Risk II

One year after the screening of Risk I at the first International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam, its sequel will be shown. The makers of the documentary had two reasons to make Risk II. The continuing 'glasnost' enabled them to expose a number of yet undiscussed matters. The other reason was the request for a sequel by many thousands of people that had seen Risk I on television. Obviously, people in the Soviet Union have a need to know more about the past. During World War II, Stalin was still called 'Uncle Joe' and 'Father Stalin', but later appreciation of him rapidly diminished, at home and abroad. The lowest point has been reached, now that Barshevsky puts him in the dock next to Hitler in Risk II. A western diplomat who saw this film on Russian television said: "I was blown out of my chair. The film didn't play any word games about the cult of personality, or talk about a few thousand people killed. They were comparing Stalin - and not favorably - to the worst of the age". The library pictures have been edited artistically. The documentary shows the development of the Russian atom bomb and the arms race of the forties. Many well-known names file past: Klaus Fuks, Stalin, Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Harriman, Zhukov, Mao-Tse-Tung. Within the tradition that distinguishes the most important documentaries about mass killings in this century, Barschevsky arranges the facts in a detached manner. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)