The Inner Circle

Some major miscalculations got in the way of what might have been an interesting movie. Set in the Soviet Union over a period of years beginning in 1939 and continuing through the war, the premise of The Inner Circle offers a potentially intriguing look at the human being who was Joseph Stalin. Hulce plays film projectionist, Ivan, who at the beginning of the film is screening movies for the KGB Club. Ivan is tapped to project films for Stalin himself in the sanctum sanctorum of the Kremlin. At the same time, Ivan marries the beautiful Anastasia (Davidovich). These are the years of the Communist purges, rampant paranoia and material deprivations and Ivan is in a prime position to observe the inner workings of the Kremlin power elite. And this, it seems to me, is where the movie's greatest failing lies. Because its possibilities for observation, speculation and postulation are so abundantly rich, The Inner Circle's lack of imagination may seem all the more acute. We really get to know little more about Stalin and his advisors than we already did; we don't even get much of a feel for what kinds of movies they liked to watch. Ivan's story is primarily a love story that revolves around the subordination of his marriage to his love for Comrade Stalin. Still, considering the fact that this movie was shot entirely in Russia, there ought to be enough going on here to maintain more than a passing interest in the story. But things keep getting in the way. Things like the ridiculous Hollywood-Russian accents all the characters sport. They sound as though they're trapped inside some cartoon comedy instead of a romantic/political tragedy. I mean, it really didn't help my understanding of anything to hear Stalin's cronies regularly delivering lines like “Who za fock iz going to show za movie?” Then there's the hyperbolic acting of Hulce, whose effusive acting style seems to range here from wide-eyed to bug-eyed. There's no modulation to the dramatic sequences and, at over two hours running length, this grows rapidly tedious. I had hoped for more from The Inner Circle, especially considering the fact that Russian-born director Konchalovsky is also responsible for the gripping Runaway Train. (I guess I conveniently forgot about Tango & Cash.) But The Inner Circle winds up being long on potential and short on substance.