A Trial in Prague

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BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="588"><div> <B>A Trial in Prague   </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Wingdings 2" ><B>êêê</B></FONT><B>  stars   No MPAA rating</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> Reviewed by Shelley Cameron</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="588" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="588"><div> Torn Curtain</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="593" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div> Director: Zuzana Justman</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="293" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> A provocative documentary about the infamous show trials in Czechoslovakia in 1952.  In the years immediately following the war, Stalin's effort to keep tight control over the Soviet bloc resulted in his taking steps to halt what had already happened in Yugoslavia: Tito was in control and no longer answered to Moscow.  The Communist Party had to have complete and unquestioned allegiance.  As a part of the effort to ensure that no other bloc countries would slip from control, the party arranged the arrest and conviction at trial of 14 members in high-ranking positions in Prague.  This arrest had a double benefit.  It would rid the party of members who were truly committed to the idealistic goals of the party, i.e., too ethical to be blindly loyal.  Second, it would be a show of power that the party was so strong and pure it was unafraid to root out heretics from its own leadership.</div> <bR> <div> Director Zuzana Justman's film makes a straightforward statement about the truth behind these trials that were in reality total fabrications of the party.  The real power of this film is the way it invites us to examine how truth is perceived.  That the trials were shams was revealed beyond doubt after Stalin's death from audio and film footage of the trials and much other evidence, of which Justman makes good use.  The 14 men were falsely accused and tortured in various ways until they were forced to sign confessions and proceeded to recite them during the trial.  The charges were treason and espionage.  Some were chosen because they had spent time in England during the war, which made spying a logical charge.  Others had been in concentration camps and were charged with treason with the reasoning that if they were not collaborating with the enemy, they would have died instead of being "protected" by the Nazis. </div> <bR> <div> Eleven of the fourteen were Jews.  Eleven (thought not the same eleven) were executed.  The other three were sentenced to prison and were released after Stalin's death and evidence that the trials were bogus.  The only survivor who appears in the film, Eduard Goldstucker, tells us the reason he was not executed was because the death penalty was only allowed for officials above a certain rank, and since he was only a deputy, he was instead imprisoned.  It is his remarks that are among the most compelling as he explains with clarity how the newly formed state of Israel came to be increasingly allied with the United States in part because of the manipulation of public sentiment generated by these trials.  The widows and children interviewed for the film recall their reactions to the arrests, their disbelief at the confessions and even confusion over what to believe because their belief in the system was so strong.  Many held resolute to their belief in the rightness of Communism, which under Stalin had helped liberate the Jews in 1945.  </div> <bR> <div> Just a few short years later, it was no longer politically expedient for Stalin to follow this line, and when the defendants were listed in the press, their Jewishness was caustically emphasized.  It was rumored that Zionist (the new thinly disguised code word for Jew) alliances with the United States were behind these traitors to the party.  Public opinion was easily swayed against them. </div> <bR> <div> The success of a documentary depends not only the skill of the filmmaker but also the viewer's willingness to believe or disbelieve.  This one succeeds in the end because of the straightforward manner and clarity in which the relationship to these trials and the political landscape the post war world is told.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="588"><div> Shelley Cameron <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >Ó</FONT> 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> <A HREF="mailto:shlcameron@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:shlcameron@aol.com"><U><U>Shelley@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>