All My Lenins

All My Lenins Estonian: Minu Leninid
Directed by	Hardi Volmer
Produced by	Mati Sepping
Written by	Toomas Kall
Music by	Thomas DeRenzo
Editing by	Marju Juhkum
Release date(s)	2 October 1997
Country	Estonia
Language	Estonian, Russian, German, English

All My Lenins (Estonian: Minu Leninid, Russian: Все мои Ленины), 1997 is Hardi Volmer´s historical comedy. ^[1] The topics are Russian bolshevik´s coup d´etat plans, World War I and Russian Revolution (1917).

Plot

In 1908, young Estonian politician Aleksander Kesküla (Üllar Saaremäe) has escaped from Estonia, then part of the czarist Russian empire, to Switzerland. Kesküla hardly concernes about the national oppression in Russian empire. Such is also the point of view of famous Russian exile bolshevik Vladimir Lenin (this role casted by Viktor Sukhorukov). Lenin believes czarist Russia to be "the prison of nations". Kesküla gives his last exams in university of Bern. When World War I bursts into flame, Lenin views the Russian and German bourgeoisies both cause the war and so he began to agitate "to end war even if Russia will be defeated."

Kesküla sees his great historical chance and intends to use Lenin's left radicals in the revolutionizing of Russian empire. He elaborates mania grandiosa type plans to exterminate Russia forever and build on the ruins of great empire Gross-Estland (Great Estonia), which would incorporate all former Fenno-Ugric territories, including Saint Petersburg. At first, he acts between Lenin and the German government to use German money for igniting revolutionary flames in Russia. Kesküla and German ministry of foreign affairs make a deal to support Lenin financially: to pay for the brochures, leaflets and books of the Bolshevik Party. Lenin acceptes German help but cannot really imagine in which he implicates himself.

The Germans place their super-spy Müller (Andrus Vaarik) the coordinator of whole project. Kesküla and Müller deal to educate five Russian men as the Lenin's counterparts (Doppelgängers). They want to be sure they can replace real Lenin every moment something happened with him, and so they insure their rear. Thus develops the philosophical concept: counterparts are funny but dangerous. They could replace you every moment when anybody notices you seem to be with inconvenient character (like real Lenin was).

Historical accuracy

The authors (plot has written by Toomas Kall, idea elaborated by Hardi Volmer and Ott Sandrak) called their film pseudo-historical. However, the film contains a bunch of real historical accuracies. In fall 1914, the German ambassador in Switzerland freiherr Gisbert von Romberg (Linnar Priimägi) informed his government about "a Estonian, Alexander Kesküla, who did proposal to use Lenin in our plans against Russia". German intelligence clarified about Kesküla's past and found out he had real access to the inner bolshevik circles and to Lenin himself (as in film). Moreover, Kesküla had former experience to initiate rebels in Russia with the help of the foreign hands: in 1905, in Tallinn, Tartu and Riga he got money from Japanese spy Motohirto Akashi and acted in his interests.

First German reaction to Kesküla's proposal was sceptical: for the experts of German Foreign Ministry the bolsheviks were quite marginal party and they had no power to change the moods and minds in Russian state (as in film). But the situation changed soon. In December 1914 Kesküla received 10 000 Reichsmarks from Germans with approval to spread it for the bolshevik's needs. From this period has remained an interesting characteristics to Kesküla: "He was a real Estonian patriot and hoped that revolution-enervated Russia leaves from his homeland and gives her independence."[1]

Although Kesküla informed the German government about Lenin, the most intense and organized setting on revolution in Russia happened with leading of Jewish businessman and politician Alexander Parvus who operated with millions of Reichsmarks of the German money. "All My Lenins" does not even mention Parvus and make Aleksander Kesküla the only Lenin-educating hero. "The school of Lenin's doppelgängers in Zürich" is also masterminded fiction. There were never Lenin-Monk, Lenin-Beggar, Lenin-Electrician and Lenin-Criminal.

Reaction and critics

"Minu Leninid" ("All My Lenins") has made by Faama Film company in cooperation with Lenfilm, main role played by Viktor Sukhorukov, very popular actor in contemporary Russia. Consequently, the considerable part of the audience of this movie was in Russia. There were prodigious opinions among the Russian public: was the historical truth that Estonians were behind of 1917 revolutionary scene? And why did Kesküla help on throne the bloodiest regime in the history of the whole world? The regime, which occupied his country for 50 years? Kesküla as a real historical person answered to this question shortly before his death in Spain, 1963: "Soviet Union will split to the pieces in the future."

References

1. ^ O'Connor, Kevin. Culture and Customs of the Baltic States. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-33125-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=IpR0-OrrwssC&pg=PA164&dq=All+My+Lenins+volmer&ei=h13YSNHeFZ7SigGEkrnnDg&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U0_2IJT2VqBj5Sv6yrXDfGUaBZJtw. 

External links

• "Minu Leninid" in the home page of Estonian Television.
• All My Lenins
  Estonian: Minu Leninid at the Internet Movie Database