a review of 纳瓦尔尼 Navalny

utterly gripping. truly a fascinating man living through a fascinating and tragic story. for me, it was clear from the start that we were listening to a dead man (both because we already know he was assassinated by russia, and also simply because of the nature of his defiance). i was in tears at several points during this film. i don't feel like docking any stars for this, but this documentary is somewhat single minded in its focus on "anti-corruption" as a complete platform. in reality, navalny almost certainly has a more complex, nuanced, and flawed worldview. i don't know much more about his entire history or political views, and it would have been nice to learn about some of that from this documentary. however, i understand the monumental task that opposing putin this forcefully and this publicly entails, so i'm not going to demand any more than that story. navalny is a rare breed. to lead an opposition party in a state as authoritarian and murderous as russia is hard to comprehend. returning to russia after they already tried to kill him is just a level of fortitude, commitment, and bravery that i will likely never understand. i'm not sure what huey p. would have thought of navalny, but having just read revolutionary suicide, i can't help but draw some parallels between these two men who both completely sacrificed (literally) their lives for revolution. i think americans have become so docile, complacent, and compliant that it's hard for most of them to even conceive of sacrificing comfort, or the american dream, or prosperity for social change. to witness navalny in real time choosing to return to an almost certain death...because he cannot lead an opposition party from exile...is truly unreal. inspiring. moving. devastating. this will stick with me for a long, long while. death to fascism. never give up.