Two new programs on Russia offer a detailed look at the recent political and economic history, on the one hand, and a longtime traveler's take, on the other. Frontline: The Struggle for Russia, like the country on which it is patterned, is a huge lumbering bear of a report. Initially pitching itself as an examination of how the clash of two different political styles led to earthshaking differences in Mother Russia, the first half hour tells the story of the power struggle between Gorbachev and Yeltsin, including speculations from Moscow journalists and politicos on why Yeltsin emerged victorious. After that, the program talks real pork: namely, examining how the price of bacon could jump from 4 rubles a kilo to 1,200 rubles a kilo virtually overnight. Trying to elucidate economist Gaidar's "shock therapy" program for the Russian economy (which became, roughly, capitalism without the checks and balances that are imposed in the interests of fairness), The Struggle for Russia does a pretty good job of explaining why the former Soviet Union is now a den of thieves where the Russian Mafia has more real impact on the overall economy than does the government. As more and more of the state-owned real estate is turned over, less and less of it goes to the peasants (one interviewee points out that when privatization is over, the same people will have property as did before--in other words, names and labels change a lot more quickly than do power structures). The program concludes with a look at what Russian discontent has bred: politicians like the ultranationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky. a good examination of Russia's recent political, social, and economic upheaval, that could have benefited from tighter editing.Comprised of footage taken over the past 30 years, filmmaker Clay Francisco's Russia: Then & Now--a personal look at the old Soviet Union and the new Russian Federation--combines the sights of Mother Russia, a classical music soundtrack, and voice-over narration in a mix that is somewhat out of date. In no particular order, Francisco's camera looks at famous landmarks in Moscow (the Kremlin, St. Basil's, the Lenin Mausoleum), travels to St. Petersburg on a boat cruise (stopping off at Novgorod, where Russian history began), visits Yalta and Tashkent, and boards the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Francisco's commentary on Russia's agricultural nightmare (because of a terribly inefficient distribution system) is quite good, and some of his incidental remarks are entertaining (Russian women once had the opportunity to purchase a perfume called "Stalin's Breath.") However, the lion's share of the footage is older; the format dated, as travel documentaries go; and the humor sometimes irritating (Francisco's occasional jokes about obese Russian women are neither intelligent nor funny; they're simply juvenile.) Libraries with a lot of interest in Russia and Russian culture may want to consider this despite its faults.Frontline: The Struggle for Russia is recommended. Russia: Then & Now is an optional purchase. (R. Pitman)
Frontline: the Struggle For Russia; Russia: Then & Now
(1994) 120 min. $89.95. PBS Video. PPR. Color cover. Closed captioned. Vol. 9, Issue 5
Frontline: the Struggle For Russia; Russia: Then & Now
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