Mr. Landsbergis

The documentary tells Lithuania's separation from the Soviet Union, from 1988 to 1991, almost entirely through footage of the period. Rallies in the square, parliamentary sessions, barricades and the assault on the television tower in January 1991. The narration runs through the present-day account of Vytautas Landsbergis, the musicologist who led the independence movement at the time. The film is not interested in heroism. It is interested in how fragile the process was: at every step reversal is possible, negotiations with Moscow continue, and there is no guarantee beyond people standing in the street. The film shows the faces of those who did not know the outcome. The form is long and archival: close to four hours, period recordings and a single interview line. Sergei Loznitsa shoots nothing new; only Landsbergis's voice comes from now. Loznitsa directed. He had told the same period from the streets of Leningrad in The Event; here the view is from inside politics, from the table where decisions were made. Who it is for: viewers curious about the Soviet collapse and archival documentary. Who it is not for: anyone who cannot take the length. It runs near four hours, the tempo never changes, and resting on Landsbergis's own account leaves it one-sided.