Meeting Gorbachev

Greetings again from the darkness. Werner Herzog has been one of the most prolific filmmakers over the past six decades, and with so many projects, it's not surprising that his films range from very good (AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD) to fascinating (GRIZZLY MAN) to disappointing (QUEEN OF THE DESERT). With this latest documentary, co-directed with Andre Singer, Herzog sits down for interviews with Mikhail Gorbachev three times over a six month period, and yet somehow squanders this rare opportunity by ensuring his own mug gets equal screen time, and his own voice even more.

Mikhail Gorbachev was the 8th and final President of the Soviet Union and is considered to be one of the most influential political figures of the second half of the twentieth century. He is now 87 years old, and his diabetes likely contributes to his puffy, bloated look and his recent hospital stay prior to his third interview with Herzog. The film walks us through a chronological look back at Gorbachev's life and his beginnings as the son of peasants. His father became a decorated war hero, and upon returning to his war-torn country, offered this to young Mikhail: "We fought until we ran out of fight. That's how you must live."

Having joined the Communist Party at an early age, Mikhail went on to study at the prestigious Moscow State University, which soon led him into politics. He was a fast riser and a true man of the people ... unusual for the Soviet Union. We see many interesting photos and clips, including video of a senile Leonid Brezhnev presenting Gorbachev with an award. The film breezes through the 3 year period which saw funerals for Brezhnev (1982) and his successors, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko. These deaths led to Gorbachev becoming the youngest leader in Soviet history as General Secretary of the Communist Party and Chairman of the Supreme Soviet Union.

Herzog as an interviewer spends entirely too much time on screen and narrating. We have come to hear what Gorbachev has to say, not take Herzog's word that he's authentic, or to waste time with the presentation of a box of sugar-free chocolate. It's a bit of a fluff piece, and Herzog is certainly no Mike Wallace; however, it is quite informative to go through the timeline of Gorbachev's life.

We are reminded of Gorbachev's reform platform that included Perestroika (re-structuring) and Glasnost (transparent government), and there are clips of Margaret Thatcher, Lech Walesa, George Shultz and James Baker offering their insight into dealings with this most unusual Soviet leader. Gorbachev does offer his thoughts on the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the fall of the Iron Curtain, the tearing down of the wall and reunification. His historic "breakthrough" meeting and subsequent handshake with Ronald Reagan took place at Reykjavik, Iceland, in a building that is now a tourist attraction.

Ever the optimist, Gorbachev still firmly believes the world should be rid of nuclear weapons, and this segment provides some contemporary context as this topic has reared its head again in modern politics. He bluntly offers his take: "People who don't understand cooperation and disarmament should quit politics." He serves up a hot take on America after the Cold War ended, but is given little time to discuss Helmut Kohl and the 10 Points of Light. The 1991 coup where Boris Yeltsin seized the moment is clearly still painful for Gorbachev, and Herzog offers up a soft landing by ending the film with personal and legacy topics ... what he terms the tragedy of Gorbachev. The love of his life, his wife Raisa, is ever-present even after her death, and he understands that many consider him a traitor and responsible for the disintegration of the Soviet Union. His idealism for a social democracy remains impressive and is likely the reason his story is more humanistic than political. Looking back, he simply states, "We tried."

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.

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.

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.

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.