Bunt. Delo Litvinenko (Poisoned by Polonium: The Litvinenko File) (Rebellion: The Litvinenko Case) poster & wallpaper
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Alexander Litvinenko, Marina Litvinenko, Anna Politkovskaya, Andrei Nekrasov, André Glucksmann ... see more see more... , Boris Berezovsky , Andrei Lugovoi , Vladimir Putin

The filmmaker who had total access to deceased Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko makes the inflammatory claim that Russia has fallen under the control of the Federal Security Service (FSS) -- a n... read more read more...atural successor to the KGB -- in this documentary designed explicitly to indict the actions of Russian president Vladimir Putin. From claiming that free speech in contemporary Russia is being silenced by the government to implicating the FSS in the 1999 apartment-complex bombing attributed to Chechen terrorists, director Andrei Nekrasov pulls no punches in tracing corruption within the Russian government to the highest office. In the months before the film's eponymous dissenter was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210, he had grown frustrated with the broken system and, along with some key members of the FSS, began to speak out. Later, after Litvinenko held a press conference condemning the Russian Secret Service and subsequently fell ill, Nekrasov conducted a series of interviews with the outspoken opponent of Putin's government. In an era when money laundering, mysterious deaths, and harassment of dissenting voices have become troublingly commonplace on Russian soil, Nekrasov launches a no-holds-barred attack on the president he holds accountable for creating a chilling climate of fear and oppression. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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66% liked it

113 ratings

Critics

67% liked it

12 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.

Directed by: Andrei Nekrasov

Release Date: May 26, 2007

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DVD Release Date: August 12, 2008

Stats: 23 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (23)

  • gator681
    September 19, 2009
    gator681
    "Poisoned by Polonium: The Litvinenko File" is an eye-opening documentary that starts with the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, a former FSB agent who blew the whistle on corruption and violence in the FSB and moved to London for political asylum. Documentarian Andrei Nekraso... read morev is in a unique position to comment on the case as he had previously befriended Litvinenko and had interviewed him on film on more than one occasion, giving an inside look at the power structure of Russia. Aside from this testimony, there is a string of circumstantial evidence linking a disturbing chain of events starting with the bombing of an apartment building in Moscow in 1999 that killed over 100 people and where the bodies of two FSB officers were found. The powers that be used this as a rationale for the murderous invasion of Chechnya and a subsequential crackdown on dissent that included the murder of journalists including Anna Politkovskaya. So while Russia has the democratic facade that make it and its former president Vladimir Putin attractive to western leaders, the reality could not be more different. In other words, new boss, same as the old boss.

View All Bunt. Delo Litvinenko (Poisoned by Polonium: The Litvinenko File) (Rebellion: The Litvinenko Case) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Gary Goldstein
June 20, 2008
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times

... no crackerjack action flick but rather a dizzying, unfocused and, frankly, dull assemblage of revelations and denials. Full Review

Kyle Smith
March 21, 2008
Kyle Smith, New York Post

The film, instead of confining itself to who Litvinenko was and how he came to be killed, wanders off into too many tangents and mentions too many cases. The epic corruption of today's Russia is far t... Full Review

John Anderson
March 20, 2008
John Anderson, Newsday

Although a first-rate investigative documentary on its own, Andrei Nekrasov's Poisoned by Polonium also serves as a sequel to 2004's Disbelief. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
March 19, 2008
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

A muckraking documentary of vast shuddery intrigue, makes a disquieting case that Russia hasn't just slipped back to its old oligarchic ways -- but that, in fact, it's a more repressive, corroded plac... Full Review

Jules Brenner
April 21, 2009
Jules Brenner, Filmcritic.com

The geo-political and historical value of what the interviews expose is, perhaps, more important in the end than telling the tale like a thriller Full Review

Mark Keizer
June 20, 2008
Mark Keizer, Boxoffice Magazine

Has the makings of a slam-dunk documentary. Full Review

Ella Taylor
June 19, 2008
Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly

Who needs paranoid thrillers when we have Russia's deathless gift for autocracy as plot material? Full Review

Noel Murray
March 20, 2008
Noel Murray, AV Club

A film that does an injustice to the whole chaotic situation in Eastern Europe by making it seem not just impossible, but impenetrable. Full Review

Joshua Rothkopf
March 20, 2008
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York

This is a film that seems to require a more straightforward thriller approach. Still, it's to Nekrasov's credit that he doesn't want his friend to have died in vain. Full Review

Donald J. Levit
March 20, 2008
Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Spreading its net too wide, this documentary lacks the smallest counterbalance, so one is not allowed a roundly informed decision. . Full Review

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