Stalin’s Wife — Documentary, 104 Minutes.
From the director of the cult classic Liquid Sky comes the documentary Stalin’s Wife, a fascinating portrait of the spouse of Russia’s most notorious dictator.
Just a brief time ago, an air of mystery surrounded the private lives of all the leaders of Soviet Russia. Life of Stalin’s wife Nadezhda Alliluyev was only spoken of in a hushed whisper. Today it’s still full of riddles.
At the tender age of sixteen Nadezhda Alliluyev (1901-1932) married Joseph Stalin, twenty three years her senior.
Throughout their fourteen years of family life, Nadezhda stood by as Stalin transformed from the ordinary revolutionary into the unlimited dictator of Russia – semi-god, whose portraits replaced Christian orthodox icons in the corners of peasant’s huts. Stalin’s fantastic transformation did not make his wife happy. One morning she was found dead in her bed, revolver by her side. Up to this day historians continue the heated debate as to whether she had killed herself or was murdered by Stalin.
Most of the events surrounding Nadezhda’s short and tragic life are as mysterious as her death. Slava Tsukerman’s film is an attempt to solve the riddles of the not-so-distant past. It weaves stories within stories, and blends commentary from remaining relatives, friends and historians with rare archival footage. It provides a fascinating overview of the early history of the USSR at the same time exploring the myriad questions surrounding this complex relationship.