Educational Media Reviews Online

There are two programs in this work: the People’s Revolution and Lenin’s Revolution. The two volumes brilliantly intertwine so as to demonstrate that this “most significant event of the Twentieth Century” was not solely a product of Lenin’s work nor was it an hysteria-driven mass movement.

This outstanding documentary sets out to dispel a number of myths regarding the Bolshevik Revolution, its preceding events, and its aftermath. With a brilliant collection of rare photographs, film clips, declassified documents, and interviews, the viewer gains an engaging, intrusive, and often horrifying depiction of the revolution.

The film examines Lenin from his beginnings as a newspaper writer, to his exile in various European nations. It should be noted that a great deal of coverage is spent on his political workings before his return to Russia in 1917. The viewer witnesses Lenin’s plotting and correspondence, including his negotiations with the Germans in wartime, and even his other musings, including a proposed revolution in Switzerland. This documentary offers extensive details and commentary on Lenin’s compatriots, including Kerensky, Gorky, and Trotsky. Historians and other expert interviews provide sobering statements such as, “Lenin invented the gulag [system]; Stalin perfected it.” The film also explores Lenin’s misgivings, as he was not entirely certain that the composition of Russian society could uphold socialism.

This is a superb historical work. It gives a tremendous breadth of exploration, yet remains focused and wildly intriguing. Though the emphasis is on Lenin, the filmmakers never lose sight of the motives, courage, and sacrifices of thousands in the Bolshevik Revolution.