Sergei Loznitsa’s Two Prosecutors depicts a contemplative, Sisyphean attempt to restore justice during the height of Stalin’s rule.
Director: Sergei Lonitza
Original Title: Dva Prokurora
Genre: Drama, Historical
Run Time: 118′
Cannes Premiere: May 14-17, 2025
Sergei Loznitsa’s Two Prosecutors is not going to be for everyone. Both in tone and pacing, the film embodies the painstakingly drab and tedious processes within bureaucracy, yet Loznitsa somehow manages to have his audience watching on the edge of their seats.
Two Prosecutors opens in 1937 in a prison in the Soviet Union. A prisoner has just been handed a large sack and told to burn everything in it. As he opens the sack, he sees it’s filled with letters. He begins to open the letters in order to read them before he throws them in the furnace. Each letter is a plea from a falsely accused prisoner, begging Stalin for a reprieve.
Against all odds, one of these letters, written with blood in place of ink, reaches the local prosecutor’s office and prompts the visit of newly appointed prosecutor Alexander Kornev (Aleksandr Kuznetsov, of Land of Legends). After demanding to meet the prisoner whose letter he received, Kornev is told stories of prisoners being tortured, confessions being forced and corruption in the NKVD, the earlier iteration of the KGB.
Kornev, a devoted Bolshevik party member, accepts the tall task of restoring justice within the party and sets out on a quest to tell the Attorney General in Moscow of the party’s rampant corruption.
Loznitsa’s film paints a poignant picture of a loyal member of the Soviet Union slowly unearthing the true ambitions of his country and party. Through his film, he expertly shows us the bleak state of the Soviet Union under Stalin’s rule, accentuated by Jurij Grigorovič and Aldis Meinerts’ expert production design.
Two Prosecutors is a portrait of a man who believes in what he was taught about law, order and politics. He sees an injustice and wants to correct it. His call to arms is both courageous and awe-inspiring, refusing to back down from fighting against a system much larger than himself.
Through his journey, he even manages to make the audience believe that he could make a change, despite our better judgment and knowledge of the Soviet Union in the 1930s. While Loznitsa offers glimpses of hope, courage and optimism, he finds ways of grounding the audience in a way that, while cruel, is accurate. It seems to be his way of saying, it would be nice if this were a story where everything worked out the way you wanted it to, but this is what happens to justice in a country under a communist dictator.
Aleksandr Kuznetsov’s performance is utterly enrapturing and one of the best from the festival thus far. His naivety and blind sense of patriotism are expertly played, making Kornev’s optimism something the audience can believe in.
Ultimately, Two Prosecutors serves as both a picture-perfect period piece and a warning. While the film is not devoid of hope, Loznitsa refuses to handle his audience delicately. His film shows what life is like under a totalitarian dictatorship and how the concept of justice is the first thing to be done away with. It’s a tragedy about the way the individual falls powerless against established, immoveable and corrupt institutions.
Two Prosecutors: Movie Plot & Recap
Synopsis:
It’s 1937 in the Soviet Union, and the prisons are rapidly filling up as Stalin has given orders for a political purge of all oppositional groups. A prisoner is handed a bag of letters and told to burn them. They are all from inmates begging Stalin for a reprieve. While almost every letter gets burned, one, written in blood, manages to escape the prison walls, making its way to the local prosecutor’s office.
Newly appointed prosecutor Alexander Kornev comes to the prison, demanding to meet with the man who wrote the letter he received. Once he meets with the prisoner, political corruption, prisoner abuse and the repeated coercion of confessions are all revealed to him. Kornev must decide how to seek justice in a system where he can’t trust anyone.
Pros:
- Jurij Grigorovič and Aldis Meinerts’ production design teleports you into a hyperrealistic version of the Soviet Union in 1937.
- Aleksandr Kuznetsov’s performance is one of the best from Cannes thus far.
Cons:
- The pacing is slow and the tone is bleak. It’s a watch that seeks to challenge you in more ways than one.
Two Prosecutors premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14-17, 2025. Read our list of 20 movies to watch at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival!
