Putin: The New Tsar

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Putin: The New Tsar is a 2018 documentary produced by Oxford Films and the BBC, directed by Patrick Forbes, and shown on BBC2. It explores how Vladimir Putin rose to power in Russia. The film includes interviews with a mix of Russians and foreigners, such as Garry Kasparov, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Sergei Pugachev, Ksenia Sobchak, Ian Robertson (a psychologist from Trinity College Dublin), and British politician Jack Straw. Robertson said that Putin's experience in a top political job “profoundly changed” his brain. Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph says the film’s purpose is to place Putin’s unlikely rise from a provincial figure in St. Petersburg into historical context as he becomes president. It was made before the 2018 Russian presidential election and touches only briefly on allegations of Russian agents attacking Putin’s opponents outside Russia.

Critical reception: Sam Wollaston of The Guardian gave it 4 out of 5 stars, saying it could be funny if it weren’t so scary. Power also gave it 4 out of 5 stars, noting that the film’s biggest error is trying to diagnose Putin as addicted to absolute power, but he still called it an exemplary portrayal. The Moscow Times praised the narrator’s calm tone and the film’s pace, but criticized the clichéd title, the lack of coverage of Russian political opposition, and the overstated level of support for Putin. Still, it said the film is very much worth seeking out.