The strange case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia, who rocketed to prosperity and prominence in the 1990s, served a decade in prison, and became an unlikely martyr for the anti-Putin movement.
Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney delivers one of his strongest explorations of global politics in considering the strange case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Once believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia, Mikhail Khodorkovsky rocketed to prosperity and prominence in the 1990s, served a decade in prison, and became an unlikely leader of the anti-Putin movement. In tracking Mikhail Khodorkovsky's story, Alex Gibney creates a compelling portrait of post-Soviet Russia, a nation caught between radically divergent political models - and where fortunes can transform overnight. The collapse of the USSR ushered in an era of chaos and opportunity. With laws lagging behind socioeconomic change, Russia fomented a kind of gangster capitalism. Mikhail Khodorkovsky took advantage of the privatization of state assets, created Russia's first commercial bank, and built Yukos, Russia's biggest oil company. His success in business was accompanied by a level of political influence that would prove precarious. In 2003, just months after publicly criticizing corruption within Vladimir Putin's government, Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested for fraud, and Yukos' shares were frozen and conveyed to the Russian state. He was found guilty, and sentenced to nine years' incarceration. Then, in 2010, Mikhail Khodorkovsky was hit with new charges of embezzlement and money laundering: he was essentially accused by the state of stealing his own oil, in what many recognized as a show trial.—Toronto International Film Festival
Narrated by Alex Gibney and brimming with insightful interviews with various Russian journalists, business-people, and legal experts, Citizen K (2019) plays like a political thriller, revealing parallels between the ways Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Vladimir Putin navigated modern Russia's Wild West atmosphere for personal gain. Mikhail Khodorkovsky was eventually pardoned and now lives in exile in England, where, in a stunning reversal, this former oligarch has become an advocate for democracy and human rights in Russia.—Toronto International Film Festival
Mikhail Khodorkovsky is charismatic and mercurial. It's not difficult to see why Alex Gibney chose him as the focus of his new film. After thriving in Russia in the 1990s and amassing incredible wealth from the oil industry, Mikhail Khodorkovsky became a nuisance to Vladimir Putin, who subsequently had him jailed in Siberia for ten years. Now living in exile in the UK, he orchestrates a far-reaching anti-Putin campaign. Through this story, Alex Gibney charts Vladimir Putin's rise to power, the golden years of the oligarchs and an era of gangster capitalism, combining archive footage and interviews with various journalists and Mikhail Khodorkovsky himself. Unfolding like a gripping political thriller, Citizen K (2019) is an urgent and topical account of a culture dominated by fake news and the rise of Russia's alleged meddling in politics beyond its borders.—London Film Festival
