View source for Children of the Revolution (1996 film)

{{short description|1996 film by Peter Duncan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2012}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Children of the Revolution
| image =Children of the Revolution (1996 film).jpg
| caption =
| director = [[Peter Duncan (director)|Peter Duncan]]
| producer = Tristram Miall
| writer = Peter Duncan
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Judy Davis]]
* [[Sam Neill]]
* [[Richard Roxburgh]]
* [[Rachel Griffiths]]
* [[Geoffrey Rush]]
* [[F. Murray Abraham]]
}}
| music = [[Nigel Westlake]]
| cinematography = Martin McGrath
| editing = Simon Martin
| distributor = [[Miramax Films]]
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1996|12|26}}
| runtime = 99 minutes
| country = Australia
| language = English
| budget =
| gross = {{A$|838,368}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Children of the Revolution |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=childrenoftherevolution.htm |website=[[Box Office Mojo]]}}</ref>
}}
'''''Children of the Revolution''''' is a 1996 Australian [[black comedy film]], depicting [[Joseph Stalin]] and his son's somewhat [[genetic determinism|deterministic]] path into [[Communist revolution|The Revolution]] in modern-day Australia.  It stars [[Richard Roxburgh]], [[Judy Davis]], [[Geoffrey Rush]], [[Sam Neill]], and [[F. Murray Abraham]] as [[Joseph Stalin]].
==Plot==
Joan is a young [[Australians|Australian]] [[communist]] who goes to the [[Soviet Union]] as part of a work study program in the 1950s. There she catches the eye of Soviet dictator [[Joseph Stalin]] and the two sleep together just before Stalin dies. Returning to Australia, Joan discovers she is pregnant and gives birth to Stalin's love child, whom she names Joe.  Her son (who does not know who his father is) has a troubled upbringing, rebelling against both his mother's left wing politics and Australian society in general.  He spends time in jail where he learns about Stalin's crimes from a fellow inmate.  Upon release, he marries Anna, a police officer who had arrested him. She is the child of [[Latvians|Latvian]] refugees who fled to Australia to escape Stalin's [[Great Purge]]. Pledging to go on the straight and narrow, Joe rises to become the head of Australia's police union and seizes more and more political power. Anna learns of Joe's true parentage, but keeps this secret from Joe out of love and a conviction that she cannot truly know for certain. The secret eats at their relationship and Joe resents the secrecy when it is revealed.
==Cast==
* [[Judy Davis]] as Joan
* [[Sam Neill]] as Nine
* [[F. Murray Abraham]] as [[Joseph Stalin]]
* [[Richard Roxburgh]] as Joe
* [[Rachel Griffiths]] as Anna
* [[Geoffrey Rush]] as Welch
* [[Russell Kiefel]] as Barry Rogers
* [[John Gaden]] as Professor C.W. 'Wilf' Wilke
* Ben McIvor as Joe – 8 Years
* [[Marshall Napier]] as Brendan Shaw
* Ken Radley as Bernard Shaw
* [[Fiona Press]] as Mavis Craig
* [[Alex Menglet]] as Yuri Nikolayev
* [[Rowan Woods]] as Col Slansky
* Barry Langrishe as Ted
* [[Ron Haddrick]] as Sir Allan Miles
* Graham Ware Jr. as Harry
* Robbie McGregor as Minister Frank
* [[Heather Mitchell]] as Mrs. Savage
* [[Paul Livingston]] as Beria
* [[Dennis Watkins (playwright)|Dennis Watkins]] as Khrushchev
* [[Steve Abbott (comedian)|Steve Abbott]] as Malenkov (as Steve Abbott)
* Matt Potter as Tommy Booth
* [[Harold Hopkins (actor)|Harold Hopkins]] as Police Commissioner
* Sam Willcock as Ivan
* [[Roy Billing]] as Police Sergeant
* Philip Dodd as Policeman Brian
* [[Paul Lyneham]] as himself
* [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] (archive footage) as himself
* [[Václav Havel]] (archive footage) as himself
* [[Ronald Reagan]] (archive footage) as himself
* [[Joseph Stalin]] (archive footage) as himself
==Production==
The film was inspired in part by Peter Duncan's grandfather, who was a long-standing member of the Communist Party. He wrote the script to help him get into the Australian Film Television and Radio School and showed it to Tristram Miall after he graduated; the producer loved it and decided to turn it into a film.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interview with Peter Duncan |url=http://www.signis.net/malone/tiki-index.php?page=Peter+Duncan&bl |website=Signet |date=18 December 1996 |accessdate=18 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203052657/http://www.signis.net/malone/tiki-index.php?page=Peter+Duncan&bl |archive-date=3 December 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Critical reception==
The film holds a rating of 80% on [[Rotten Tomatoes]], based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10.<ref>{{cite web|title=Children of the Revolution|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/children_of_the_revolution/|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|accessdate=9 April 2015}}</ref> The website [[Metacritic]] gave the film a score of 76/100.<ref name="metacritic">{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/children-of-the-revolution |title=Children of the Revolution |website=[[Metacritic]] |accessdate=9 April 2015}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Cinema of Australia]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0115886}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|children_of_the_revolution|Children of the Revolution}}
* {{mojo title|childrenoftherevolution|Children of the Revolution}}
* {{Metacritic film|title=Children of the Revolution}}
* [https://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/children-of-the-revolution ''Children of the Revolution''] at Oz Movies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Children of the Revolution}}
[[Category:Australian satirical films]]
[[Category:1996 black comedy films]]
[[Category:1996 films]]
[[Category:Australian black comedy films]]
[[Category:Films about Joseph Stalin]]
[[Category:1990s mockumentary films]]
[[Category:Australian political satire films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Nigel Westlake]]
[[Category:Miramax films]]
[[Category:Films shot in New South Wales]]
[[Category:Films shot in Sydney]]
[[Category:Films set in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Films set in Sydney]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:English-language black comedy films]]