Gorbačov. Ráj
Directed by:
Vitaly ManskyScreenplay:
Vitaly ManskyCinematography:
Alexandra IvanovaPlots(1)
Mikhail Gorbachev, the 89-year-old former leader of the Soviet Union, receives Russian filmmaker Vitaly Mansky at his house just outside Moscow. In a light and pleasant atmosphere, weighty topics come up for discussion, as Gorbachev looks back over his life. The conversation revolves around the reforms he implemented as party chief in the 1980s, as well as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, followed by the collapse of the Soviet empire. Also discussed is how the Russian people were not grateful when the new freedoms proved to come at the price of unemployment and hunger. Mansky questions Gorbachev about the drastic choices that also affected his own life. Jokes, spontaneous interruptions, or suddenly remembered folk songs and poems bring lightness to the reflections on political decisions. Gorbachev also talks about his inseparable bond with his late wife Raisa. And would the filmmakers perhaps like something to eat? Endless set tables, gherkins with vodka, New Year’s Eve with friends: typical Russian everyday life illustrates a feeling of wistfulness. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)
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A look at the banality of old age that conceals testimonials to some of history's greatest. The first and best part is actually a documentary variation on Sokurov's Taurus. An infirm Gorbachev in his darkened villa reminisces about his wife and his early youth, while we see a scythe leaning around every corner. It's cold outside and the walker catches against the threshold. The middle section is a flustered effort by Manskij to take one last opportunity to learn more about the political background to Glasnost, Perestroika, the military coup, and the transfer of power to Yeltsin, except that Gorbachev speaks ambiguously, in platitudes, bouncing off banal stories from the set, and it's impossible to tell 100% whether senility is speaking for him or if he is deliberately obfuscating for fear that history might catch up with him before he dies. In this case, he most resembles a demented grandfather who, on a family visit, hid his grandson's cell phone, which everyone is now looking for, while he smiles at what a joke he's made, though he no longer knows where he hid it himself. Manskij is at his best when he purely observes the action and lets the viewer form connections (The Pipe) rather than stepping in and asking vague questions (Putin's Witnesses). Gorbachev. Paradise, then, is a particularly interesting study of the proximity of death. As political commentary, it will probably disappoint most people.
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