It's common for a documentary to be labelled as an intimate portrait; but rarely is it true. But 'Gorbachev. Heaven' is unquestionably intimate, following the last leader of the Soviet Union shortly before his recent death. The film's subject was ninety years old, far from senile but undoubtedly frail, and his physical weakness is no way hidden. Indeed, there's a tragic feeling to the story. Gorbachev was living in grace-and-favour accomodation when filming started (he later moved to a hospital, although he remained well enough to venture out on occasion), a grand house that nonetheless appears not to have been decorated in 30 years. The setting seems to emphasise his position in modern Russian society as a forgotten man. He's an interesting interviewee, in part because he is not accomodating to his interviewer or audience. Instead, he is thoughtful but defensive, and shows a surprising rigidity of thought: the man who dared to try to change the U. S. S. R. still seems grounded in the intellectual framings of his youth, proud of the fact he didn't commit mass murder to prop up the state, but still regretful of the fact that the state failed; and unwilling to speak directly of Putin, his eventual successor. For all his significance, it's easy to see why he fell into irrelevence long even when he remained physically vigourous. Nonetheless, the world owes him its thanks; dealt a losing hand, he played it the best way he could have done.
