Act and Punishment (2018)
Directed by Yevgeny Mitta
Written by Documentary
Starring Mariya Alyokhina, Boris Groys
Release Date January 2018
I will admit, I didn’t pay close enough attention to what Pussy Riot was really about. In my very Midwestern American way, I passively dismissed Pussy Riot simply because the name made me a little uncomfortable. I certainly could not talk about Pussy Riot on the radio on my talk show so I simply ignored the phenomenon. Now, I wish I hadn’t been so stupid. The new documentary Act & Punishment lays out the case that Pussy Riot is far more important than I had, in my limited worldview, ever imagined.
In 2011, a group of artists began to resist the rule of Vladimir Putin. Under Putin, Russia was beginning to revert to the era of dictatorships with Putin becoming so unquestioned as leader that he was able to name the people who would lead after him. Putin was gathering power around him and this included exerting influence over Russia’s most powerful religious leaders.
In the shadows a group of artists were beginning a small but notable rebellion. Specifically, three women decided that the best way to demonstrate against Putin was in the form of disruptive public performances. They chose the medium of punk rock because they weren’t trained musicians and yet they performed songs. They took their protests to the subways, public squares and prisons and performed songs such as “Mother of God, Drive Putin Away.”
The protests always ended the same with police dragging the women off to jail for several hours until they were released. This changed however when in 2013, Pussy Riot decided to perform inside the Moscow Cathedral. The protest was a disaster from the first moment. Someone had tipped off police that Pussy Riot would be attempting a guerrilla performance at the Cathedral and before they could even set up their instruments, police descended.
Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal
