''All My Lenins'' () is a 1997 Estonian historical comedy film by

Hardi Volmer Hardi Volmer (born 8 November 1957 in Pärnu) is an Estonian film director, puppet theatre set decorator and musician. Volmer is the singer in the Estonian punk rock band Singer Vinger. Animated cartoons *"Imeline nääriöö" (Wonderful New ...

. It was produced by the Faama Film company in cooperation with Lenfilm.

Synopsis

In 1908, young

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n politician

Aleksander Kesküla Aleksander Eduard Kesküla ( in Saadjärve Parish, Kreis Dorpat – 17 June 1963 in Madrid, Spain) was an Estonian politician and revolutionary. Kesküla studied politics and economics in the universities of University of Tartu, Tartu, University ...

(

Üllar Saaremäe Üllar Saaremäe (born November 23, 1969) is an Estonian actor, director, politician, and punk band singer. Biography Üllar Saaremäe was born 23 November 1969 in Kohtla-Nõmme. He has two children from his relationship with actress Tiina Mäl ...

) escaped from Estonia, then part of the Tsarist Russia Empire, to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where he enrolled in the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

. Kesküla is concerned about national oppression in the Russian empire, as is famous Russian exile and

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

(portrayed by

Viktor Sukhorukov Viktor Ivanovich Sukhorukov PAR (; born 10 November 1951) is a Russian actor. He has appeared in more than 50 films and television shows since 1974. He starred in ''Happy Days'' (1991), which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the ...

). Lenin believes tsarist Russia to be " the prison of nations". When

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

breaks out, Lenin blames it on the Russian and German

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

. He begins to agitate "to end war even if Russia is defeated". Kesküla seizes the opportunity to use Lenin and his followers to start a revolution against the Russian Empire. He devises a plan to overthrow Russia and build upon the ruins of the defunct empire Gross-Estland (Great Estonia). The new empire would incorporate all former

Finno-Ugric Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic languages, Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in ...

territories, including

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Kesküla and the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs make a deal to support Lenin financially. Lenin accepts the help. The Germans then install their super-spy Müller (

Andrus Vaarik Andrus Vaarik (born 14 May 1958) is an Estonian film, television, and theater actor and theater director. He is best known for his portrayal of Andrus Kivirähk's fictional character Ivan Orav, Raul in the film '' Agent Sinikael'', Osvald Kallas ...

) to serve as the project's coordinator. Kesküla and Müller train five Russian men as Lenin's doppelgängers; they want to be sure they can replace the real Lenin at any moment should something happen to him or should Lenin become a liability.

Historical accuracy

The authors of the film (screenplay by Toomas Kall, story by

and Ott Sandrak) called it pseudo-historical, as the film contains some historical accuracies, but is mostly fiction. In fall 1914, the German ambassador in Switzerland, Freiherr Gisbert von Romberg (

Linnar Priimägi Linnar Priimägi (born 29 March 1954) is an Estonian art historian, journalist, literary critic, poet and actor from Tallinn. He graduated from Tartu State University in philology, Estonian Academy of Arts (master's thesis) and Tallinn University ...

) informed his government about "an Estonian, Alexander Kesküla, who made a proposal to use Lenin in our plans against Russia." German intelligence clarified that Kesküla indeed had access to Bolshevik inner circles and to Lenin himself (as in the film). Moreover, Kesküla had prior experience using foreign assistance to support rebels in Russia; in 1905, he received money from Japanese spy Akashi Motojiro to advance his interests in Tallinn, Tartu, and Riga. The Germans were initially skeptical of Kesküla's proposal. The

German Foreign Ministry The Federal Foreign Office (, ; abbreviated AA) is the foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with the European Union. It is a cabinet-level ...

viewed the Bolsheviks as a fringe group that lacked the influence to change hearts and minds in the Russian state (as in the film.) However, the situation soon changed; in December 1914, Kesküla received 10,000 Reichsmarks from Germany to distribute to the Bolsheviks. Although Kesküla informed the German government about Lenin, Kesküla may not have been the only one to fund Lenin's cause with outside money. The film, however, focuses solely on Kesküla. "The school of Lenin's doppelgängers in Zürich" is also fictional, as are the doppelgangers themselves (Lenin-Monk, Lenin-Beggar, Lenin-Electrician and Lenin-Criminal).

Cast

References

External links

"Minu Leninid" in the home page of Estonian Television.
* {{IMDb title, 0126438, All My Lenins Estonian comedy films Films about communism Cultural depictions of Vladimir Lenin