Ben Kingsley portrays composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-75) in this mostly black-and-white film directed by Tony Palmer ("Wagner"). Stalin: Terence Rigby. Nina: Sherry Baines. Tukhachevsky: Ronald Pickup. Zhdanov: John Shrapnel. Maxim: Mark Asquith. Screenplay by Palmer and David Rudkin, based on Shostakovich's memoirs, which were smuggled out of the USSR.