 The lack of a fair trial is emphatically explained in the film by a speech given by Jimmy's mother at a rally surrounding the expulsion.The behaviour of the state's police is shown and explained to be occurring at a time when Stalin was in full control of the Soviet Union and the state and church are fearful of forces that threaten to destroy them.It is this tension between the ideals of Christianity and the fear of the church and its natural tendency to be reactionary that is the central issue that the film explores.