Stalin to Gorbachev in 47 minutes — history's wildest glow-down.
Historic Russian battles to repel invaders serve as prelude to the story of events that redrew the map of Eastern Europe and parts of Asia in the 20th century. Following the turmoil of the Bolshevik Revolution, Communist Russia faces the venom of Nazi aggression. 1940's film footage reveals the harsh reality of total war, as the Red Army and Soviet civilians alike confront a brutal and tenacious enemy. The following decades are darkened by tensions between the USSR and foreign powers, and violent measures taken to silence voices of dissent. Finally, the Soviet people's yearning for a freer society leads to accelerating reforms and the ultimate dissolution of the USSR.
Editing
Jarring cuts from Nazi footage to grainy 80s newscasts.
Production
That 1996 'educational video' aesthetic hits different now.
Director
Ted Newsom
Joseph Stalin
Self (archive footage)
Mikhail Gorbachev
Self (archive footage)
Boris Yeltsin
Self (archive footage)
Nikita Khrushchev
Self (archive footage)
Leonid Brezhnev
Self (archive footage)
Yuri Gagarin
Self (archive footage)
Fidel Castro
Self (archive footage)
John F. Kennedy
Self (archive footage)
Jimmy Carter
Self (archive footage)
Ronald Reagan
Self (archive footage)
George H. W. Bush
Self (archive footage)
Jacqueline Kennedy
Self (archive footage)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released when Western historians were still processing Soviet archives; this captures that transitional uncertainty perfectly.
Ted Newsom directed this between horror documentaries — that genre-scholar background explains the lurid fascination with state violence.
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