Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
The Inner Circle (1991)
Director: Andrei Konchalovsky
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Glasnost and perestroika have a bit to answer for with this true-ish story. Allowed back into Russia to film, Konchalovsky was given access to secret police chief Beria's bullet-proof train compartment and the dreaded KGB building. And that, plus Hoskins' amused performance as Beria, is the upside. Ivan (Hulce), believing that he's under arrest, is whisked off to work the projector for movie-fan Stalin (Zbruev), and is soon boasting to his wife Anastasia (Davidovich) about his importance. She doesn't share his worship of Stalin, and is obsessed with the fate of an orphaned Jewish girl (Baranova). None of this is convincing, and errors of judgment reach surreal proportions (passing cattle urinating into the couple's basement flat, an enormous gilt bust of Stalin bulging out the wardrobe). While serving on a train, Anastasia is 'requisitioned' by Beria, though Ivan registers only the honour of it all - until she returns pregnant. Grinning Hulce is unbelievably gormless throughout.Author: BC
Cast & crew
Director: Andrei Konchalovsky
Producer: Claudio Bonivento
Cast: Tom Hulce, Lolita Davidovich, Bob Hoskins, Aleksandr Zbruev, Feodor Chaliapin Jr, Bess Meyer, Maria Baranova full cast
Duration: 137 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.
What do you think?
Post your review now