“We’ll improvise,” Oliver Stone tells Vladimir Putin at the outset of his latest film, directing the Russian president to his seat at a circular table. “No rules about this.” The Russian President takes his seat, smiles, and affirms that directive with an affable gesture and a simple English “yes.” Thus begins The Putin Interviews, a four-hour documentary series filmed between 2015 and 2017, that purports to offer a rare, honest, and intimate look into what makes the Russian leader tick.
