Docs
watched by failedevolution.blogspot at the 17th Thessaloniki
Documentary Festival, 13-22 March 2015
Short
description:
Vladimir
Putin’s mandate ended in 2008, after he had been in power for
eight years. Putin Is Back draws on news reports, opinions and
interviews to demonstrate how Putin is now more firmly in the
saddle than ever. In 2008, he endorsed Medvedev, who was utterly
committed to him.
It was
during Medvedev’s presidency that Putin planned his return to
power by boosting state control, monopolizing oil and gas,
stimulating corruption and jailing dissenting lawyers and
journalists.
A wide
variety of voices have their say about the subsequent presidential
administration, including former advisors to Putin and Gorbachev,
Putin’s right-hand man Sergey Markov, and a member of Pussy
Riot.
In
addition to many opposing views, we also get to see things from
the perspective of Putin, who envisions a Eurasian bloc, a USSR
without communism but with a strong identity.
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The film
focused on the "dark side" of Vladimir Putin, presenting
him as an authoritarian leader who seeks various ways to increase his
concentrating power. Medvedev is being presented, more or less, as
Putin's puppet who was deposed from presidency, as being more
"flexible" and "moderate" in many issues.
During the
discussion with the director, Jean-Michel Carre, the blog had the
chance for one or two questions. The first question was how the
director himself sees Putin, as it seems that he worked extensively
on the "Putin phenomenon". He actually blamed Putin as
being responsible for a genocide in Chechnya, eliminating also his
political opponents. However, he admitted that before Putin come to
power, Russia was actually governed by mafia.
The second
question was, how the political spectrum in his country, France, and
especially the French Left, sees Putin. Apparently, the French
nationalists, the Greek nationalists and nationalists in other
European countries, express a direct admiration for Putin. The answer
was that the Left in France with Jean-Luc Mélenchon also respects
Putin, and the director was keen to learn why the Left in Greece, now
in power with SYRIZA, seeks closer approach with Putin. The blog
answered that Tsipras is not necessarily an admirer of Putin. He only
tries to use the Russian card against lenders' pressure, showing that
Greece has an alternative towards the fast developing economic system
by BRICS.
Generally,
the documentary was interesting but one-sided. What would be also
interesting to see, is whether the opposition inside Russia and
demonstrations against Putin, are triggered by the American factor,
as we saw many times in other places with US organizations organizing
"color revolutions" and other activities to throw a non
desirable government from power.
Read also:
The big barrier called Putin
Read also:
The big barrier called Putin
Buh Bitcoin!!
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