским партнером Netflix" [Tsekalo's Method: how a showman became Russia's first Netflix partner] (in Russian). RBK Group.
  8. ↑ Elena Afanasieva. "Конференция со слушателями: какие сериалы мы смотрим" [Conference with listeners: which series we watch] (in Russian). Echo of Moscow.
  9. ↑ Elena Afanasieva. "Революция русского контента. Программа Russian content revolution на телевизионном рынке в Каннах" [Program Russian content revolution at the television market in Cannes] (in Russian). Echo of Moscow.
  10. ↑ "Константин Эрнст: Троцкий – продюсер революции" [Konstantin Ernst: Trotsky - producer of the revolution] (in Russian). Vechernyaya Moskva.
  11. ↑ Вечерний Ургант. В гостях у Ивана Константин Хабенский и Ольга Сутулова.(03.11.2017) [Evening Urgant. Ivan's guests Konstantin Khabensky and Olga Sutulova.(03.11.2017)] (in Russian). Evening Urgant.
  12. ↑ "В Канне состоялась мировая премьера российского сериала "Троцкий"" [In Cannes occurred the world premiere of Russian series "Trotsky"] (in Russian). TASS.
  13. ↑ "Россия (города 100 тыс.+), 06/11/2017 — 12/11/2017, программы-лидеры по жанрам, телесериалы". Mediascope.
  14. ↑ "Russian federal investigators review anti-Semitic conspiracy theory about murder of the Tsarist family". World Socialist Web Site. 2017-12-07.
  15. ↑ "Russian TV series claims Jewish Trotsky masterminded bloody 1917 revolution". Times of Israel. 2017-09-28.
  16. ↑ ""Ненаучная фантастика": Историки о сериалах "Демон революции" и "Троцкий"" ["Unscientific fiction": Historians about the series "Demon of the Revolution" and "Trotsky"] (in Russian). Kinopoisk.
  17. ↑ "A degraded spectacle of historical falsification and anti-Semitism". World Socialist Web Site. 2017-11-25.
  18. ↑ "Константин Хабенский и Ольга Сутулова завоевали премию Ассоциации продюсеров кино и ТВ". TASS.
  19. ↑ Susanna Alperina. "Фильм "Ким Филби. Тайная война" признан лучшей докудрамой". Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
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