The Assassination of Trotsky (1972)

Director: Joseph Losey

Starring: Richard Burton, Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Valentina Cortese, Enrico Maria Salerno, Luigi Vannucchi

More info: IMDb

Tagline: For one moment, they hold history in their hands. With one terrible blow, they make it

Plot: After having been forced to leave the Soviet Union 1929 Trotsky has ended up in Mexico 1940. He is still busy with politics. Stalin has sent out an assassin, Frank Jackson, who befriends a young communist and gets an invitation to Trotsky's house. Can you guess what happens next?

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again? Assassinate me first.

HELLO! SPOILERS IN THE TITLE! Fucking assholes. They ruined the movie. For all I knew he could've survived, subdued the killer and scalped his sorry ass for fucking with LEON TROTSKY! But nooooo, the stupid Hollywood assholes have to ruin a shitty-ass thriller by spoiling it before you pay for the god damn ticket! And to make it worse, THEY SHOW YOU HOW HE FUCKING DIES ON THE FUCKING POSTER! What's wrong with the lame-brained morons?


But seriously, this couldn't be more mediocre. It's drab right out of the gate. The only thing I liked was Jackson's (Delon) internal struggle in the seconds before striking the blow to Trotsky's (Burton) head. That's it. You could really feel his pain. The rest of the picture is a one way ticket to Snoozeville. Richard Burton couldn't save this film, Alain Delon couldn't save this picture. With such a bland script and equal direction, it shouldn't have been made. It's sorely lacking in any suspense whatsoever and the buildup to the assassination was one big wasted opportunity.