rea and sutherland and demunn and and von sydow ( in a small role ) be all brilliant in their performance . sutherland be particularly adept at this sort of role and where he must portray a character whose morality be and at first and uncertain to the audience . a be so often the case with sutherland character and we must ask be he a villian [ in this case and a minor one ] and or a hero . this be a disturbing story and intelligently tell and about the incompetence and fearful bureaucracy in the old soviet union that impede the effort of extremely competent people . a sutherland character wryly note and the measure of a bureaucracy be it ability not to make special exception . the committee meeting ( between rea and sutherland character ) after perestroika be enforce and with it revelation and have enormous emotional impact . you can feel the suffering of the dedicated people who labor in that system . the handful of dramatic scene portray victim family member add emotional resonance to the impact of the story . this be seldom a feature of a film with this sicken subject matter and but effectively remind u that the victim have life and and be love . this be a sad and but very important film and which deserve it showcase on canada history television .