Navalny

Fascinating insight into how authoritarian regimes blatantly lie and still get away. Key takeaway: In this post-truth world, one should be able to discriminate truth from lies, propaganda from reality.

That phone scene. Wow.

I wish they focused more on the investigation means and methods, I found them really freakin interesting.

Standard documentary with a human subject that is in the middle of such an intensely political situation that it is hard to grasp it while watching. Even the now famous phone call is played straight. It isn’t often I say this but this documentary could have used more pathos. The movie feels important but its political nature hinders any deep insight into Navalny as a person or politician. He is left mostly a figurehead.

It has a limited scope and does a very good job with that (especially if you’re somewhat familiar with the story), but it doesn’t establish as strong a relationship with the audience as it maybe should to have a broader emotional appeal.

“Navalny” is a gripping and powerful film that delivers an important message about the sacrifices made by those who stand up for what they believe in. While it may not appeal to all audiences due to its thriller-like approach and assumption of prior knowledge, it is an essential watch for anyone interested in politics and human rights.

Compelling material largely soiled by dreadfully rote documentary filmmaking (down to the on-the-nose score) and cloying pap (including the ever-wearying “our documentary subject is really just a normal guy! Look, he plays Call of Duty! He’s on TikTok!”). With the exception of *that* phone scene (which will probably win this the Documentary Oscar this Sunday), none of this improves upon simply reading a well-written article on the same subject.

Altılı masadan aday ol yiğidim. :)

Well done. Paints a pretty bleak picture of our eastern neighbor.

Well done, but the rating is perhaps not so much for the quality of the moviemaking, but for how compelling Navalny himself is. His passion, humor, and drive to effect change for the better in his, shall we say, troubled home country is awe-inspiring. It's worth watching just for the phone call scene that everyone refers to. The events depicted are almost--literally--unbelievable, yet they happened. Moscow4!

Better if taken as a straight up thriller than anything approaching a probing investigative piece, this is still an engrossing, immensely entertaining shallow dive into the nefarious wheeling and dealings in Putin’s Russia, with a few moments of chance happenstance which elevate the film a little further (the telephone conversation is a legitimately brilliant jaw-dropper which almost feels too good to be true). Helps that Navalny himself is such a seductive and engaging focal point.

The scene where Navalny tricks one of his would-be assassins into a confession is insane and makes this worth a watch. Other than that it's overlong and shallow. You learn very little about him, and even less about his politics. It's also overly "filmish" with its editing and use of music.

I’m more and more convinced on a daily basis that we don’t live in a heightened Mission:Impossible reality, we live in a Mission:Impossible reality just way stupider. An almost-murdered man prank calling Russian operatives and getting one to cop to putting nerve agent in his taint with intent to kill is God-tier content. He also schools his teenage daughter on how to make a TikTok. Using OMC for the soundtrack may be too obvious, but see above: stupider and taint. How bizarre.

Doc of the yr. Anger, fear, apprehension, joy. Felt 'em all watching this historic piece. 9.1

The bit at the half-way point where Navalny personally prank calls the 5 Russian agents who attempted to poison and murder him, and gets one of them to unwittingly admit to it and share details is truly astounding and compelling.