Adam Curtis -Traumazone Russia 1985-1999

[vixen1700]

On the BBC iplayer as of yesterday.

No narration unfortunately, just captions showing Russia before and after the fall of Communism.

Fantastic footage of Soviet Russia and fascinating right from the start.

Only watched one so far but look forward to the rest.

No dancing people though.

[Nico Adie]

I watched the first 2 episodes last night - I’m a huge Adam Curtis fan so was always going to enjoy it (if enjoy is the appropriate word…). Essential viewing that should be shown in schools.

[Mezzanine]

vixen1700 said:

…No dancing people though.

There was definitely some dancing in the trailer I watched the other day so don’t get too disheartened

[vixen1700]

There was Moscow disco-dancing in episode two.

Shell-suit heaven.

[kevinon]

I'd never heard of Adam Curtis, (this makes me unusual / sad I believe) but word of mouth feedback on this is great. I have heard it mentioned lots in the last few days. From a wide variety of people, too.
So off to iPlayer I go.

[Mr E]

This is nuts. Compelling. But nuts.

[dino_jr]

Yep and it gets worse and worse. Disgusting behaviour by the politicians and oligarchs, interspersed with scenes of extreme poverty and bad dancing throughout

[Mr E]

dino_jr said:

Yep and it gets worse and worse. Disgusting behaviour by the politicians and oligarchs, interspersed with scenes of extreme poverty and bad dancing throughout

It started off almost amusing.
It’s not very funny now.

[ewolg]

First episode down - Lada factory was an eye opener with the amount of cars that went missing. What a grim country it was (& is again now).

[Stick Legs]

Will be watching.

The Mayfair Set is probably the best of his.
Highly recommended.

[PositronicRay]

Watched the 1st two.

Interesting exercise.

[daddy cool]

vixen1700 said:

No dancing people though.

Dancing people 2m 40s into episode one!

Somehow the lack of Adam Curtis narration is making the experience more Adam Curtis than usual.

[KAgantua]

The bit about the centralized team who 'planned the economy' down to the nearest detail (Maybe 1st or 2nd epiosde?) was eye opening.

Did they just print out their whole DB onto dot matrix paper to show the cameras?

I like as well how the woman said 'Industry is slow to react' - as they decided to tell the factories to manufacutre lots of 'platform shoes' as they are 'in fashion' - and by the time they tooled up and produced the stock, noone wanted them! (This was maybe 88/90?)

Pretty sure the 'bad' western method doesnt have this problem!!

Great doc but yeah, need to do it in small doses... its depressing.

Even then, your Moscovites/ St Petersburg people (especially Kremlin officials/ party members) look very well dressed and well fed...

Drive out the countryside... looks like a third world warzone....

[steviegunn]

I've watched pretty much all of Adam Curtis' films and enjoy his style of content even if some of the messaging can be tenuous and pointless at times.

Binged all of Traumazone over a couple of days and found it fascinating and horrifying in equal measure, certainly gives understanding to why Russia is so screwed up, what was allowed to happen is a modern tragedy of epic proportions.

[rigga]

PositronicRay said:

Watched the 1st two.

Interesting exercise.

Watched the first two this morning.

Bizarre to be honest.

It's like another world.

[vixen1700]

Finished this last night. Pretty grim.

[Stick Legs]

Many years ago I read Robert Service’s ‘Russia, an experiment with a people’ and this series manages to convey as much information with just images.

Quite an achievement.

I can also recommend ‘The less you know the better you sleep’ by David Satter.

[rigga]

Finished the last episode a day or so ago.

Interesting at the end, the oligarchs chose an anonymous bureaucrat (Putin), first installed him as head of the FSB, then onto president, as they feared being rounded up and got rid of by Yelstin.

Seems to have turned full circle whereby Putin is now the string puller, and the oligarchs do as they are told.

Fascinating series though, outside of the two main population centers , Moscow and at Petersburg, Russians pretty much are dirt poor. Time I doubt has changed that .

[Siko]

Loving this - thanks OP. Some genuine wtf moments though - their TV version of Lord of the Rings was an eye-opener

[andy_s]

Curtis - great story arcs/connections/metanarratives, my caveat is it's like one strand amongst the many that could be drawn in this complex world with many other influences nested within that, but he certainly provokes thought and takes us out of our eternal present where every individual day clamors for our attention so we get a look under the hood over a protracted time span.

Rec'd viewing: Hypernormalisation, Bitter Lake and Century of Self.

Looking forward to catching up on this when I get back.