For all the insight it offers on Russia's current head of state, "The Putin Interviews" are a noteworthy document. Only someone like Oliver Stone could let a man like Vladimir Putin feel so at ease and speak at such length in front of an American filming crew. For that, we are thankful to him, as all of his fellow journalists, who also had the chance to talk to Putin, always seem more worried about setting him on edge than properly interviewing him.
Unfortunately, for all its (seemingly) candidness, this four-hour documentary has little interest for the non-American viewer, as most of the time it dedicates for discussion of then-current affairs circles around the 2016 U. S. presidential election and American-led military operations.
Watch "The Putin Interviews" for a non-hysterical, lengthy account of a man that is bound to become one of the center figures of the 21st century. It is quite unlikely that any Western interviewer will ever be granted the kind of access Mr. Stone had to the Kremlin in order to film this. So, for that alone, "The Putin Interviews" are one of his most remarkable achievements (and the "Dr. Strangelove" segment is, by itself, worth your time investment).
It goes without saying that viewer discretion is advised, of course. But Oliver Stone assumes you are, at least, a minimally informed citizen and you will not take everything that Putin says at face value. Sometimes, he flags what he perceives as a less-honest utterance from his interviewee with a shrug of his bushy eyebrows towards the camera, and that is as patronizing as he ever gets during the "The Putin Interviews".
Unfortunately, for all its (seemingly) candidness, this four-hour documentary has little interest for the non-American viewer, as most of the time it dedicates for discussion of then-current affairs circles around the 2016 U. S. presidential election and American-led military operations.
Watch "The Putin Interviews" for a non-hysterical, lengthy account of a man that is bound to become one of the center figures of the 21st century. It is quite unlikely that any Western interviewer will ever be granted the kind of access Mr. Stone had to the Kremlin in order to film this. So, for that alone, "The Putin Interviews" are one of his most remarkable achievements (and the "Dr. Strangelove" segment is, by itself, worth your time investment).
It goes without saying that viewer discretion is advised, of course. But Oliver Stone assumes you are, at least, a minimally informed citizen and you will not take everything that Putin says at face value. Sometimes, he flags what he perceives as a less-honest utterance from his interviewee with a shrug of his bushy eyebrows towards the camera, and that is as patronizing as he ever gets during the "The Putin Interviews".