An Ordinary Excecution by Jessica Cree

Director: Marc Dugain
Duration: 105mins
Rating: ***

On one of the snowiest nights of the winter so far, I was looking forward to a night out at the Tyneside Cinema. I wasn’t expecting a heart-warming story with a title like An Ordinary Execution, but what I did get was a thought-provoking, if somewhat farfetched, imaginative fairytale.
An Ordinary Execution is French author-turned-director Marc Dugain’s debut film, based on the final weeks of Joseph Stalin’s paranoid life and dictatorship. An incredibly gifted young doctor, Anna (Marina Hands), is rumoured by her patients and colleagues to have healing powers and is summoned by the ever weakening Stalin (André Dussollier) to ease his pain. He forbids her to tell anyone about her new post, which puts strain on her relationship with her husband. The film follows the kind and caring Anna’s struggle to obey a notoriously unforgiving dictator’s wishes, whilst protecting her family at the same time.
Dugain’s direction of the film reflects the sinister atmosphere of the era; the film is shot in grey and brown undertones and the whispered discussions heighten the tension. Hands plays the part of Anna well, showing her passion, strength and intelligence, whilst also giving the viewer an insight into her vulnerability; she personifies a ray of hope and good within a corrupt regime.
An Ordinary Execution is a different, more imaginative look at the end of Stalin’s life and however fictional and fantastic the storyline may be, it is well worth viewing simply for the cast’s great performances.