''Within the Whirlwind'' is a 2009 German film directed by

Marleen Gorris Marleen Gorris (born 9 December 1948) is a Dutch writer and director. Gorris is known as an outspoken feminist and supporter of gay and lesbian issues which is reflected in much of her work. Her film, '' Antonia's Line,'' won an Oscar for Best ...

and based on the autobiographical book ' by Yevgenia Ginzburg. It stars

Emily Watson Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of '' Twelfth Night'' and ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Donmar W ...

and

Pam Ferris Pamela Ferris (born 11 May 1948) is a Welsh actress. She has starred in numerous British television series, including ''Connie'' (1985), '' The Darling Buds of May'' (1991–1993), '' Where the Heart Is'' (1997–2000), '' Rosemary & Thyme'' ...

.http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/within-the-whirlwind-v509053 Watson has described the film as "the most stretching thing I’ve done as a mature actress."Emily Watson: "I'm a character actor who gets laid."
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Plot

During

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...

, literature professor Yevgenia Ginzburg is falsely convicted of

anti-Soviet agitation Anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda (ASA) (russian: антисове́тская агита́ция и пропага́нда (АСА)) was a criminal offence in the Soviet Union. To begin with the term was interchangeably used with counter-revol ...

and sentenced to 10 years hard labor in a Soviet forced labour camp. Having lost everything, and no longer wishing to live, she meets Dr. Anton Walter, a Crimea German political prisoner who is a doctor in a

Kolyma Kolyma (russian: Колыма́, ) is a region located in the Russian Far East. It is bounded to the north by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and by the Sea of Okhotsk to the south. The region gets its name from the Kolyma River ...

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (espec ...

. He recommends her for a position as a nurse in the camp infirmary. They fall in love and, slowly, Evgenia begins to come back to life.

Cast

as Yevgenia Ginzburg *

as Genia's mother * Ian Hart as Beylin *

Ben Miller Bennet Evan Miller (born 24 February 1966) is an English actor, comedian, and author. He rose to fame as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. Miller is also known for playing the lead role of DI Richard Poole in the first two serie ...

as Krasny *

Ulrich Tukur Ulrich Tukur (born Ulrich Gerhard Scheurlen; 29 July 1957) is a German actor and musician. Early life and education Tukur spent his youth near Hannover where he finished his final secondary school examinations in 1977. He also earned a high sch ...

as Dr. Anton Walter

Distribution

As of 2011, ''Within the Whirlwind'' has not been picked up for distribution. According to Watson, "It was delivered pretty much the day the market crashed so nobody was buying anything. You have to be very

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

. Walk away and say: 'I have no idea what’s going to happen and it’s not in my hands.’ At the same time you never quite think that's going to happen."

References

External links

*
Bernd Reinhardt reviews the film for the, "World Socialist Website."Ronnie Scheib reviews "Within the Whirlwind" for Variety.com
2009 films English-language German films English-language Belgian films German drama films Polish drama films Belgian drama films Films directed by Marleen Gorris Films about the Soviet Union in the Stalin era Films about the Gulag Films shot in Cologne Films based on autobiographies 2000s English-language films 2000s German films {{2000s-Germany-film-stub