Watch Perm-36. Reflexion

Perm-36: Reflexion is a Russian documentary film, released in 2016, directed by Elena Yakovich and Pavel Kostomarov. The movie highlights the story and significance of a small Gulag labor camp, Perm-36, located in the Ural Mountains. The film sheds light on the hidden history of the Soviet Union under Stalin, Khrushchev, and Brezhnev, and how the regime tried to keep its citizens in fear and submission.

The narrative of the movie is primarily centered around the people who were imprisoned in the Perm-36 camp and their experiences. One of the main protagonists of the movie is Sergei Kovalev, a renowned human rights activist who was imprisoned in the camp in the 1970s. He is accompanied by Viktor Pestov, a guide employed by the museum on the site, and writer Michael Meylac.

Perm-36 was one of the largest Gulag labor camps in the Soviet Union, with over 40,000 prisoners incarcerated during its operation. The movie delves into the conditions that prisoners endured in the camp- their meager rations, the backbreaking work, and the punishments they were subjected to for any perceived infraction. The prisoners were mostly political dissidents and intellectuals, who were considered a threat to the Soviet regime. The documentary asserts that the primary aim of the Gulag system was not only to punish dissidents but also to silence anybody who held dissenting views about the Soviet state.

Perm-36: Reflexion is an excellent example of modern Russian documentaries that strive to unearth the hidden stories and lost history of the Soviet Union. The documentary highlights the importance of preserving history and educating future generations about the failures of the Soviet state.

The movie is well produced and uses a mix of archival footage, interviews with former prisoners, and historical reenactments to tell its story. The film is both emotional and thought-provoking, highlighting the resilience and bravery of the prisoners who were held in the Gulag labor camps. The story that Perm-36: Reflexion tells is incredibly important, as it emphasizes how the Soviet regime silenced dissent and demonstrates the importance of ensuring that such atrocities do not happen again.

Furthermore, the documentary also covers the struggle to preserve Perm-36 itself. After the fall of the Soviet Union, it was converted into a museum dedicated to the victims of political repression. However, in 2015, the Russian state took control of the museum and changed its exhibits to portray the Soviet Union in a more positive light. The film addresses this, emphasizing the importance of preserving the site and the ongoing battle for its preservation.

To conclude, Perm-36: Reflexion is a powerful and well-crafted documentary about the importance of preserving history, and the struggle to remember the darker moments of our pasts. The movie serves as a reminder of the dangers of authoritarianism, and how easily democracy and human rights can be eroded. The story of Perm-36 is a crucial part of modern Russian history, and this film tells it in a way that is both informative and moving.

Perm-36. Reflexion is a 2016 documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 40 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.7.