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CITIZEN K: The Most Compelling Work About Russian Politics In A While

CITIZEN K: The Most Compelling Work About Russian Politics In A While

“I don’t value my life that much to exchange it for losing respect.”

Mikhail Khodorkovsky has a vital perspective in the post-Soviet Russian story, as one of the oligarchs who flourished financially in the 90’s and was part of the “Semibankirschina” (seven banks), a group of the few richest Russians who were said to have controlled the media, economy and politics of the nation, an enormous influence in the Kremlin.

Today, he’s a freedom fighter and enemy of Putin’s, championing reform through his online community platform Open Russia, residing abroad with the belief that he’ll be imprisoned for life if he steps back into his homeland.

A Former Oligarch in Exile

After Putin took control, many oligarchs aligned themselves with the Kremlin, as the President sought to weed out those in the opposition, including the late Boris Berezovsky (who would be a fascinating documentary subject alone) and charge them for illegal activities regarding their acquired wealth, including tax evasion, fraud, and embezzlement.

CITIZEN K: The Most Compelling Work About Russian Politics In A While
source: Greenwich Entertainment

Khodorkovsky was the most prominent case, for he ended up imprisoned for a decade and underwent a political transformation, which is the crux for Alex Gibney’s riveting deep-dive into the life of the oligarch-turned-activist. The unexpected turn from plutocrat to social democratic, human-rights champion has marked him as a target again, thus causing him to currently live in exile in London.

When Robert Downey Jr. was once famously declared, “You can’t go from $2000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary, and really understand it, and come out a liberal” — well, here’s someone who kinda did that, and his journey is explored in an outstandingly comprehensive manner by a director fit for the task. 

The Perfect documentarian for This Story

In the current era of politics, the role of this former oligarch is a significant one, and Gibney matches it with a significant documentary that’s deeply researched, remarkably constructed, and emotionally engaging for those coming in with even the littlest knowledge or care about what’s been going on in Russia over the past twenty years.

CITIZEN K: The Most Compelling Work About Russian Politics In A While
source: Greenwich Entertainment

As demonstrated with works like Going Clear and Zero Days, the filmmaker has a knack for making documentaries that play out like thrillers, and the intrigue is natural in Citizen K, inherent in a strong character arc and a documentarian who knows to never get too close or too far from his subject.

A healthy range of contributors includes Anton Drel, Khodorkovsy’s personal attorney, Maria Logan, a member of his legal team, and Martin Sixsmith, a BBC journalist (some years before he met Philomena Lee and many years before Steve Coogan played him in Philomena).

In this richly detailed, multi-decade telling of history, Gibney’s narration is a relief, an accessible guide that works for anyone, including myself, who may not know all the names and events beforehand. Though, as easy to follow as he makes it, there is an awful lot covered, so it’s easier to absorb it all by seeing the film a second time.

CITIZEN K: The Most Compelling Work About Russian Politics In A While
source: Greenwich Entertainment

However, the emotional impact is a direct hit from the first viewing, as we find ourselves in a place of anger by the end – Citizen K depicts corruption in Russian democracy but the clear subtext is in highlighting it as an epidemic across the globe.

Citizen K: Conclusion

There’s some historical crossover with the relatively recent documentary Putin’s Witnesses but the distinctive voices here, from both director and character, in addition to the greater provision of contextual and historical details, make for a greater experience — the most compelling work about Russian politics in a while. The access to Mikhail Khodorkovsky is brilliantly utilised, as he offers a blunt candidness and sharp recollections of the events that defined his life’s journey. 

What Gibney could have exploited to a greater extent was the strong potential for vérité; how Khodorkovsky functions from day-to-day in exile. On the other hand, it’s also true that observation isn’t really his style, as he specialises in archives and interviews and with Citizen K he has made one of his strongest films yet, a rich exposé that speaks truth to power.

Are you interested in seeing Citizen K? Let us know in the comments below.

Citizen K is out now on limited release in the US and will expand to other cities on January 15th, 2020. It will be released in select UK cinemas on December 13th, 2019. Following the wider US release, it will be released worldwide via Amazon Prime.

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