My Perestroika (2010)

This propaganda brought to you by the big three corporate charities: Ford, Hewlitt and MacArthur Foundations. All three can easily be suspected of being CIA fronts, but there is solid evidence that the Ford Foundation has served as a front and a means of funneling money from the CIA to fund psychological warfare to sell the American brand to the world as well as to demonize socialism, communism and third-world liberation movements. They promote pro-capitalist and pro-bourgeois "values." One of the individuals followed in the documentary, a teacher, refers to Lenin as "basically a cannibal" and all of the interviewees are really down on their country - both as the Soviet Union and Russia today. At least 4 out of the 5 individuals express explicitly anti-Putin views; not a good sample of the Russian population given that Mr. Putin's approval rating in Russia is something like 87% as of this writing.The documentary even tries to whitewash the abominable actions of Gorbachev and Yeltsin, the first a naive idiot and the second a scoundrel and a criminal who privatized everything in sight, usurped power in the name of "democracy" and destroyed the country. On the other hand, Putin is hated by the U.S. today because he has made Russia a great power again.As an American citizen, I watched this hoping to see some old footage of Soviet times and maybe hear at least one favorable account of life in the USSR, but I was to be very disappointed. I have read other accounts of people who grew up under communism and while some heap criticism on it, others remember the good outweighing the bad. They say that although the communist party leadership kept a firm hold over the society, things like the absence of crime, guaranteed housing, free healthcare and education and even subsidized transportation and cultural activities were not something to just scoff at.

My Perestroika successfully portraits personal impressions about the Soviet Union offering a refreshing counterpoint of ideas between characters. Perestroika can be understood for many as a Russian word connected with an important moment in Russian history. I can say that after following the stories of these 5 friends in Moscow I have a deep sense of human connection and respect for people who was dramatically affected in the process that Russia held around the 90s. I have an understanding of what Perestroika meant for them.Parallels between how these characters grew up and how their children are growing up nowadays allow audiences to perceive the contrast between communism and capitalism. This humanist film is a refined documentary full of cinematographic details and relevant opinions about an important historic issue.

Robin Hessman's "My Perestroika" is an interesting view of a world unknown. For these people, growing up during the time that they did was something completely new, and because of this they had no one to turn to. This film helps you to understand what growing up in a different world is like. As their government collapsed and the Soviet Union was no more these individuals found their lives becoming more and more awry. From a production standpoint, this film is well made despite Hessman's lack of equipment and crew. She conducted the interviews herself with her camera in hand, and while it's not as stylized as many recent documentaries, it fits the tone of the film perfectly. This method also brings the audience closer to the individuals and allows for a more personal connection with them. The archival footage in the film is used in a creative way; similar shots of archival footage (such as the first day of school) juxtaposed with current shots. This method works as a metaphor for the generation gap between these individuals and the following generation. Finally, I am amazed with the understanding that Hessman has of this situation not being from Russia. It shows that this documentary was well research and was cared for every step of the way.

It's a unique story related with a particular period of political upheaval, and at the same time it's a general story about a nostalgia that all of us sympathize with. It's a Nostalgia for the days that we didn't have to worry about severe competitions, untrustworthy policies, unfair present and ambiguous future. It was the time we could find a peace of mind from the passivity and obedience. We were not ready enough to deal well with an unexpected freedom. We're also not ready to accept numerous choices and the results that we're responsible for. We don't even know how to explain clearly, if someone asked us why that time was better to us. We just know it was better. We're still not sure about the present. However, sometimes we found ourselves surprisingly living well in the present without any distinct understanding about it.