Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 2012
Putin's Kiss
Buy Putin's Kiss now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Putin's Kiss' is a 2012 documentary, directed by Lise Birk Pedersen, about Russian youth activist Masha Drokova (married name: Masha Bucher) and her experiences with the youth organisation Nashi.
Plot
'Putin's Kiss' presents, through interviews and archival footage, Masha Drokova's experiences in Russian youth organisation Nashi, which declares itself to be a democratic, anti-fascist, anti-'oligarchic-capitalist' movement. From the age of 16 through to 19 she is heavily involved in the organisation, working her way up into a position of influence and authority, eventually becoming the host of a youth oriented, state funded television program. She idolises Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the film's title refers in an incident in which, while receiving a medal from him, Drokova spontaneously hugged and kissed him.
As the film goes on, Drokova becomes friends with several other journalists, many of whom are critical of the Russian ruling party. Her views are called into question and she becomes increasingly torn between the two. The situation reaches a head when her friend and fellow journalist Oleg Kashin is violently beaten; though his attackers are never identified, it is speculated by many that they were working for the Kremlin in some capacity. By the end of the film, she is no longer a member of Nashi, and she is shown discussing her views freely with Kashin.
Reception
'Putin's Kiss' won the World Cinema Cinematography Award in Documentary at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.[http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/05/world/putin-kiss-interview/index.html Kissing Vladimir Putin, on film] CNN, 5 April 2012 It was pitched at Sheffield Doc/Fest's MeetMarket in 2009. It has received mixed reviews, and holds a rating of 52 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic.[http://www.metacritic.com/movie/putins-kiss 'Putin's Kiss' at Metacritic] 'OpenDemocracy.com' refers to it as "a complex tale of inner conflict"Bernas, Frederick (23 March 2012) [http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/frederick-bernas/kiss-and-run-documentary-casts-fresh-light-on-pro-putin-youth-movement "Kiss and run: documentary casts fresh light on pro-Putin youth movement"], 'Open Democracy', accessed October 10, 2012 and the 'New York Post' said that it was "more than just the portrait of a naive young woman...its a frightening look at Putins warped version of democracy."V.A. Musetto (February 17, 2012) [http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/movies/no_free_love_in_russian_kiss_doc_kGhaxytrHPgw0YlobFtUfP "No free love in Russian Kiss doc"], 'New York Post', accessed October 10, 2012 'Time Out New York' afforded the film 2 out of 5 stars, saying that "Lise Birk Pedersen's doc offers some compelling peeks into Russia's bureaucratic skulduggery, but her attempt to frame the situation through a young convert's coming of age never really coheres. Innocence was lost; so, apparently, was much of the insightful commentary."Fear, David (February 14, 2012), [http://www.timeout.com/us/film/putins-kiss 'Putin's Kiss'], accessed October 15, 2012
References
Buy Putin's Kiss now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 2012