If it was a Hollywood movie we would all have thought it was an unrealistic story, but it’s real. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned in 2020 and ended up in a horrific adventure. Together with director Daniel Roher, he manages to bring his story to the screen in an intriguing way.
During a flight from Siberia to Moscow, Navalny suddenly became ill and the pilot had to make an emergency landing. This emergency landing turned out to have been his salvation, otherwise he would not have been able to tell it. He was evacuated to a hospital in Berlin, where it was determined that he had been poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent previously used by the Russian government. However, President Vladimir Putin denies any involvement and is completely done with the opposition leader.
Navalny knows how to use media to his advantage
As the war in Ukraine once again proves, the Russian state media is lying all together. Navalny is all too aware of this and in turn uses the media to try to present the truth to the Russians: he has a mega-popular YouTube channel, posts videos daily on Twitter and is on TikTok. Even after the poisoning, he manages to use the media to bring out the news about who is behind this. The documentary is a prime example of this. Navalny knows exactly what to say to get the viewer on his side. And that works.
A fly on the wall
The documentary alternates between interviews – by Navalny himself, his wife, the Bellingcat researcher and other key players – and the so-called ‘fly on the wall’ technique in which we as viewers are taken into the story in real time. We watch the precise moment when Navalny makes a bizarre discovery in his investigation into the perpetrators behind his poisoning. “What are we going to do now? Do we want to get this out right away?” we hear him say. As a viewer you are present at the important moments of this still developing story.
Navalny’s latest images?
In addition to the interesting developments in the investigation, director Roher also manages to add an extra dimension to the documentary: by emphasizing the fact that Navalny could very soon be murdered by the Russian government, all his words and deeds are given an extra dimension. . At the time of shooting, Navalny does not know if he will still be alive when the film comes out. The political activist also gets the chance to address the Russian people if he is arrested or dies: “Don’t give up”.
This documentary was also made with that credo. The importance of the story and the intimate look into the still unfolding life of Navalny are reminiscent of the Oscar-winning documentary Citizenfour (2014). Such an award would not be out of place in this compelling presentation about Alexei Navalny.
Image: Still ‘Navalny’ via Filmdepot
