Herzog says Gorbachev documentary has a 'subversive message'

Werner Herzog says there’s a “subversive message” to his new documentary “Meeting Gorbachev”: Talk to your geopolitical enemies.

In particular, the veteran director says good things happen when the U.S. and Russia talk at the highest level.

Herzog interviewed former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev three times over the course of six months. He highlights Gorbachev’s leadership during a groundbreaking 1986 arms control summit with U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

The film makes no mention of current events. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is seen only once, in passing, at the 1999 funeral of Gorbachev’s wife Raisa.

But Herzog says Gorbachev and Reagan’s top-level diplomacy was “a good example” for today.