December 20th (1982)
Set in December of 1917 after the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Lenin and the communists are making every effort to strengthen their power. Lenin appoints Felix Dzerzhinsky the Commissar for Internal Affairs and the head of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage (CheKa). It became the predecessor of GPU and KGB.
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In my former country, Soviet Union, there were many afwul, low- quality films, and yet there were excellent, well-rounded works which stood the test of time and still seem relevant and decent to this day. THose who try to watch these films, must keep in mind that in Soviet times censorship was excruciating and propaganda aims were ubiquitous. But Soviet filmmakers managed to break through these borders and create films which could be really strong. 20 Dekabrya - that is, December 20th - is a great example of a curious balance between obligatory depiction of Soviet icons (Lenin, Dzierzynski, Krasin, Ordjonikidze among many) and a very deep, decent, thoughtful description of more colorful, multi-faceted White Army figures (Savinkov, Kutepov, Kornilov). This is a 4-episode full-length feature film of 1981- 1982, which describes the events of late 1917-early 1918, when Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized the power and thus began a bloody Civil War. There are more than 100 speaking parts in this epic movie, and despite certain blandness and formulaic depiction of iconic Soviet leaders, the film is captivating, thrilling and shows well the ferocity of war and thoughtlessness of brotherly murder. Well recommended as a nice example of old Soviet monumental film making.