This conspiracy is fascinating but could be standing on firmer ground

Fallen Idol: The Yuri Gagarin Conspiracy is a documentary that examines state secrecy during the space race in Soviet Russia. The film attempts to show that Gagarin, celebrated as the heroic first man in orbit, lived a life of deception that had tragic consequences. The thesis that another Soviet was first in space and the extensive government cover-up is presented as an absorbing mystery. However, because of the lack of onscreen eyewitnesses and unavailable documentation, the film lacks definitive proof. The film’s subjects of the cold war and space exploration should draw a limited documentary audience.

Elliot Gould, who also serves as oncamera host, narrates the film. His cinematic connection to the topic is that he appeared in the in the 1978 Capricorn One, about the falsification of a space mission. Gould wonders if life is imitating art or the other way around.

The Soviet government led by Premier Nikita Khrushchev saw accomplishments in the space race as a route to global domination and influence. Secrecy was rigorously maintained and set-backs were hidden from the public. Newsreel images and comments from historians and Khrushchev’s son, Sergei, give a good sense of the historical period.

In 1961, Vladimir Ilyushin was the top Soviet test pilot. He had set speed and altitude records and received the nation’s highest honor, the Hero of the Soviet Union Medal. This film presents him as the actual first man in space and, because of a severe malfunction, his capsule crashed and Ilyushin was seriously injured. The recounted events and mystery help the film maintain interest, but actual verification is not provided. To suppress evidence of any mission failure, Fallen Idol shows how Soviet newspapers reported Ilyushin was injured in a car accident and then recuperated in China. The filmmakers find it incomprehensible that a highly decorated hero would be sent for medical treatment to China, a nation with which the USSR was on the verge of war—this analysis seems believable.

An engineer reportedly monitored Ilyushin’s flight at a US Air Force tracking station. Any potential tracking station documentation remained classified. The film states that US security threatened the engineer with jail time if he spoke oncamera, adding a very odd American aspect to the film’s conspiracy theories.

Yuri Gagarin, with far less flight experience than Ilyushin, was quickly selected for the next mission. After he successfully orbited the earth in April 1961, Gagarin became a celebrated hero and his birthday became a national holiday. The best part of the documentary deals with the tension in Gagarin’s life afterward. Eventually, his smiling heroic façade covered up alcoholism and depression. Conditions worsened for Gagarin after Brezhnev, who lacked his predecessor’s interest in the space program, replaced Khrushchev. A Department of State Airgram mentions a public conflict between Gagarin and Brezhnev.

According to Fallen Idol, Gagarin became such a public embarrassment that he was ”disposed of” in a plane crash from which his body was never found. Ironically Ilyushin led the investigation, which found no conspiracy. One of the producers reports that Ilyushin had agreed to speak oncamera, but that in the presence of a “translator,” he changed his mind. While the film remains thought provoking, it again lacks concrete evidence to substantiate its claims.

Distributor: Indican Pictures
Directors: Denny Hooten and Sam Oldham
Screenwriters: Elliott H. Haimoff, Diane Tishkoff, and Barbara Sharp
Producers: Diane Tishkoff, and Barbara Sharp
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Unrated
Running time: 90 min.
Release date: October 2 ltd.