Controversy used to follow Oliver Stone no matter what he did, whether it be documentary or narrative. You could find as much uproar and backlash for Born on the Fourth of July or JFK as you could his documentaries with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Not lately, though. His latest feature, Snowden, came and went with barely a wimper, despite the polarizing figure at its center. But I think all of that is about to change because Stone's latest film is a documentary on none other than
Showtime have picked up the rights to Stone's film, The Putin Interviews, and have dropped a teaser for the special four-night event. This is guaranteed to set off a firestorm because Stone has been a staunch defender of Putin in the past, and this film appears to be another way of giving the Russian dictator (let's keep it real, that's what he is) a platform to express his views. Stone told the Sydney Morning Herald...
"I think we did him the justice of putting [his comments] into a Western narrative that could explain their viewpoint in the hopes that it will prevent continued misunderstanding and a dangerous situation – on the brink of war."
Nevermind that Putin has been found by all of out intelligence agencies to have interfered in our Presidential elections to get Donald Trump elected over Hillary Clinton. Stone thinks that's a bunch of nonsense...
"That's a path that leads nowhere to my mind. That's an internal war of politics in the US in which the Democratic party has taken a suicide pact or something to blow him up; in other words, to completely de-legitimise him and in so doing blow up the US essentially...What they're doing is destroying the trust that exists between people and government. It's a very dangerous position to make accusations you cannot prove."
Keep in mind he's defending a guy who has murdered journalists and any political rivals who stood in his way. Not to mention Putin has robbed the Russian people to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, making himself one of the richest people in the world. But hey, defend away, Oliver!
The Putin Interviews airs on Showtime from June 12th-June 15th.
