World War II Behind Closed Doors – Stalin, The
Nazis & The West (BBC DVD Documentary
Mini-Series)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Episodes: B
When far
Right Wing types talk about Marxism, they refer to it generally as Marxism
because they want to bunch it with anything else they consider Left Wing and a
threat to their own agenda. However,
Marxism is an ideology and Stalinism, which they never talk about, is the end
result and may just be too close to their worst side. As a result, you do not see enough about the
real Stalin or the horrible things he did over half a century including
genocide, torture and putting the iron in The Iron Curtain. The new BBC documentary mini-series World War II Behind Closed Doors – Stalin,
The Nazis & The West is one of the best programs on the subject to
date.
One
reason is that the producer Laurence Rees dug deep into newer materials only
made possible by the fall of the U.S.S.R. and the subsequent release of such
documents that even glasnost and the many forward and backwards changes in the
current Russia have produced. It is a
show that (with some actor reenactments included that do not hurt) tells a
familiar history, adds to it, corrects some myths and shows how much more
screwed up the situations that led to WWII and The Cold War really were.
Done in
six hour-long programs, those as familiar with the history as this writer is
will still find the familiar, but patience yields new twists and a fuller
understanding of what really happened.
For those unfamiliar, this will be a revelation of a show and in all
cases, is much recommended.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is as wide-ranging as you would expect
for a program that covers 80 years of history with stills, film and video
footage throughout. This includes analog
tapes of survivors and others who were there to witness this vital
history. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is
sometimes monophonic, but well edited and as clean as can be expected, with the
newest audio well recorded. The only
extra is an interview with Rees, which is under a half-hour, but very
informative.
- Nicholas Sheffo
