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| All My Lenins | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Hardi Volmer |
| Written by | Toomas Kall |
| Produced by | Mati Sepping |
| Cinematography | Arko Okk |
| Edited by | Marju Juhkum |
| Music by | Thomas DeRenzo |
Release date |
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Running time | 99 minutes |
| Countries | Estonia Russia |
| Languages | Estonian Russian German English |
All My Lenins (Estonian:Minu Leninid;Russian:Все мои Ленины) is a 1997historicalcomedy film byHardi Volmer.[1] It was produced by the Faama Film company in cooperation with Lenfilm.
In 1908, youngEstonian politicianAleksander Kesküla (Üllar Saaremäe) escaped from theEsthonia (Estland) Governorate, then part of theRussian Empire, toSwitzerland, where he enrolled in theUniversity of Bern. Kesküla is concerned about national oppression in tsarist Russia, as is famousRussian Bolshevik and exiled intellectual,Vladimir Lenin (portrayed byViktor Sukhorukov). Lenin believes tsarist Russia to be "the prison of nations".
WhenWorld War I breaks out, Lenin blames it on the Russian and Germanbourgeoisie. He begins to agitate "to end war even if Russia is defeated". Kesküla seizes the opportunity to use Lenin and his followers to start arevolution against the Russian Empire. He devises a plan to overthrow Russia and build upon the ruins of thedefunct state ofGross-Estland (Great Estonia). The new empire would incorporate all formerFinno-Ugric territories, includingSaint Petersburg.
Kesküla and theGerman Ministry of Foreign Affairs make a deal to support Lenin financially. Lenin accepts the help. The Germans then install their super-spy Müller (Andrus Vaarik) to serve as the project's coordinator. Kesküla and Müller train five Russian men as Lenin'sdoppelgängers; they want to be sure they can replace the real Lenin at any moment should something happen to him or should Lenin become a liability.
The authors of the film (screenplay by Toomas Kall, story byHardi Volmer and Ott Sandrak) called it "pseudo-historical", as the film contains some historical accuracies, but ismostly fictional. In fall 1914, theGerman ambassador in Switzerland, Freiherr Gisbert von Romberg (Linnar Priimägi), informed his government about "an Estonian, Alexander Kesküla, who made a proposal to use Lenin in our plans against Russia".German intelligence clarified that Kesküla indeed had access to Bolshevik inner circles and to Lenin himself (as in the film). Moreover, Kesküla had prior experience using foreign assistance to support rebels in Russia; in 1905, he received money fromJapanese spy Akashi Motojiro to advance his interests inTallinn,Tartu, andRiga.
The Germans were initially skeptical of Kesküla's proposal. TheGerman Foreign Ministry viewed theBolsheviks as a fringe political group that lacked the influence to change hearts and minds in the Russian state (as in the film). However, the situation soon changed; in December 1914, Kesküla received 10,000Reichsmarks from theGerman Empire to distribute to the Bolsheviks.[2]
Although Kesküla informed the German government about Lenin, Kesküla may not have been the only one to fund Lenin's cause with outside money. The film, however, focuses solely on Kesküla. "The school of Lenin's doppelgängers in Zürich" is also fictional, as are the doppelgängers themselves (Lenin-Monk, Lenin-Beggar, Lenin-Electrician, and Lenin-Criminal).
