In December 1917, a Finnish delegation arrives in St. Petersburg to meet Vladimir Lenin to seek recognition of Finland's independence.
Acting
Kirill Lavrov's Lenin is uncanny valley propaganda come to life.
Production
Soviet-Finnish co-production tension radiates from every frame.
Director
Edvin Laine
Kirill Lavrov
V.I. Lenin
Vilho Siivola
P.E. Svinhufvud
Yrjö Tähtelä
Carl Enckell
Jarno Hiilloskorpi
Yrjö Sirola
Jussi Jurkka
G. Castrén
Margarita Terekhova
Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai
Antonina Shuranova
Rosa Luxemburg
Igor Dmitriev
Bontsh-Brujevitsh
Leonid Nevedomsky
Mikhail Pokrovsky
Anatoliy Solonitsyn
Bochazhnikov
Oleg Yankovskiy
Pyatakov
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was a rare Soviet-Finnish co-production during the Cold War, requiring both governments to approve a script about a historically touchy subject—explaining why everyone is so unreasonably cordial.
The real meeting took about 15 minutes; the film stretches it to feature length through sheer force of reverent staring and meaningful pauses.
FI
SU
