Defence Counsel Sedov

Late one evening in Moscow in 1937, Defence Counsel Sedov hears a knock at the door. Three women whose agronomist husbands have been sentenced to death for alleged sabotage beg him to take on the seemingly hopeless task of saving them. Sedov embarks upon a succession of encounters with increasingly powerful officials, gradually persuading them to look at the case anew. But the highest authorities are not so easily outmanoeuvered, and Sedov becomes canonised as a Stalinist zealot, with the film building inexorably to its chilling triple climax.

Directed by Evgeny Tsymbal, Defence Counsel Sedov leans on a strong ensemble — Vladimir Ilin, Albina Matveyeva, Tamara Chernova — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1988.