Meeting Gorbachev

Werner Herzog never quite recovers from having his opening question slapped down in this fitfully revealing, but always intriguing encounter with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Dismissing the notion that the first Germans he met had wanted to kill him, Gorbachev resists Herzog's efforts to turn their fireside chat into a double act and restricts himself to carefully modulated remarks that examine his role in the ending of the Cold War and his regret at being unable to prevent the break-up of the USSR and its Iron Curtain empire. The rapport is not helped by Gorbachev's fragility and the need to pause for translation. Also, Herzog's admiration for the man blunts his customary edge, as he trawls through the archives to reconstruct Gorbachev's Communist Party career and make arch allusions to its legacy. Indeed, the shrewdest insights come from outsiders like Solidarity leader Lech Walesa. But Herzog can claim at least one memorable moment when Gorbachev touchingly reminisces about his late wife, Raisa.