"I, PUTIN": A FILM AND A PHOTOGRAPH

"ICH

PUTIN"

"I, PUTIN"

Vladimir Vladimirovich

Tonight, in Germany, on ARD TV, was the first broadcast of the first part of a multi-part documentary on Vladimir Putin: "Ich, Putin: Ein Porträt" ("I, Putin: A Portrait"). Der Spiegel has a long piece on the filmmaker, Hubert Seipel, and the film, here. The website for the film is here; to watch the video, click "Videos" on the left of the page. Some commentary (in German) can be found here and here.

A couple of comments from Spiegel Online: "German documentary filmmaker Hubert Seipel was recently granted unprecedented access to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for his film 'I, Putin.'" And "The world is used to images of Putin as a virile master or Judo and no-holds-barred political infighting. But the films shows [sic] Putin in a much different light, as a lonely, exhausted man cut off from the world by his job and stubbornly fending off physical decline."

Since there is an emphasis on the aging leader, who is to turn sixty in October but is looking to take on at least one more six-year stint as President shortly, above is a close-up and personal photograph of Vladimir Putin not long after he turned fifty.

More Putin here, and much more Putin here.

The initial episode uploaded to Youtube, here.

Lyudmila Putin, here.

Some pushback to Putin, here.