Rendez-vous avec Mikhaïl Gorbatchev

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.

Interesting in parts but largely devoid of meaningful conversation. A few headlines on various topics is all you get most of the time.

Rating of Subject (Gorbachov): 5 Rating of Herzog's lifetime body of work: 9/10 This hagiographic film: 3 stars at best

The simple fact is that in terms of the tearing off of the USSR control of over 100 million subjugated people in eastern Europe, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Lech Walesa were the major players, and Gorbachev was more or less swept along by events rather than participating steering them. Even historians on the left in Poland, Hungary, the Czech republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukrainian,e, Belorussian, the Baltic countries even Germany widely acknowledge this. Gorbachev ought to have been asked by Herzog if he would acknowledge the debt he and the citizens of former Soviet Russia have to the brave people in Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland, etc.

Don't get me wrong. Herzog is a genius. After Greenaway, he is my favorite. The imagery, the laconic way he narrates the surreal in his documentaries, and his crafting of his fictional work are without par. But he fails when he gets political. And he is at the very least, proffering up survivor bias, because, well, Gorbachev is alive and can spin his role, while Reagan and Thatcher are dead. Gorbachev makes so many frankly untrue statements unchallenged in "Meeting" that it is stunning.

Is meeting Gorbachev as bad as "Bad Lieutenant II" or "Salt and Fire"? NO. Anywhere near the level of Aguirre, Fitzcaraldo, Cave? also an emphatic: NO.

"Meeting Gorbachev" (2018 release; 90 min.) is a documentary about the life and times of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last President of the Soviet Union. As the movie opens, Gorbachev receives the crew in his office, where he is presented with chocolate (without sugar due to his diabetes) for his 87th birthday. Herzog informs us that it is April, 2018, and it is his third and last interview of Gorbachev in a span of 6 months. We then go back in time, as Herzog looks at Gorbachev's upbringing in the remote Stavropol region in the Soviet south. At this point we are less than 10 min. into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from writer-director Werner Herzog. Here he digs into the life of one of the pivotal leaders of the 20th century. Herzog sets the table nicely, showing us the early 80s, by which the Soviet Union was run into the ground, socially, morally and economically, and that drastic change (the Russian word for that being "perestroika") was needed. By the time Gorbachev came into power in the mid-80s, it was almost too late. Then the Chernobyl nuclear disaster took place in 1986, leading to another priority for Gorbachev: nuclear disarmament. The interviews themselves are okay (no major new revelations), what made the documentary work so well is the bigger picture, and how quickly it all happened. Werner Herzog, not a spring chicken either (he's not a crisp 78 years young) has made many documentaries before, and I typically love them. I've come to the point that as soon as I see Herzog's name associated with a documentary, I'll go watch it, period. Heck, he could probably even make a documentary about the Yellow Pages look and sound interesting. As for Gorbachev, he will forever be a beloved figure in the West, but not so much at home. When asked by Herzog what should be on his tombstone, Gorbachev responds: "We tried". (Incidentally, I visited the Soviet Union in 1983 while attending university in Belgium, and witnessed first hand the long lines of people trying to buy food staples from mostly empty store fronts. Absolutely amazing.)

"Meeting Gorbachev" premiered at last year's Telluride film festival to positive buzz, and it is no accident this movie is currently 100% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie opened this weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Saturday screening where I saw this at was attended okay but not great (exactly 10 people). If you have an interest in geopolitics or important world leaders, you could a lot worse than this and I invite you to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

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.