Why did I buy Halloween trick or treat candy? We have not seen trick or treaters for years in our neighborhood.Saturday night I faced a small mound of Twix and then the mound became smaller.Sunday morning, November 1, I awoke with a sugar-guilt hangover and in a time warp from the switch back to standard time.My addled brain was further rocked when I read the Variety section of our local paper featuring a book review (Special to the Star Tribune) about ANOTHER Putin biography. http://www.startribune.com/review-the-new-tsar-the-rise-and-reign-of-vladimirputin-by-steven-lee-myers/338782592/. There are already more than 25 Putin biographies catalogued in our local library system.
Do we really need another book about Putin? Especially one that clocks in at 572 pages.I believe our publishing consultant told us people will readily buy a 250 page book but buyers begin to balk by 300 pages.
An hour later I circled back to the review and read about Steven Myers's book.Okay, it sounds like he has nailed Putin's rise and reign and I respect and enjoy journalists' non fiction writing, but I'm committed to Masha Gessen's searing biography, The Many Faces of Putin. It was one of the many biographies Leslie and I read as background for Jewish Luck and it was the standout. While Myers has good credentials having spent seven years as the NYT correspondent in Moscow, Gessen is a courageous and outspoken journalist. As a Russian, she has experienced Putin.
Perhaps it's time for Putin: The Biopic.There are several good Russian films in which Putin's regime is the backdrop thereby placing Putin in the film.In our not-so-humble opinion, Putin's Kiss is the best of that genre.But what about a film that zeros in on Putin? There would be action! Drama! Tension! And that's only considering the press campaign for the film.
My concept is a remake of Ivan Grozniy (Ivan the Terrible) produced, directed, and written by Sergei Eisenstein.Part I was released in 1944, part II in 1958. If you want to experience the proto-Putin experience, make sure you have a comfortable seat and ample popcorn for this film.The run time is 187 minutes. The Prokofiev score dramatizes the dark, shadowy 16th century tsar's rise and reign.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnL0FP6Zczo.
If Russian film style is over the top, an American horror film with a Boris Karloff vibe might capture the essence of Putin. A musical, perhaps? Instead of Cats, Bears? The Jellicle tribe as Putin's inner circle from United Russia? Rum Tum Thugger as Putin?
Hollywood screenwriters and producers, don't miss this opportunity.Putin biographers, fire up your agents.