They would both just nod their heads
by Tormans Elefernus (The Counsellor)
My grandfather was locked up by the communists in 1951. He got a life sentence. His crime was that he owned a chalet in the Krkonose Mountains and that he refused to cooperate after 1948. My uncle was a partisan and he would have been locked up as well if he hadn’t escaped to Germany after the first wave of hunting. My grandfather was given a conditional discharge in 1962, and the first time I saw my uncle face to face was after the revolution in 1989. And the chalet – or rather its ruins - was restituted, willingly or unwillingly.
In the 1980s, the cybernetics of large systems could be studied only at MIT in Boston or MEI in Moscow. I didn’t succeed in getting to Boston, but I was offered MEI, no matter how poor my political background was. The country was probably desperate for nuclear engineers. It was in Moscow that I learned to distinguish between Russians and Russkies. It took me a long time, but it was worth it. Besides the necessary knowledge of nuclear science I also learned how to wash my shirt, mend my socks and make dinner from almost nothing. As well as practice my Russian.
The offer of the role of Russian counselor was no surprise for me – this question had hung in the air for a long time; the only thing needed was to form his exact character. At last his image is a bit untypical – he is the one character who develops throughout the movie from a nice, friendly chap to a cold beast willing to kill anybody to achieve his goals. The role of the counselor was designed so that in every scene he differed from the others, even in his appearance. That’s why I got a uniform with riding breeches, boots and many decorations, which Russians love so much. However, don’t expect this garment to be authentic. First we thought that the counselor was going to speak Czech with a heavy Russian accent, but in the end he speaks only Russian throughout the movie.
Stalin 2 is an exceptional movie, even for Lupus Pictures. And it was obvious even in the process of making the movie. Usually the atmosphere is relaxed, full of jokes, but this time everybody was deep in concentration and the atmosphere was rather heavy. This was emphasized by dark interiors with old chipped black furniture and weak light – all this made everything bleak. Even the exterior scenes were deformed by smoke and the shadows of bars. As for the characters in the movie, they are also rather gloomy – pretty young girls in washed-out brown sweatpants who gradually lose their identity and spark.
The part of the counselor had its advantages – I could adjust the text so that it suited me. I know a good deal of Russian officers’ speech, including the silliest idioms.
I got into his skin unexpectedly quickly. According to the script, the counselor acts as the dialectical counterpart to the executor; the first one makes recommendations, the second one realizes them. But this dynamic is disrupted in the climax of the movie when the counselor finally breaks Nikolaja. And the icing on the cake is the final celebration scene. The StB agents mumble something, the completely drunk counselor stands on a chair and shouts revolutionary songs, drinks vodka and eats onions. This scene wasn’t originally in the script; it was a spontaneous idea after the director asked, “You think you could sing a song or something?”
The breaking of Nikolaja is the most emotional scene of the movie. Niki’s acting is sheer genius and she put all her emotions into her part. In the rehearsal, she asked me to ramp up the pressure on her so that she could feel it. And when we were shooting I was a bit afraid that she would break down completely. She was shivering with cold and fear, her hair was wet - she was really Nikolaja. And when she came to me after the scene and thanked me and told me she was all right, I couldn’t have been more pleased! She is a person who knows the reality of socialism only from stories she has heard and read, so the movie must have been a totally new experience for her.
Well, I had better ease the gloomy tone of the movie – the story doesn’t lack humorous aspects, in both a general and a personal way. For example, the dialogue of the two agents will make you laugh and you will smile when you see the counselor’s character name in the final titles. But what you definitely won’t see is the break before the second shooting day, when all the main female protagonists were showing each other their beaten bottoms, standing in the hall in front of the studio. They reminded me so much of a group of bodybuilders showing off their muscles!
My grandfather died in 1984. He didn’t live to see the end of communism. My uncle died two years ago. I wonder what they could say about Stalin 2. What I think is that they would both just nod their heads...