Spinning Boris

source: Spinning Boris

To those who missed the credits in Spinning Boris : read the original story as filed by Moscow correspondent Michael Kramer in Time magazine's issue dated July 15, 1996. This is no fiction but documented fact and that is why the scenario rings true. End of speculative discussion.

There is a french saying, "la réalité dépasse la fiction", truth beats fiction. Think about it. The reason why Spinning Boris rings so true, including seemingly trivial details, is that things can happen this way - I know from personal experience with both politics and Eastern Europe. Nobody would be foolish enough to present this movie as a documentary (and by the way, why wait until Yeltsin was completely out of the picture ?), but insiders will wink at each other. Remember Primary Colors - and think about it.

Released in the US at the time of another Russian Presidential election, "Spinning Boris", is a humorous, fact-based dramatization of the 1996 Russian Presidential election, directed by Roger Spottiswoode (who also directed the Bond film, "Tomorrow Never Dies," and the bio-pic "Noriega: God's Favorite"). The first post-Soviet election in Russia pitted Boris Yeltsin, a man once considered a hero but now, after five years of attempted coups, hyperinflation, and war in Chechnya, has lower approval ratings than Stalin, against political opponents ranging from kooky (the xenophobic Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who wants to retake Alaska), to Communist (Gennady Zyuganov, who vows to restore the Soviet Union). In Yeltsin's view (and that of some powerful forces on both sides of the Atlantic) the future of Russia is at stake: do people want to live with the challenges and opportunities of free choice, or fall back to the failed Communist system (along with newly wealthy oligarchs losing their power). How can a candidate be "guaranteed" victory in a democracy? Hire the best political advisors money can buy, in this case George Gorton (Jeff Goldblum), Dick Dresner (Anthony LaPaglia), and Joe Shumate (Liev Schreiber, playing a more open operative than in his last Russian adventure, "The Sum of All Fears," and proving himself a master in the political movies genre). The three American political consultants (one of whom, Gorton, recently led Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful gubernatorial campaign) are masters at showing how politics can be manipulated, or fine tuned. "Spinning Boris" shows the idealism and naivete of Russia's fledging democracy in 1996, primarily through the eyes of his daughter, Tatiana Dyachenko (played by the sensuously dignified Svetlana Efremova, known to political drama junkies through an appearance as a Russian journalist in "The West Wing"). The main difference between history and the plot of this film is that the script overplays the political naivete of Russians far too much. After all, it was Yeltsin's main opponent, the Communist Zyuganov, who said in 1995, "You should understand that a clever propaganda worker and a skilled politician will never talk in the same language with different audiences." If the Soviet era proved anything, it is that Russians are masters at telling an audience what it wants to hear. The movie does prove that Americans are good at reviving a stale product, in this case a Presidential candidate, Yeltsin, who offers a clear (and clearly superior) alternative to his opponents, men who reach back into the "ash heap of history" for their political platform. "Spinning Boris" perpetuates some negative stereotypes about Russia. For instance: the President Hotel is not 5-Star quality; people did not walk around with machine guns in 1996; the SOVIET national anthem was not in use during the Yeltsin era; and why did the Americans sing the "Internationale," the song of world Communism, as they leave Moscow? There are, however, some wonderful street scenes throughout the entire movie, and the cinematography manages to capture some of the exoticness and beauty of Moscow, the world's most unique city (although most of the interior shots were filmed in Toronto). It is great to have a dramatization of what is for Americans an obscure political event, but one that had far-reaching repercussions. Movies are often the only way that a historic event is remembered; by their nature a political drama will be abridged and truncated (this is true of documentaries as well). Hopefully people watching this movie won't believe that today's Russia is as close to the brink of collapse as it is depicted here. Like "Primary Colors," the movie (and novel) which gave great understanding into the 1992 Clinton campaign, "Spinning Boris" gives humorous insight into the Russian political scene during its early democratic years.

Caught this one on New Years eve, and was fortunate to hang on to it. I wasn't sure if it was somehow documentary or not - and the beauty of it is that it doesn't matter :) This movie is credible from the first to the last minute. It's creepy because this could be entirely true - and we'll probably never know. The American spindoctors playing dirty? I don't think they are, they're not having anyone arrested or killed or anything, they're introducing western style campaigns to the Russians for the first time, and the playing field is wide open. It's not unlike how Tony Blair gets promoted, nothing unusual about this. Interesting to see how getting out to people to listen to their concerns plays a large role, as does digging up what the communists are up to - that's how it should be. The Americans happen to find themselves in a pivotal (to say the least) election, and they're hired (several times :) to the job. Suddenly these three find themselves spearheading the fight for democracy vs. regression, and they happen to do a good job with everything at stake. People happen to land in essential situations once in a while where a little effort can make a huge difference. I hope it turns out to be largely a true story. Anyone checked up that Time issue, BTW?

I own this mainly because of Jeff Goldblum, so I wasn't expecting much in the way of real entertainment, but was more or less watching this for Mr. Goldblum's performance. I think he's one of the best actors in the business. I did not discover until after the fact that this film was based on actual events, and I had to go watch it again. Aside from beautiful performances by all three principals, the story itself has a wonderful flow, which works brilliantly with the material and weaves a highly enjoyable experience. This is an entertaining experience, but it also shows how desperate the Russians were to do something better for themselves, in spite of communist influences still in place. It also allows us a small peek into the corrupt offices of our own politicians...we already know they will do anything to get elected. This just proves those suspicions and marks them as "well known" and "public knowledge." On a side note, I found this information here at IMDb and paraphrased it for those of you who are interested. "While the film portrays all three of the men in Russia during the whole campaign, our three consultants (Gorton-Goldlum, Dresner-LaPaglia, and Shumate-Shreiber) were in truth flying in and out over those five months, or so. They left one person in the US as a security precaution to ensure that the other two could leave when desired, and one younger member was left in Russia the whole time. Oddly enough, he was omitted from the movie. It was his notes they used to draft a screenplay, by the way. The hotel portrayed in the movie was the "President Hotel," known as the "Oktiabraskaya" during Soviet Times. Each room in this hotel was equipped with gas masks, and the hotel compound was rumored to be secretly linked to the Moscow metro system for occupants to escape or guards and extra security to arrive. After the Yeltsin campaign, Gorton went on to be Arnold Schwarzenegger's political consultant, running Arnold's first campaign. The furniture-stacking scene is something that really happened, and happened more than once. The consultants' paranoia is well founded. During the 1996 election cycle in Russia, the campaign manager for the mayor of St. Petersburg had acid thrown in his face, and the running mate for the mayor of Moscow was critically injured in a car bomb." As I said, those words were paraphrased, but they may allow you a little behind the scenes knowledge as to the origins of this movie. Insider info like that tends to help me embrace the work more. Hope it does the same for you. All in all? It's not Friday/Saturday night viewing material by any means, but it IS better than a rainy Sunday's tedium relief. It rates a 7.9/10 from... the Fiend :.

It's funny enough as a 'what if?' scenario. But knowing that this movie is based on a true story makes it much more interesting and fun. Three seasoned political consultants accept the job of getting Boris Yeltsin re-elected. Obviously, they find that things work a little differently in Russia. At times, it seemed there was the inclination to go a little over the top (both in plot and in performance), but Goldblum, LaPaglia and Schreiber manage to keep it within bounds most of the time. Cut-ins of actual footage of the before-and-after candidate on the stump balance the falseness of the zany factor. Flaks and reporters will enjoy this film. So will anyone who takes politics seriously.

I resisted seeing this movie for some time. Not sure why - probably because the title put me off. However it is one of the funniest, sharpest movies I have seen in many a year and I have to agree with "Filmdome" that it has something of "Dr Strangelove" about it. The notion that three American political consultants could go over to Russia and successfully assist Boris Yeltsin to win the 1996 election would be ludicrous if it weren't for the fact that it is true! The three protagonists Jeff Goldblum (George), Anthony LaPaglia (Dick) and Liev Schreiber(Joe) have great on-screen rapport and charisma which only serves to heighten the manic atmosphere and paranoia of the piece. The notion that they can't trust anyone pervades the film giving this satire an added dimension; all their most private thoughts and plans have to be expressed on the balcony to their apartment. Even the CIA have them bugged. Their only respite appears to be in the bar at the hotel where a rather bad Russian Elvis Presley impersonator befriends them and offers invaluable information as to the Russian psyche. The film is interspersed with genuine footage from the campaign, plus Yeltsin's bizarre dancing episode which I'm sure any of you out there with long memories must remember as it was one of the most surreal bouts of electioneering ever to have been televised! Naturally George, Dick and Joe are equally unimpressed. Goldblum is touching in his gentle and restrained romancing of Tatiana (Yeltsin's daughter)though I suspect that in reality this did not happen. Dick turning blue in a snowstorm on the tarmac at the airport and barricading the door to their apartment on election night while Joe hides under his jacket, and the musical car journey back to the airport at the end of the film are just a hint at the great moments in this very good movie.

Three American campaign advisers go to Russia to help Yeltsin win the election and a good time was had by viewers. This is the true story of three guys who went to Moscow to win an election and did so despite death threats (from the people who wanted Yeltsin elected but feared he'd lose- don't ask) and being watched by everyone in the country and outside it. The real pleasure here is the trio of actors playing the leads, Jeff Goldblum, Anthony LaPaglia and Liev Schreiber who work together like a well oiled machine and seem to be having such a grand time you can't help but watch it and enjoy it. They play it like three long time friends who know each other like the back of their own hands and spread the sense of fun and good times, even in the bad times, so neatly it rolls right off the screen. You don't care what the film is about so long as you get to watch them interacting. This would be a perfectly charming film if it was more interesting to look at, its mostly in hotel rooms that all look the same, with the odd trip to the balcony to speak where no one can over hear. They could also have used a woman as Yeltsin's daughter who is a lovely as the real thing, but those minor quibbles. That said its a joy to behold and highly recommended. 9/10

This film is a riot! It is like a political comedy version of "THE WIZARD OF OZ." Only here, Jeff Goldblum is the metaphorical scarecrow,Anthony LaPaglia, the cowardly lion and Liev Shreiber is like the tinman...leading the Russian President Boris Yetzin's daughter (who is like Dorothy) played Svetlana Efremova...through the OZ of political consulting and campaign winning. Boris Krutonog and Gregory Hlady add the proper intrigue and menace to make even those of us who read the original Time Magazine cover story about the real incident...wonder how it will all turn out.It is funny, charming, and truly suspenseful. The trio of actors playing the "fish out of water" American political consultants play off one another beautifully and with the charisma and wit of a real life Hope and Crosby road picture!