The Putin Interviews_ Oliver Stone's Documentary

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fountainhall

The Putin Interviews_ Oliver Stone's Documentary

Post by fountainhall »

Tonight sees the last episode in the four part series “The Putin Interviews” on True Visions (7:55 pm National Geographic Channel - #558 in Bangkok). Filmed and interviewed by movie director Oliver Stone, the series provides a glimpse into the life of Putin, both personal and in his capacity as President of the Russian Federation. In the first three episodes aired over the last three evenings, the intimacy of the interviews along with much of the comment has been often fascinating. How many times have westerners been permitted to enter Putin’s three offices, or the War Room in the Kremlin?

Naturally, as a former KGB agent, it is hard for viewers to know if Putin is speaking the truth or putting forward a bunch of lies coated in slivers of truth. His defense of Russian actions in Ukraine and the Crimea is just what we would expect. His repressed anger at what he sees as the betrayal of the west after the breaking of its agreement not to expand NATO eastwards following German reunification is equally so. And in the latter case it is very hard to find an acceptable answer to his position. He is clearly a man of formidable intellect, intelligence, great charm when required and, surprisingly, with a wry sense of humour.

What I have found increasingly interesting is the picture of the man behind the mask, the private Putin. As a family man, he seems genuinely proud of his daughters and grandchildren, showing more than a hint of emotion when he admitted he did not see enough of them.

Filmed between July 2015 and February 2017, the documentaries have several amusing moments. One is when Stone is recounting the storyline of the Stanley Kubrick movie “Dr. Strangelove.” Putin had not seen it, and so a DVD copy of part of the action near the end is shown to him. He smiles. Then he talks about the inevitability of some sort of nuclear holocaust occurring by accident unless the great powers actually sit down together and rebuild trust.

Stone is no David Frost (the TV personality whom I could never warm to) and these interviews are nowhere near as revealing of the man behind the name as the famous “Nixon Tapes” when Frost famously got him to admit he had committed a crime against the American people. Nor did Stone do all his homework. He seems surprised at seeing no chairs in a Russian Orthodox Chapel and to learn that services are conducted with the congregation standing!

So far the tone throughout has been clearly overly sycophantic. The left-leaning Stone is both bumbling and sometimes boring. He also lets Putin off the hook too many times by not following up answers in more depth – as with the law against spreading gay propaganda to those under 18. Yet this series surely has to be seen as a triumph for Stone given the extensive access to the subject and his life.

Reviews suggest that Stone left much of the ‘meat’ to the last episode when Putin indicates he is twice on the point of walking out. Hopefully tonight’s episode will reveal at least some little nugget about the hacking of the US election last year.
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