The Rider Named Death is director Karen Shakhnazarov's adaptation of Boris Savinkov's 1909 novel The Pale Horse, Memoirs of a Terrorist. An intense thriller, it follows the true story of radical Russian socialists during the turn of the 18th century. At this point in history, Russia is suffering from a dissidence movement in which radical idealists, specifically the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, have been attempting to assassinate prominent Russian officials. These anarchists are determined to overthrow the Russian Tsarist regime altogether. The chaos that ensued during these years became a prelude to the revolutions of 1905.

The Rider Named Death focuses on a small cell of socialists led by the cold and detached Georges (played by Andrey Panin). Their mission is to assassinate a local duke in Moscow. Everyone on this team, except for Georges, is driven to kill by some strong purpose. Their reasons vary from love, revenge, religion, and even quite simply (almost nothing in this film is simple) the socialist cause. As far as we can tell, the only motive Georges has to kill this Duke is that he has already made up his mind to do so. In fact, the only facet of Georges' life that he appears to have invested any real emotion in is his love for Elena, the beautiful wife of a Russian general. But as the film progresses, even that seems to be just another conquest for Georges. Georges is portrayed as a typical Nihilist, an ideology that was very popular at the time among intellectuals in Russia. He lacks any sense of morality and feels disdain towards those who do. He rejects religion altogether, most notably in a conversation with the faithful Vanya, another member of his team. Georges debases Vanya and his strong assurances in the power of God. Georges is disgusted by institutions or individuals that claim adherence to a higher moral cause. This makes his revolutionary status all the more confusing. The only interpretation came away with was that Georges hunts the duke simply because he feels like it. Eventually as his quest for murder continues to fail, Georges becomes consumed in an obsession to succeed. Despite the interesting philosophical and religious debates I eventually became disinterested in the movie, more specifically Georges' plight. His bitterness and numbness become the film's main focus, overshadowing all of the suspense viewers might have felt in the beginning. Shakhnazarov forces the question, why is this man so incredibly empty? However, there is no suitable answer, Georges represents a philosophy with no need to justify itself. Once this is realized I stopped caring about Georges and anything he did. Just because I became impatient with Georges does not mean it is impossible to create a Nihilist protagonist with whom an audience can empathize with or become intrigued by. That certainly is possible. This film just does not do that. Perhaps that is because the plot is so slow moving, or maybe it is the lack of strong performance by Panin. Nonetheless, the movie fails to create a memorable leading role. On the other hand, I did like the great job, Shakhnazarov did at recreating early 20th century Moscow. Furthermore, it was fascinating to see how the terrorist cells interacted and operated, all the while knowing at any moment their plans could be foiled and they would be executed. Overall, I would not describe it as a must see movie but for those looking to see a story that evokes philosophical and moral debate, The Rider Named Death certainly fits that criteria.

The Rider Named Death, released in 2004 by Mosfilm, depicts the actions of a paramilitary cell preceding the assassination of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov, son of Tsar Alexander II and uncle of Tsar Nicholas II. The film is based upon Boris Savinkov's semi-autobiographical novel, Pale Horse, published in 1909, and is directed by Karen Shakhnazarov. The plot centers on George Brien (Andrei Panin), who is obsessed with assassinating the Grand Duke (Vasiliy Zotov). Under George's command are Erna (Kseniya Rappoport) his mistress and bomb maker, Vanya (Artyom Semakin) who masquerades as a cabbie and street vendor, Fyodor (Rostislav Bershauer) who poses as Brien's servant and later a military officer, and Heinrich (Aleksei Kazakov) a university student who also doubles as George's chauffeur. Following the orders of Azef (Dmitri Dyuzhev), George's handler and a member of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party's Central Committee, the group unsuccessfully attempts to assassinate the Duke three times; in the second attempt Fyodor's bomb fails to detonate and he is forced to commit suicide in a gun battle with police, in the third attempt Vanya is killed by the bomb blast but the Duke survives, and the fourth and final effort succeeds when George shoots the Duke at the opera. The film offers an interesting insight into a turbulent time in Russian history during the last days of Tsarist rule. Its depiction of early 20th century Moscow captures the vast differences between rich and poor, with scenes of the elites attending the opera contrasted against the various street scenes of peasants living in poverty. The contrast does a good job of shedding light on why the Bolsheviks came to power a decade later.

"A Rider Named Death" is a political thriller focusing on a small terror cell in 1905 Russia.

The film is certainly interesting, as it examines the nihilism that lies beneath the bombers' "principled" violence. However, it suffers from an reluctance to probe these motives too deeply. Character development is neglected in favor of building atmosphere. Of the film's characters, only George and Vanya are three-dimensional. Vanya in particular is one of the film's highlights, a contradictory figure whose fervor for revolution is tempered by his Christian values of love and peace.

However, this atmosphere is one of the film's great joys. It depicts late Czarist Russia as a nonstop carnival for the wealthy and nonstop drudgery for the poor. It is a shame that the filmmakers did not spend enough time developing it.