And the first German that you probably met wanted to kill you.” That’s director/provocateur Werner Herzog introducing himself to former (and final) Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and announcing that this will be no ordinary talking-head documentary. (Herzog has great fun listing their rapid departures.) Herzog is obviously keen to discuss the role the Soviet leader played in the reunification of Germany. When Herzog was in Toronto last September for the festival premiere of the film, he noted that he was originally given two one-hour windows to talk to the former Soviet leader; at Gorbachev’s request, they were stretched to 90 minutes, and then a third meeting was added. It seems even Gorbachev couldn’t get enough Herzog.

Source: National Post May 17, 2019 18:00 UTC