In Hollywood, I'm only ever asked to be a Russian gangster's moll. But Robert's interpretation of Russia in Archangel is absolutely correct."The actress explains that what particularly struck a nerve with her was Harris's evocation of a country stuck in the past and still harking back to the "halcyon days" of Josef Stalin's rule Here, the author's 1998 novel has proved truly prescient. There is a worrying upsurge in support for the tyrant who devastated the country between 1924 and 1953. Recent polls have found that one-in-four Russians would vote for Stalin if he were alive today.In addition, books rehabilitating the dictator top the best-seller lists. One, entitled Generalissimus, maintains that fewer than 2.5 million people perished during his reign - most Western estimates put the figure at closer to 20 million - and even they were killed at the behest of Stalin's opponents.
"[Archangel] reveals that the Stalinist fire has been here all along," Rednikova continues "You just need to put a match to it Stalinism has never been exorcised It still lives in the hearts of many people. A lot of Russians have been waiting for years the return of a strong man - now they believe they've found one in Putin."Craig echoes his co-star. The actor, recently in Enduring Love and Layer Cake, reckons "there is a hard-line element in Russia who believe that a return to communism is the way forward". "That is a lot to do with the way we live now and with threats of global terrorism and fear," he says. "Some people believe that the only way to deal with it is with an iron fist.
I don't tend to believe it myself, but that is why Putin is so popular - because he is so strong."The book also touches on perhaps the most amazing aspect of all - that, despite slaughtering many millions more people, Stalin has never been demonised in the same way as Hitler. Lisa Osborne, the script editor on Archangel, proffers an explanation. "There's a section in the book where Robert writes, 'This is one of the most astounding phenomena of the age - Stalin continues to enjoy a wide measure of popular support in this half-empty land His statues have been taken down The street names have been changed. But there have been no Nuremberg Trials, as there were in Germany. There has been no Truth Commission, of the sort established in South Africa'."The Russians haven't come to terms with the past, like the Germans did after the war, even though Stalin's crimes were much more heinous and on a greater scale The patterns of change are very slow.
