Meeting Gorbachev

An awkward conversation, it seems like it's past Gorbachev's bedtime and Herzog has just slammed a Red Bull. Eventually he has to downshift into the Chris Farley show to keep it together: "Remember Perestroika? That was pretty cool" "Yeah, yeah I remember Perestroika. I was there, Werner". I got the impression the former Soviet leader was long in the tooth for the kind of interview Herzog wanted to conduct. A decade earlier it would have been more effective.

Mixes an interview with historical footage in a moderately engaging, if conventional, way. Herzog has obvious respect for his subject, and Gorbachev is presented as an almost tragic-heroic figure; a man of principle and vision who was unceremoniously dethroned before his time. He comes across as quite wise and affable, and the footage of him interacting with crowds during his heyday is a firm reminder of a bygone era where politicians in power appeared to stand for something.

A good summation of a career that we in the West should pay more attention to.

Herzog does a straight-ahead historical doc pretty well, but he also delivers on the tragic aspect of Gorbachev, ending his re-telling of achievements for the course of the 20th century with a Lermontov poem that speaks of release in death, yet of love and life still residing inside his breast.

Pretty decent documentary for Herzog. But Herzog's "pretty decent" is still not something you'd want to miss. Gorbachev's singing gets across a certain tragic goodheartedness (too good for this world), which seems to be the theme of the movie.

38. İstanbul Film Festivali - Pera Müzesi.

gorbacovu hem bir de werner herzog'dan dinliyim hem de belki werner herzog ayakkabisini yer diye izliyim dedim. hemlerden biri kurtuldu. hamm hala kor, koturum ve clov'u bekliyor