Russia 1985-1999: Trauma Zone Documentary

I did a search but couldn't find this being mentioned before. Probably the most engrossing documentary I have ever seen. It's on the iPlayer, seven 1 hour long episodes. It's entirely composed of unseen archival BBC Moscow footage. No music, no narration, just subtitles for both translation and some context commentary. At first it seems chaotic as it pieces seemingly random bits of film from all over Soviet Union, but it all start to make sense and tells the story beautifully (or horrifically as it may be). It chronicles the fall of communism, the social and political aspects, the lives of ordinary people and those in power, the rise of oligarchs, etc. It's quite literally insane. I can't actually put into words just how out of control it all is. It paints a very clear picture of reasons behind all of the events past and current, including the current war in Ukraine.

Having lived through the fall of communism and rise of democracy and capitalism which resulted in a war and dissolution of Yugoslavia, I perhaps find all of it hitting closer to home, but I have to say I didn't fully appreciate just how mad the situation there was for such a sustained amount of time. It's, as the subtitle says, generational trauma zone.

Anyhow, highly, highly recommended.

It was a brilliant series, as you say is was stripped back but told the story in a really compelling way.

Watched it a couple months ago, utterly superb series.

Much of it is what my wife’s family (Ukrainian) tell of that chaotic period; an uncle was one of Yeltsin’s bodyguards.

If you want to understand, especially, Russia and Russians then look no further.