Meeting Gorbachev

MEETING GORBACHEV - Altitude Films

Werner Herzog has a knack for crafting small, intimate but thematically broad documentaries, and his latest Meeting Gorbachev — co-directed by André Singer — is another stellar entry in the iconic filmmaker’s ever-growing filmography with a fascinating and informative insight into the trials and tribulations of Mikhail Gorbachev.

The interview aesthetic is tight, informal and astonishingly intimate. Spaced out between three meetings in two years with the eighty-seven-year-old premier of the once active Soviet Union, it feels that Herzog is the right man for the job with his cold demeanour and objectivity approach. Getting straight to the point with no overly formal plan, the result is a relaxed and personal atmosphere with a clear and evident relationship between the interviewer and interviewee. Even with an unmistakable language barrier between the two, the connection is unmistakable

Herzog and Singer craft a film with a considerable amount of pre-existing footage. Curating the movie with footage related to the early life of Gorbachev from his rise as a farmer’s son, prestigious education and move into politics, right up until the days leading up to and eventual fall of the Soviet Union. Said footage is quite outstanding to witness and is edited flawlessly from Michael Ellis. Narrated solely in the entirety of the film from Herzog with his infamous thick German droll and numerous points of infectious, albeit, arguably comedic notions of allowing the often tense film room to breathe.

The film touches on an array of emotional and thematic accountability of Gorbachev's life and regime — especially his dismantling of the Communist nation. Touching upon corruption, the Cold War and Chernobyl, the documentary indeed does travel to some places that even Gorbachev has difficulty analysing without restraining his emotional intensity. A factor that even if it wasn't purposeful from the notorious director, undeniably adds to the texture and humanising of his interviewee, who before long lives up to his iconic status with a genuinely gripping engagement.

Meeting Gorbachev is released November 8th, 2019.