Meeting Gorbachev

Released May 3, 2019

1h 31m

Documentary

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86%

78 Reviews

Tomatometer

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50+ Ratings

Audience Score

Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union, sits down with filmmaker Werner Herzog to discuss his many achievements. Topics include the talks to reduce nuclear weapons, the reunification of Germany and the dissolution of his country.

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Critics Consensus

Meeting Gorbachev plays to filmmaker Werner Herzog's endlessly inquisitive strengths -- and reveals the fascinating story of a pivotal political figure.

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Nawt W

I'm not going to surprise anyone by stating this documentary was made exclusively with westerners in mind. They remember the bringer of freedom, Gorbi the Punished. And the actual country he kneecapped is extraneous, let them eat Pizza Hut, my fellow freedom lovers. Thankfully, Werner doesn't even try to pretend he is being objective. In the first 10 minutes, he states that he loves the man, and it's hard to even be resentful of his bias. And so Mikhail solvently tells bits and pieces of his rise and downfall, seemingly not understanding the questions he is being asked. No, it's not a mistranslation in the subtitles; he sometimes genuinely doesn't understand what is asked of him, such as his response to the Chernobyl question. Ironically, he became the same fossil as Andropov and Chernenko. The personal touches are not that compelling because, once again, you're barely given any actual personality of the man. For an hour he copes, thinking that he had some kind of chance to keep the union, and now we are crying about his wife. With westerners in mind, no Russians are actually interviewed. And no one who actually lived through the decade he helped create has given their assessment of his legacy, you know beyond saying 30 times that he stopped nuclear war. No, we only have Horst Teltschik with a straight face saying that the Russian border full of NATO countries is the safest border they can dream of and they should actually pay attention to Iran and China. A statement that seemed asinine in 2019 and now appears to be straight up schizophrenic for both sides of the border. It begs the question of what kind of documentary it would be in 2022-23.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/19/23

Full Review

Son T

Gorbachev is the greatest hero of the world in the last centruary. If the great man theory is correct, then he was that person. May he rest in peace.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

I hope more people are seeing this considering current events (like me). It paints a very raw picture about how different things would be today if egos were different, and makes you wonder who's fault the war in Ukraine today really is. It's not as cut and dry as one might think. Fantastic documentary about someone who seems largely brushed over by modern history. Must watch.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Audience Member

Very interesting documentary movie... but I'm pretty sure that the one in the movie was not the real Michail Gorbachev.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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mauro l

Yet there is an abysmal difference between the various "Aguirre" or "Fitzcarraldo" and "Gorbachev": this time it is not the defeat of a delirium of omnipotence, of a utopian idealist who crashes against Nature and its indomitable laws, but of a statesman who was demonstrating how the Leninist way to a "human" communism was viable, so much so that the conservative forces dismissed him with a putsch. The "repubblichino" Ezio Mauro plays dumb denying the historical and macroeconomic evidence: the fall of the Wall in '89 was only a consequence of the multiple reforms carried out during his secretariat from 1985 to 1991. Growing up in a kolkhoz, he had learned to increase the purchasing power not by raising incomes, salaries and wages (see Landini and today's false left), but by keeping prices down and therefore the cost of living. The variables to modify the gap between rich and poor are 2, and a left that is truly such acts on the second, not on the first one. (Mauro Lanari)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

A poor film when it comes to a man like Werner Herzog. Nothing exceptional in particular.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Werner Herzog

Director

André Singer

Director

Mikhail Gorbachev

Self

Werner Herzog

Self

Werner Herzog

Writer

André Singer

Writer

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Meeting Gorbachev: Trailer 1

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Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

Leave it to Werner Herzog. The iconoclastic German film-maker ditches the documentary rule book for this intimate profile of the 88-year-old former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 11, 2019

Full Review

Donald Clarke

Irish Times

For all [its] flaws, Meeting Gorbachev remains a fascinating study of a remarkable life.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 8, 2019

Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Despite the film's obvious interest, it is a bit conceited and stately, a little like Wim Wenders' movie about Pope Francis, though without the sycophancy. Or almost.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 8, 2019

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Meeting Gorbachev is about looking into the past from one man's perspective and seeing how a missed opportunity can unravel the entire planet.

Rated: 3.5/4

Feb 26, 2022

Full Review

David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

The film is a mass of contradictions the muddle-headed Herzog never stops to try and reconcile.

Feb 11, 2021

Full Review

Vladan Petkovic

Cineuropa

Fell short of expectations.

Sep 18, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union, sits down with filmmaker Werner Herzog to discuss his many achievements. Topics include the talks to reduce nuclear weapons, the reunification of Germany and the dissolution of his country.

Director: Werner Herzog, André Singer
Producer: Richard Melman, Molly Thompson, Eli Lehrer
Screenwriter: Werner Herzog, André Singer
Distributor: The Orchard
Production Co: Spring Films, History, Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, The Orchard
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Russian
Release Date (Theaters): May 3, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 30, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $251.0K
Runtime: 1h 31m

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