Trotskiy

Great series, great actors. Im a French Canadian so I only speak French and English, I listened to this on Netflix in Russian with French subtitles and loved it. There are some divergences from reality (I wont say to keep this spoiler free, but other viewers have reported somes here in other reviews if you would like to see) and its more of a sensational series that a documentary (think the recent Spartacus iteration on Starz, I think) but I had loads of fun watching it and learned some things on the life of this fascinating and polarizing historical figure. Just make sure to fact-check afterwards. For mature audience, as there violence, nudity, sex scenes and some very hard-to-watch antisemitic scenes (as that was the reality of this era).

First let's address one point. The movie is not a reproduction of the events. It's not a documentary. It takes a lot of liberties when it comes to historical accuracy and the producers of the movie have stated that they have modified the plot to deliver a powerful message. Second, to understand the movie you need some knowledge of Russian history of the 20th century. It was made for the Russian public for whom it's their history. Without the history you will miss a lot of nuance which the movie is filled with. For example, many outside Russia have said that the series is racist and antisemitic, and it is so purposefully because that was the society back then. There were cases of "pogroms" - mobs of antisemitic people attacking Jewish communities. Antisemitism was rampant throughout Europe and not seen as something abhorrent as the lesson of ultra-nationalism came only after WWII. Now about the movie. After watching the series in Russian, re-watching it again and reading some reactions and articles about it I can say the movie did what it was supposed to do. Spark a conversation. Ardent socialists and communists (and I mean real socialists and communists, not social-democrats) took it as a slander piece to make Trotsky look bad by bad capitalist Russia. For westerners it seems to be hailing a bloody leader of the Russian Civil War and making a rock star out of him and here again the Russians fetishizing their Soviet past. It's neither. Hell, it's controversial series even in Russia. It shows what a revolution truly is. It's violent. It's not pretty. It's often led by fanatics and ends up costing lives, many lives. Is it worth the price? You decide. It wrestles with dilemmas about power and politics and does a good job. It doesn't give an answer and leaves you thinking. I won't deliver you what you should think of it, but it's definitely worth watching, though it asks from you some homework to do brushing up on your history of the 20th century. P.S. It gets an 8 because it delivers a powerful message but isn't particularly accurate in the historical detail. Still, get's the job done.

I'm always a bit sceptical when watching a biographical movie or series. It's easy to portray the subject as one-dimensional, either as a monster or as a saint, depending who the subject is and who is telling the story. This fear is even stronger when the story concerns a controversial figure, and Leon Trotsky, one of the leaders of the October revolution is nothing if not controversial.

So imagine my surprise when instead of the expected propaganda piece about how great Trotsky was I got a fascinating multi-faceted portray of a very complex man. This for me is the best thing about the mini-series. Trotsky is presented as a firm believer in a world-wide revolution, but that doesn't make him innocent or even good. He says he wants to save people, and yet he is willing to sacrifice anyone for the revolution. He is both ruthless and empathetic. He claims he doesn't regret anything - and seems to believe that when saying it - and yet he is quite literally haunted by the ghosts of the people his actions got killed. It's very rare that a biopic is that compelling.

This of course wouldn't be possible without the proper acting. Konstantin Khabenskiy is - as could be expected from such a talented actor - simply brilliant as Trotsky, conveying the character's complexity with ease. Everyone else does a great job as well, but Khabenskiy is clearly the star here.

Another thing that I really liked was the clever use of special effects. The scenes exploring Trotsky's emotions often present him as having vivid hallucinations, which are beautifully animated. Some transitions between scenes are among the best I've ever seen in any movie or series. The only moments when the show doesn't look splendid are the scenes showing historical sites or Trotsky's armored train, when CGI isn't the best. Luckily, these scenes are few and far between.

All in all, Trotsky is a very well-crafted piece of television. Everything from writing to acting to special effects is really good. It's a compelling story about a fascinating (if controversial) man. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys biographical or historical dramas. Or to people who are just looking for a solid tv series.

We live in a time of turmoil that could become more violent and destructive if we fail to learn from human history. This dramatized and often inaccurate version of historical events surrounding the Russian Revolution drives an important point home: violent revolutions are extremely destructive and risky. They unleash the darkest drives within people and allow sociopaths to take the reigns. The production (including the script, dialogue, acting, effects, sets, titles with historical detail on characters) is excellent. I was pulled in by the drama and was not let down. As a student of history who studied the Russian Revolution in grad school, I was aware of important distortions, but dramatic films are statements, not histories. This statement is well made. I am intrigued by the potential impact in Russian society today, where a dictator is willing to lie and kill to maintain power. Is this a statement about Russia today? Is it a statement to the world as the nativist, repressive and violent tendencies of governments are on the rise? Is it about the Russian past, an effort to remind the Russian people about what went down and what might happen again? Perhaps it is all these things. No matter it is a well done series, well worth watching.

I agree with the other comments wrt it's dramatic value and historically dubious facts but as soon as I started watching it I knew Much was missing and went to refresh my memory on the history and facts surrounding Trotsky's life. It's a good production with great acting that keeps true to the major facts, a good intro for most people. And if the fill in some of the gaps with some more historical information they will enjoy the program even more. I hope it spurs them to read more on the topic the Russian revolution and it's main characters because it is so interesting and filled with deceit, violence and terror. It couldn't be captured in one series or a couple of seasons of episodes.