Lenin in October: Intense, noisy, and surprisingly focused

Is this thing worth watching?

Honestly, if you have any interest in how historical figures get turned into movie stars, yeah, give it a shot. It’s definitely not a light watch, and if you hate old-school propaganda or movies where people just stand around in rooms shouting about the future, you’re gonna have a bad time. It moves fast, though. Surprisingly fast for a movie about a bunch of guys in wool suits.

Boris Shchukin as Lenin? He’s almost too charming. He’s got this way of pacing around the room that makes you forget you're watching a scripted piece of history. He makes the revolution feel like a high-stakes poker game rather than a boring lecture.

The vibe

The whole movie feels like it’s vibrating. There’s a specific kind of intensity here, where everyone is constantly whispering or shouting. It’s loud, it’s dramatic, and it doesn't leave much room for a breather.

• That one scene in the kitchen where they’re hiding the plans? Classic.
• The lighting in the secret meetings is all shadows and heavy contrast. It looks cool, even if it’s a bit theatrical.
• Some of the extras in the background are doing way too much, like they’re trying to act with their whole bodies every second.

It’s funny how different this feels compared to something like Captains Courageous. Where that movie feels like a slow, steady ocean wave, this one feels like someone shaking a soda bottle before opening it.

Wait, did that really happen?

There’s a moment where Lenin is just kind of chilling in a wig, trying not to get caught. It’s absurd, honestly. But the movie plays it so straight that you just roll with it. It’s one of those bits that feels like it belongs in a different genre entirely.

It’s not as polished as the stuff coming out of Hollywood at the time, like Murders in the Rue Morgue, but it has this gritty, desperate energy. It feels like the filmmakers really wanted you to believe this was the only way it could have gone down. Even if that’s, you know, not quite the truth.

The pacing is a bit erratic. Sometimes it drags on a conversation for five minutes too long, and then suddenly the whole city is in revolt. It’s a weird rhythm. You just have to lean into it. Don't go looking for a balanced history lesson here. Just enjoy the ride for what it is—a very loud, very committed piece of political theater.