Angi Vera

I haven't seen Angi Vera since its initial release, but I have always remembered its honesty and insight into how the institutionalization of ideals ultimately gets corrupted.

Angi Vera, as a promising young woman, gets invited to a Communist training center to undergo the next level of indoctrination into Party life.

She begins to realize how people get ahead in the Party: by saying things they don't mean but think are politically correct; by becoming friends with Party dignitaries, even if you don't like them; by being seen as a dedicated worker (as opposed to actually being a dedicated worker).

I believe this experience has been felt by many, inside and outside politics, or the left, but also in church work, corporations, non-profit organizations, etc. Strong organizations with good leadership build in safeguards for toadyism that gets encouraged by mid-level teachers and managers.

It's interesting this film was made under a Communist regime. I associate it with MAN OF MARBLE and MAN OF IRON, films with a similar theme—and an attack on Eastern Block Communist indoctrination and public relations, also made while Communists were still in power.

The film is slow-moving, but very effective and subtle, and feels very authentic.