It appears to be a unique film presented by Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone. Oliver was able to lead a strong meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as he raises more contentious issues with America and Russia.
Over time the value of The Putin Interviews will probably rise: they are an exceptional document of a world-changing leader speaking at great length. But at this moment they are drained of immediate impact by virtue of being overtaken by events...
It's riveting in how dangerous and intimate it feels, leveraging its multiple camera-angles and hand-held shots to make the viewer feel as if they, too, are in the room with Vladimir Putin.
It's not every interview-driven documentary that's a pleasure to look at, but The Putin Interviews is much more visually dynamic than either of its on-camera subjects.
The conversations are conducted via a Russian translator, and you have to be in the mood to read a lot of subtitles to engage with Putin and Stone's policy discussions, but that small effort is well worth it.
As journalism, this is scattershot at best, but as a conversation that covers a vast span of Russian history, culture, and politics as refracted through the mind of Russia's president -- it's often remarkable.
