The War Symphonies: Shostakovich Against Stalin

1997 · Biography · 1h 17m

During the Interwar period and World War Two, Joseph Stalin dictated the Soviet Union in a bloody manner. Composer Dmitri Shostakovich couldn't agree at all with the policies that the tyrant used, but speaking out loud was impossible. It would have cost him his life. Shostakovich found another way: art. This documentary shows how Shostakovich used his Fourth to Ninth Symphony as a silent protest against the crimes of Stalin.