Despotentary by Jean Michel Carré, France 2014
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3558216/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1
Putin has been the de facto leader of Russia since 2000, first as president for the, according to the constitution, maximum of two terms, then as the prime minister, ruling the country through his puppet president Medvedev. By 2012, he dropped all pretenses and outright screwed the constitution, fashioning himself president again. With increasing despotism and totalitarian measures, the charismatically frightening megalomaniac continues to steer Russia back to the powerful empire it once was.
As documentaries go, this one is pretty straightforward; chronologically told, through narration and archive footage, with no innovative tricks at all. However, the tone is coloured by a sense of black humour, which functions well with the subject at hand. I mean, with a man like Putin, should one shiver in fear or laugh derisively? I prefer the latter, and wouldn’t mind if ‘Poutine pour toujours?’ had even more sarcasm and satire.
Bechdel test: fail
3 terms of 6
