Is it OK if I tell your story?
If there was a movie that I didn’t exactly feel that I would be compelled by, that is Connected. After all, it is the story of a decade-long friendship between two men I didn’t know about and who didn’t change the world. However, I felt very close to the journey of a man whose country of birth isn’t the nation that exists today. The reasons are obvious, and like Dr. Dmitry Zimin, I too feel like a stranger when trying to remember the country I was born in.
All that becomes clear when Connected reveals the story of friendship between Zimin, a top-secret Soviet scientist and Augie Fabela, an American police officer. It all started 30 years ago, when the Soviet Union dissolved and Russia was revealed to be a technological baby. Years of being isolated from the world made Russian engineers eager to build a technological backdrop for the nation they had just become. Zimin was one of them, and Fabela had a good idea.
A group of American entrepreneurs travels to Russia to do some business. However, Zimin and his peers want the secret to success, and they see that not in buying the product but in manufacturing it. Fabela’s trip doesn’t meet its goal, but a friendship blooms. Jump forward a business relationship that brings groundbreaking technology to Russia and the presence of the country on the New York Stock Exchange. A story of success. The end.
However, it isn’t exactly the end of Zimin´s journey to become a central piece of Russia´s political landscape. Not many knew about it, but Zimin was the financial supporter of notable opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Zimin has never hidden his views, and they are essential to understanding the life of a complicated man who has decided enough is enough. Zimin has decided to end his life, and Fabela has joined him in one last conversation.
The documentary feature by Vera Krichevskaya has a very special narrative backdrop. Right as Russian President Vladimir Putin strikes Ukraine for the inconceivable invasion, Zimin decides to tell his life story to his best friend before seeking euthanasia in Switzerland. It’s a bittersweet recount of the best moments of his life, how he impacted his own country and how he can’t conceive its current status. Zimin is an elderly and wise man who never looks desperate. But when he does, it’s when he begins asking questions about a political regime of absolute power and endless determination.
During his last moments, Fabela asks Zimin if he can tell his friend´s story, and it seems like the ultimate tribute to a brilliant man whose only intention is to contribute to his country and its people. The film ends on a sad note, of course. It couldn’t be any other way, as Zimin meets his goals and fades away with the smile he deserves to have during his wave goodbye. Connected is a movie about legacy and values, two elemental life components that one tends to forget whenever it’s time to leave your country because you can’t agree with those in power.
Film critic. Lover of all things horror. Member of the OFCS. RT Approved Critic.
