The film industry is a sucker for incongruous pairings, friendships that consist of a square peg and a round hole. You know, a pair of misfits who on paper, have nothing in common, nor seem to share friendship-compatible characteristics, yet inexplicably, despite their differences, somehow gravitate towards each other and form the unlikeliest of friendships. Shrek and Donkey, Gran Torino’s Walt Kowalski and Thao, Midnight Cowboy’s Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo, and Cast Away’s Chuck and Wilson — there have been some excellently executed and very memorable movies about unorthodox friendships and touching platonic love.
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Arguably one of the most intriguing friendships to come out of the last decade is between director Oliver Stone and the infamous Russian President, Vladimir Putin. The pair struck up an unexpected friendship during the filming of 2016’s Snowden (with part of it filmed in Moscow and the Kremlin), as well as Stone’s 2017 docuseries The Putin Interviews, which purportedly led to Stone even requesting Putin be his daughter’s Godfather. (While it was an offer that Putin was unable to refuse, it never came to fruition).
What Is Oliver Stone Known For?
Orion Pictures
Oliver Stone is a divisive figure. Outspoken, forthright, and at times, controversial, Stone is the Academy Award-winning director of the 1986 war film Platoon, and an esteemed screenwriter who penned both 1978’s Midnight Express and 1983’s Scarface. The celebrated Vietnam veteran has lived a fascinating life, and his experiences of the infernal, bloodthirsty reality of war are regularly reflected in his movies. From the self-indulgent sadism of Natural Born Killers to the stark, unembellished actuality of a Vietnam War veteran’s life in Born on the Fourth of July, Stone has never tamed his inner yearning for that shock factor that makes his films so distinctive, and unmistakably his.
Although his four-hour documentary (that was two years in the making) with the Russian premier was shot back in 2017 (prior to the Ukrainian conflict), looking back at how their peculiar bond was conceived is perhaps even more interesting now with the elaborate lies Putin has mustered up for his reasoning behind the invasion of their neighbor.
The Left-Wing Stone and the Conservative Dictator
Showtime NetworksIM Global
As Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine enters the final month of 2022, Oliver Stone’s documentary gave us a fascinating insight into the state of mind of the hard-lined Russian dictator. For the most part, Stone makes sure that Putin comes across well, as an amicable, hospitable, and patient man with a forgiving nature. His answers to questions on the rights of the members of the LGBTQ+ community, Ukraine, and Syria were delivered with a certain degree of pragmatic conviction (although he can’t hide his inherent homophobia).
Yet, whether it was at the time, or with the benefit of hindsight, the interview was simply an exercise in expert manipulation, a masterclass in political acting, and a lesson in PR-rehearsed deceit. Stone came into a tirade of media critique following the interview, with many journalists stating he was a soft touch, an appeaser who was blinded by the lies, duplicity, and charm of the ex-KGB, despotic ruler. For a director transfixed on portraying unadulterated realism, his documentary is, debatably, nothing but a work of fiction and fabrication, with its actual director the man in front of the lens.
A Tarnished Reputation
Following their Showtime interview, Putin spoke of his admiration for Stone’s supposedly fair, impartial, and accurate reporting, and when a contentious interviewee comes out with such high praise it usually only means one thing: the interviewer has been masterfully maneuvered. Since 2017, Stone has spoken vociferously in defense of Putin and condemned the West’s hypocrisy and their apparent misunderstanding of Russian policy. The JFK director has regularly declared his amazement at Putin’s courtesy and calmness. It’s fair to say, he had become somewhat of a Putin apologist until his relatively recent condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which anyone of any credible and upstanding moral standpoint was obliged to do — especially anyone with such close ties with the perpetrator.
Ultimately, Stone and Putin is the absurd bromance we certainly didn’t want or need. Whether it was in jest, or in seriousness, Stone as a documentarian, filmmaker, and journalist crossed the professional-to-personal threshold, and so began Putin’s utilization of the decorated soldier-turned-director as an ally. It was perhaps his Western propaganda vehicle to launder his reputation following the debacle of the reported Russian rigging of the US election.
The pair met on over 12 occasions to create their problematic interview, and Stone’s reflection on Russian society can easily be defined by his sentiment that, “Russian people have never had it any better. Freedom of worship, and travel. They do what they want." Was their friendship simply a marriage of mutual convenience, with Stone getting the rare and official “big front-page scoop” and Putin achieving his aim of cleaning the Kremlin’s apparent “penchant for political villainy,” or was it a genuine connection through shared respect and professional approbation? Either way, the friendship between significant, tyrannical world power and a man with such cultural influence was always bound to spell bad news, and Stone’s reputation has never quite recovered.
