Pavel Talankin, the unlikely star of an Oscar-nominated documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putinis, by its own account, a bit of an odd duck. He informs us that he has 427 specific books, all carefully arranged by color. He shows us a picture of himself as a little boy with a bright blue ribbon on his head. “As a young student I knew that I was different from other boys, even if I didn’t know why,” He says. “Maybe this is why I was always alone.”
Having read about Talankin’s film before watching it, I was looking forward to seeing it trenchant views up military in Russian schools in the era of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s all-out war against Ukraine. I was not disappointed. Talankin worked as an event coordinator and videographer for an elementary school in his hometown of Karabash (a town of about 10,000 in the Ural Mountains). Using photographs he took at school, he paints a picture of Russia’s origins in fascism—from a grenade-throwing competition to a history teacher who claims to be infatuated with Lavrentiy Beria, the head of Stalin’s serial rapist secret police. (Imagine a modern German teacher saying, “Himmler and Heydrich were the two most remarkable leaders of our country.”)
Pavel Talankin, the unlikely star of an Oscar-nominated documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putinis, by its own account, a bit of an odd duck. He informs us that he has 427 specific books, all carefully arranged by color. He shows us a picture of himself as a little boy with a bright blue ribbon on his head. “As a young student I knew that I was different from other boys, even if I didn’t know why,” He says. “Maybe this is why I was always alone.”
Having read about Talankin’s film before watching it, I was looking forward to seeing it trenchant views up military in Russian schools in the era of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s all-out war against Ukraine. I was not disappointed. Talankin worked as an event coordinator and videographer for an elementary school in his hometown of Karabash (a town of about 10,000 in the Ural Mountains). Using photographs he took at school, he paints a picture of Russia’s origins in fascism—from a grenade-throwing competition to a history teacher who claims to be infatuated with Lavrentiy Beria, the head of Stalin’s serial rapist secret police. (Imagine a modern German teacher saying, “Himmler and Heydrich were the two most remarkable leaders of our country.”)
As terrifying as all this was, it wasn’t too surprising. Anyone who has paid attention to Putin’s public statements about the war would have expected as much. What I didn’t expect from this film, however, was an in-depth examination of the psychology of the opposition told from the point of view of a man who realizes that his government is wrong and decides to do something about it.
Pavel Talankin’s films in the classroom in the documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin.Kino Lorber
Talankin has not played his own role at all. When he thinks about the anti-war protesters he saw on the Internet, he is forced to admit that he could never do the same: “I wish I could be as brave as them. But I’m not.”
Yet for some strange reason he can’t help but think for himself, despite living in a place where most people are willing to follow. To make matters worse, he feels a deep and abiding love for his community, the school he teaches at, and the people around him—all of which make him politically isolated, which becomes more intense as the war (and the film) progresses, especially the pain. Seeing no other outlet for his frustration, he ends up collaborating secretly with an American filmmaker based in Europe on a project to trace the wartime changes of Russian society from the inside.
He shows us military drills for sixth graders. He shows us a teacher skipping the words of the government in a statement that he has been instructed to read on his camera. He shows us a visit from Wagner Group mercenaries—famous for their brutality in Ukraine and elsewhere—who brandish weapons and warn their elementary school audience to leave their helmet belts unbuttoned: “It’ll break your neck if you get shot in the head.” The Beria-the curious teacher informs his class that Western sanctions hurt Europeans more than Russians: “In France, to fill a tank with gasoline, you need more than 150 euros. So the French will soon be like musketeers, riding horses, and all of Europe too.”
Still from the document Mr. Nobody Against Putin.Kino Lorber
A low-level view of the videotape—which documents life in the hinterland of the region away from the well-reported world of Moscow and St. But it is Talankin’s own presence that makes the story unique. As he finally realizes, the goal of all teachings is not just to bring the majority into line with the teachings of the government; it is also intimidating and alienating the few citizens who, like him, still have the ability to think with little freedom. “I like my job but I don’t want to be the leader of this government,” he notes at one point. Forced to record a pro-war rally, he feels almost completely disgusted about his own role. “I feel like I’m a stranger in my own town.”
In the pre-2022 era, Talankin tells us, he had managed to transform the school into a kind of someone else’s family. He turned his room a little at school in a safe place for students. It became a place where no one was offended by the flag of opposition supporters on their wall and where the emergence of sensitive topics did not raise eyebrows. But as his isolation grows, he can’t help but engage in symbolic acts of anti-government with potentially disastrous consequences—like playing Lady Gaga’s version of the US national anthem over the school loudspeaker during a formal event. There is, in fact, a surprising lightness to its treatment of frustrating material that saves the film from being a bad screed.
The more his opposition becomes evident, the more those around him fall. One of his favorite students, a girl named Masha, lost her brother before in Ukraine; Talankin is clearly hurt by his refusal to open up about his tragedy. Gradually it becomes clear to him that his work with foreign filmmakers will have inevitable consequences: He is forced to move, not knowing if he will be able to return. (He left Russia in 2024.)
I have always admired those people who choose to do the right thing despite the rejection and hatred of those around them. For every brave activist who receives praise and support, there are countless others who face isolation, marginalization, even physical abuse. Indeed, as we saw in January in Iran, public opposition sometimes translates into slaughter and a nameless grave. Why, precisely, there are people who choose the high-cost path of resistance is still a mystery. Has Talankin become antagonistic because he has always felt like an outsider? Maybe. But he is certainly not a bitter and vengeful revolutionary. He’s actually a dedicated local patriot, which is even more surprising when you consider his naive nature. is explained as “one of the most polluted cities of Russia.” One wonders how he will live in exile. It won’t be easy.
“Love for your country is not about putting up a flag,” Talankin says aloud. “It’s not about singing the national anthem either. It’s not about exploitation and propaganda.” Sometimes, of course, it can mean taking the lonely road. Mr Nobody Against Putin is a minor miracle.
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