The painting of the largest Soviet artist B. V. Johanson “Interrogation of the Communists” takes us to White’s headquarters. There is an interrogation. In front of the Whiteguard officers, who are brutal with hatred, stand a young man and a woman. Behind the guards. Outside the window is the indifferent blue of the night. It seems there is no way out. And at the same time, we see the triumph of the victory of these people fighting for the liberation and happiness of their people. They stand calmly, even majestically in the face of the enemy. Youth, confidence, strength of rightness make them winners, despite what awaits their death.
In the person of the man – perhaps he is the commissioner of the squad of sailors – a slight, contemptuous smile. A woman who reminds us of the Anka-machine-gunner from Furmanov’s book “Chapayev” without flinching, looks attentively at the White Guards. Perhaps, only closed hands indicate strong emotional tension. The external tranquility and the great inner dignity of the young Communists resists the dismay of the enemy camp. Their poses are nervous, restless, angular. And in our soul a wave of satisfaction rises – we, together with the artist, feel a close end, the doom of the White Guard bet. Those who are now sentenced to death are stronger than those who sentence them.
The artist showed a dramatically dramatic picture in the film, when a clash of representatives of two different social systems led to the identification of the essence of man-cruelty on the one hand and heroism on the other. This is the moment of the highest test of the human personality. And there is no greater feat than the feat of people who sacrifice their lives for the sake of truth and justice on earth.
The intensity of what is happening corresponds to the coloring of the picture.
A red carpet, covering the floor, like a reflection of the conflagration that swept the country. A red speck on the woman’s breast – either a scarf or a T-shirt – visible from under a sheepskin coat, lights up like a piece of scarlet banner, to which the Communists are loyal. Reddish tones contrast with the blue of the night outside the window. A bluish-greenish uniform on one of the White Guards breaks out like a bright spot, like the gilding of an armchair. Bold consonance of colors, contrasts of lighting – from dazzling to black holes, – temperamental, free, juicy painting correspond to the tension of the heroes’ senses, the growing culmination of action.
The artist himself spoke about the idea of his canvas “Interrogation of the Communists”: “The Reds attack and must crush the Whites.”
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