This movie depicts the atrocities committed by the Soviet regime, particularly during the Stalin era in graphic detail. The movie depicts communist officials with the same brush used for Nazis in other movies, and in this respect the movie is a first. It was disappointing to find out that the movie is fictional,because it is hard to invent a story like this unless it's been a life experience and I wish I knew more about the author. Btw, the background music of the movie is the Israeli anthem, HaTikvah. I believe that the reason this was chosen is not only because of the scenes that take place in Jerusalem, but because the words of HaTikvah talk about the strength and eternity of the Jewish soul. Perhaps this is the only truly Jewish aspect of the movie. The cruelty of the Soviet authorities here cover the entire spectrum, from the very high levels (Stalin, his propaganda and his deportations) to the lowest level (Vera's rapes by military and militiamen irrespective of rank). Not one decent person is found among the uniformed Communists, military and militia. Against this background, all that happens to Sasha is a miracle, including the way he discovers his Jewishness, while his grandfather is dying. The film is very impressive on all levels: in its choice of subject matter, film sets and actors. On the background of cruel dictatorship, where people who have done nothing wrong rot in the Kazakh steppe in harsh conditions, the movie is optimistic, and this makes it very watchable. The humanity of the Kazakhs in risking their lives in saving the boy and the fact that neither communism nor gulags break their spirit is remarkable. Moreover, the film manages for the first time to stress that all monotheistic religions are basically the same at their core. Muslims, Jews and Christians pray to the same God, and have strikingly similar rituals, and there is no basic reason for hate other than criminal ideology of Stalin (and in our times, other leaders). There is much more to say about this movie, but I think this is sufficient for people interested in life in the Soviet Union. I saw this movie at a Jewish film festival, but the movie is not Jewish. Sasha's Judaism is in my view marginal to the plot. The acting is terrific and the movie is a feast.
6 Reviews
beautiful film about a painful topic
sh_bronstein12 May 2009
Warning: Spoilers
"Podarok Stalinu" is a movie about a little Jewish boy, who has been deported together with his grandfather to a far off destination. His grandfather dies on the train. The other deportees decide to let the boy fake his death in order to be brought out of the train. After he is taken out, a kind hearted Kazakh man takes the little boy under his wing. The Kazakh man, Kasym, is Muslim and lives in a village together with other Kazakhs and some deportees from other places. Vera, a Russian Christian, is very beautiful and suffers from the pain and humiliation of being raped by any man wearing a uniform. Despite all that happens to her, she is very kind-hearted and she also takes care of little Sashka, the Jewish boy. In the village there is also a band of street children, who are apparently children of deported or executed parents. They are united in their hate for the police and the Soviet establishment and they get into all sorts of mischief. After a tragic incident in Vera's wedding, one of the children kills a policeman. Before all children are taken away, Kasym sends Sashka away on a train - thus saving his life from brutal collective punishment. The movie begins and ends with images of the elderly Sashka, now living in Israel. He looks back at the events of his childhood in this Kazakh village, which was very close to the testing site of the first Soviet nuclear bomb. The plot unity of the "contemporary" images of Sashka and his look on the past is not very well achieved, but other than that, the film is very well made. The film is aesthetically very beautiful, the images are poignant and impressive. Many scenes are really memorable. The mention of all the different nationalities that were deported to Kazakhstan in the Stalin era at the end of the movie makes a subtle connection of the fictional story in the film and the brutal reality of Soviet history. In fact, the problems that deportees faced in the Soviet Union are more realistically dealt with in this film than in any other ex-Soviet film I have seen up until now. Specially the horrible fate of women in the Gulag is a subject that has rarely been dealt with, even in history books. The suffering these people went through makes their humanity in the film narrative even more impressive. The topic of peaceful interfaith coexistence might seem naive or even unrealistic to some viewers, but for those who have been to Kazakhstan, the coexistence portrayed in the film is not surprising.
Tragic events portrayed in an excellent film
Red-12529 July 2009
Podarok Stalinu (2008) directed by Rustem Abdrashitov, is shown in the U.S. with the title, "A Gift for Stalin." The film's setting is Kazakhstan, a country on the steppes of Central Asia. The Soviets subdued the Kazakh population, and then used Kazakhstan as a destination for forced migrations, and as a site for penal colonies. It is not a pleasant history to contemplate.
The film opens in a freight car, just as an old Jewish man is dying. He utters the Hebrew prayer that Jews want on their lips at the moment of death. His young grandson is with him. When the train arrives, officials unload the dead, including the boy. As it turns out, the boy is alive, and is rescued by two local railroad workers. The remainder of the film traces the boy's experiences in a nearby village, and the interaction of those around him with local police and Soviet military officials.
There are moments of humor in the film, as well as acts of great tenderness and caring. However, the situation is basically tragic, and there's an undercurrent of fear even during the quiet moments.
The acting is uniformly excellent. If I had to single out one truly outstanding performance, it would be that of Yekaterina Rednikova as Verka, a young woman sent to Kazakhstan because her husband was a political prisoner in Russia.
As it turns out, the young boy's parents are also political prisoners. The "gift for Stalin" is his attempt to convince the authorities that his parents should be freed.
We saw this fine film at the excellent Rochester Jewish Film Festival. It's probably best seen in a theater, but it will work pretty well a small screen. It's definitely worth seeking out.
The film opens in a freight car, just as an old Jewish man is dying. He utters the Hebrew prayer that Jews want on their lips at the moment of death. His young grandson is with him. When the train arrives, officials unload the dead, including the boy. As it turns out, the boy is alive, and is rescued by two local railroad workers. The remainder of the film traces the boy's experiences in a nearby village, and the interaction of those around him with local police and Soviet military officials.
There are moments of humor in the film, as well as acts of great tenderness and caring. However, the situation is basically tragic, and there's an undercurrent of fear even during the quiet moments.
The acting is uniformly excellent. If I had to single out one truly outstanding performance, it would be that of Yekaterina Rednikova as Verka, a young woman sent to Kazakhstan because her husband was a political prisoner in Russia.
As it turns out, the young boy's parents are also political prisoners. The "gift for Stalin" is his attempt to convince the authorities that his parents should be freed.
We saw this fine film at the excellent Rochester Jewish Film Festival. It's probably best seen in a theater, but it will work pretty well a small screen. It's definitely worth seeking out.
Heartwarming & Tragic
ohnastya29 October 2008
I've recently seen this movie and really liked it (cried in some parts), the story is very touching and depicts the part of history that many people are not aware of, that being the nuclear activity in Kazakhstan and the consequent tragedy of it and of course the suffering of the exiled people and generally the country's difficult path during those years. The movie manages to tell all that through the relationship of the characters and does not focus on the political side making it very interesting. Personally I loved it and would highly recommend especially if you are acquainted in some ways with Kazakhstan.
A great story about Kazakh steppe, kindness of people, love and hope
albina-nurpeissova20 March 2012
On my opinion, the movie is one of the best pieces of Kazakhstan cinematography. The character of Kasym is described and played amazingly by talented Nurzhuman Ikhtymbayev. I'm truly thankful that our land has such talents. Beautiful nature scenes - steppe until horizon - catches eye of a viewer. Folk song on the background - "Zhelsiz tyndei zhryk ai" by Abai Kunanbayev - creates feeling that nature and land are eternal, only people that live on the land and their stories change.
The end scene with the first exposure from Semipalatinsk nuclear test site (29.08.1949) is full with sorrow and horror, it is just impossible not to cry... Emotionally strong story, which I recommend to see.
The end scene with the first exposure from Semipalatinsk nuclear test site (29.08.1949) is full with sorrow and horror, it is just impossible not to cry... Emotionally strong story, which I recommend to see.
ode to life in time when life was worthless
dule926 February 2009
Warning: Spoilers
During Stalin's reign, millions of people were forcefully dislocated throughout Soviet Union. This movie follows destiny of a small Jewish boy who was transported in 1949 to a remote Kazakhstan region along with his grandfather.
Grandfather dies during journey and is extracted from the train at some isolated train station, in order to be buried. The boy, reluctant to depart from the last relative he had, pretends to be dead and is also brought to burial. But, the local worker, an old man of Kazakh tribe, notices that the boy is alive, protects him from the inquiring policeman and brings him to a local village.
The village is poor and almost deserted, surrounded with endless plains and nothingness. There are only few natives and several people who ended up in the village as a veteran exiles. The old man and the beautiful young Russian woman raise the boy as if he was their own, and in time build close and touching relationship, protecting the child from the local authorities, embodied in evil policeman who is constant reminder of their hopeless situation.
The movie confronts the obvious misery and poverty with some understated optimism. The principal characters are undoubtedly doomed, but they will still manage to find some humble joys, no matter how hard their life is. In the end, their effort is going to make the word "human" at least somewhat worthy of its basic meaning.
Warning: there are spoilers in following paragraphs.
The movie is not about atomic bomb, as you might hear, but about the stubborn fight of the human spirit against the ever present miseries of life. Yet, there are sad turns in the story and it doesn't end happily for everybody. Not even for those who escaped Stalin's hands, as we can feel in elegiac narration of the boy who reminiscences all of the events in the autumn of his life.
And yes, there is also an atomic explosion of a bomb on a near test range, which, although subtly announced during the movie, appears so suddenly and brutally that it will terrify the viewer as few movies have done. The bomb is not the key element of the story, but more a symbol of that ruthless hand that oppressed people without least mercy or compassion. It is almost as a cleverly disguised cameo of Stalin himself.
Grandfather dies during journey and is extracted from the train at some isolated train station, in order to be buried. The boy, reluctant to depart from the last relative he had, pretends to be dead and is also brought to burial. But, the local worker, an old man of Kazakh tribe, notices that the boy is alive, protects him from the inquiring policeman and brings him to a local village.
The village is poor and almost deserted, surrounded with endless plains and nothingness. There are only few natives and several people who ended up in the village as a veteran exiles. The old man and the beautiful young Russian woman raise the boy as if he was their own, and in time build close and touching relationship, protecting the child from the local authorities, embodied in evil policeman who is constant reminder of their hopeless situation.
The movie confronts the obvious misery and poverty with some understated optimism. The principal characters are undoubtedly doomed, but they will still manage to find some humble joys, no matter how hard their life is. In the end, their effort is going to make the word "human" at least somewhat worthy of its basic meaning.
Warning: there are spoilers in following paragraphs.
The movie is not about atomic bomb, as you might hear, but about the stubborn fight of the human spirit against the ever present miseries of life. Yet, there are sad turns in the story and it doesn't end happily for everybody. Not even for those who escaped Stalin's hands, as we can feel in elegiac narration of the boy who reminiscences all of the events in the autumn of his life.
And yes, there is also an atomic explosion of a bomb on a near test range, which, although subtly announced during the movie, appears so suddenly and brutally that it will terrify the viewer as few movies have done. The bomb is not the key element of the story, but more a symbol of that ruthless hand that oppressed people without least mercy or compassion. It is almost as a cleverly disguised cameo of Stalin himself.
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