Process

I am fully aware that lots of people consider the documentary's of Sergey Loznitsa boring. Their IMDB rating seldom exceeds the 7. But I love them.

Just as in "State funeral" (2019), about the funeral of Stalin, Loznitsa let the images talk in "The trial" (2018), about a show proces in 1930. No commentary only images from old archives and editing choices. Images originally intended for propagandistic purposes turn out to be merciless evidence proving how rotten the system really was.

To appreciate the film in full, some historical knowledge is necessary. The showproces in 1930 was the precursor for the more famous showprocess in Moscow in 1936 - 1938. The judge in both processes was the same (Andrei Vyshinsky). It was this judge from whom the judge in "Sophie Scholl" (2005, Marc Rothemund) learned his trade in show processes.

The 1930 trial was against the members of the Industrial party. Members of this party were accused of sabotaging the Soviet economy. As it should be in show processes they plead guilty from the very start, practicing self-criticism throughout the whole trial.

The funny thing was though, there never was an Industrial party and there never was any sabotaging. The whole story was invented to cover up the disastrous effects of Stalin's economic policy. Stalin abolished the New Economic Policy (NEP) of Lenin, under which small scale entrepreneurship was allowed, and replaced it with mass collectivization. Diminished productivity and famine resulted.

It is strange to see innocent people confess crimes they didn't commit. Crimes that didn't even exist. One can only wonder which coercive measures were applied behind the scenes to make this happen. It is even stranger to bear in mind that some of the officials of the court later became victims of Stalin themselves. Living under Stalin was living dangerously.

I have seen many court room drama's, but for me this documentary is the real thing.