Meeting Gorbachev

I had the good fortune to see this engrossing documentary on the opening night of the 2019 Trieste Film Festival - and what an appropriate choice it was to begin the 30th edition of the festival (also the 30th anniversary year of the fall of the Berlin Wall). Ignore the short-sighted comments of the reviewer who laughably awarded this 1/10 (probably working on behalf of the wretched Putin, who could never measure up to the stature of a political titan such as Gorbachev). Naturally, being one man's account of the part he played in such a volatile era, it's bound to be subjective. However, Herzog attempts to place Gorbachev's recollections in context, using some rarely seen archive footage in the process. The way Gorbachev was elevated to the top of the Soviet Union is seen here in almost comical terms, as his three predecessors - relics of the old Communist Party - are despatched in quick succession to their resting place at the foot of the Kremlin Wall. The real emotion comes towards the end when we learn about the final days of Mikhail's beloved - and much-admired - wife, Raisa. It's a truly fascinating look at a remarkable time in world history, and seeing again some of the heavyweight political players of the past only goes to emphasise the paucity of great leaders the world is suffering at the moment. The 90 minutes of this film passed quickly - always a good sign.

Werner Herzog, a co-director of this documentary (along with André Singer), interviews former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev over a period of six months. Excerpts of the interviews are included in the film along with footage regarding Gorbachev's term as leader of the former Soviet Union during which massive, positive changes took place in the 1980s and early 1990s. "Meeting Gorbachev" is a UK/Germany/USA co-production and is in four languages: English, Russian, German, and Polish.

It is great to see a film highlighting one of the greatest times in history of the past forty years. In addition to being a primary player in ending oppressive Communism in eastern Europe, Gorbachev had worked with US president Ronald Reagan to limit nuclear weapons and end the Cold War of that time period.

The film is a great nostalgia trip for anyone who recalls this era - and for those wishing desperately that the current world leaders could come close to emulating those during the era covered in the film. One of the most striking images was a human chain across all three Baltic states in a peaceful protest against Soviet oppression. There are also moments of cheeky humour in reflecting the stubbornness of hard-line Communists who insisted that only those born before the Russian Revolution were worthy of being Soviet leaders. (Three funerals of leaders took place in a short four-year period as a result.)

The man and his history are certainly worthy of a tribute but the film doesn't live up to its subjects. It begins to sag in the last half-hour. In addition, Herzog's voice (and perhaps, his ego) grates as a narrator/interviewer as much as it did in "Grizzly Man" (2005). While his English is good, the film would have improved with someone else with better narration skills. Also, near the end, Herzog asks Gorbachev embarrassingly stupid questions regarding Gorbachev's dealing with the absence of his beloved wife, Raisa, who died in 1999.

But the project was made and it's a good start in returning this great man to the spotlight. Hopefully, another filmmaker will up the ante and make a better film than this one on the same subject. And high praise must also be given to Gorbachev for being so strong and astute in his late eighties. - dbamateurcritic.

Initially, let's negate the canucky review as a blind-sided tRump supporter's ignorant response to not even seeing the film, or the likelihood of the ignorant review should not of occurred, but knowing the low education of such maga wearers who knows. annunciaroe's review is very good, yet devoid of substance which I admit may qualify as spoilers. I too wish the drunkard Boris Yeltsin, as he was known to unabashedly be, or the evil Putin, who continued to allow those with the greatest wealth to corrupt the current country collective, were allowed to be acknowledged for what it was and still is, yet this German director stays focused on the illustrious career and selfish coup, while Gorbachev was away on vacation, to be played out through only the events as they occurred. One does have pause to wonder how they were left out to properly show comparison to the great goodwill President of the former Russia to the progressive movements to unite the people's goodwill and well being of Russia, to the unifier of the two Germanys (thankfully little mention of Reagan as the decision to tear down the wall was made long before between Helmut Kohl & Gorby), as well as, Gorbechev's instigator of the world's nuclear weapons short & medium range nuclear arms reductions. There is only so much time a movie can allow to capture an audience, though much was left out itemizing specifics, other world leaders and Secretary of States acknowledge the greatness, sincerity, and intelligence of one of the modern worlds leaders, Mikhail Gorbachev, who legacy will be admired for hundreds of years to come, one can agree, if one watches this honest and lie-free documentary, something the US & world desperately need to report more of, knowing todays political environment.

Werner Herzog interviews Soviet Russia's last president Mikhail Gorbachev, while exploring his life & political career. I wished the documentary covered more about Russia's power struggle and internal issues at the time than just the big headlines about end of cold war & fall of berlin wall that we could probably get from online archives. But anyway, listening to Herzog's chilling voice with deadpan humor is always a joy. He is the best narrator in the world indeed (sorry, Morgan Freeman :D). I thought Herzog was pretty uncritical but that's probably to get more things out of Gorbochev and also the fact that he has lived for so long in divided Germany. But again, I would have liked to see a more challenging take on him that reflects his shortcomings along with achievements.

This film is one of the most informative and interesting documentaries which I have seen. If I were to compare it to another documentary it would be like a cross between "Won't You Be My Neighbor" and "The Civil War." On the one hand it is a character study but on the other it is the story of the fall of the USSR. Through it all, we have Werner Herzog casting his own brand of eccentric existentialism over the film.

Describing the film is hard because it is someone's life story and as I found it fascinating, I would love to expound it for you. That would be tragic though as Herzog has already told the story through film and in a much better and meaningful way than I could manage.

The story of Gorbachev's life is certainly very different than I expected. I suppose part of that is because of the natural distrust Americans tend to have still in our films and TV as a remnant from the 80s. What I found out instead was that he was a very admirable man, flawed to be sure, but admirable. He had tremendous love for his country and most importantly the people of that country.

One of the most interesting parts of the film is Gorbachev's involvement in the ending of the Cold War. Herzog does a great job of showing how vital it is for world leaders to work together toward the common ends of security and life for all people. One of the great takeaways from the movie is really how terrible a force personal greed and power grabbing is when it is allowed into national politics.

As I walked out of the film I couldn't help but think how desperately short of that kind of politician or even person our world seems to be. Politicians who can learn from their mistakes and change their attitudes for the good of the people rather than for their own personal gains seem to be not so much the norm or the minority anymore. Sometimes they feel more like the extreme outliers in a world shaped more by grabbing for resources and table scrap economics for those who need help the most.