The mystery is, how could such a film-maker, who persisted in making difficult, awkward films, whose very sincere communism was a stumbling-block for opportunist ___S___t___a___l___i___n___i___s___m___, whose revolutionary train-studios (where he would travel throughout Russia, film the people and process the material straight away) actually unwittingly exposed the failings of the Revolution - how did such a man survive the great ___S___t___a___l___i___n___i___s___t___ purges of the 1930s, indeed live until the grand old age of 89, especially when men like the writer ___I___s___a___a___c___ ___B___a___b___e___l___ and the theatre director ___M___e___y___e___r___h___o___l___d___ (whose only 'crime' was to find his artisitic methods out of tune with ___S___t___a___l___i___n___i___s___t___ decrees) were imprisoned in concentration camps and murdered?