Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone

What it felt like to live through the collapse of communism and democracy. A series of films by Adam Curtis.

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  1.Part One - 1985 to 1989

  13-10-202260m

  Perestroika. The dream of saving communism. But no-one believes in anything any longer. The managers loot the system. Soldiers return defeated in the war to liberate Afghanistan.

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  2.Part Two - 1989 to 1991

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  There are no potatoes in Moscow. Things get worse. Then they get much worse as the rational Communist plan runs out of control everywhere. But McDonald’s opens in Moscow.

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  3.Part Three - 1991

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  The empire strikes back. Hardliners attempt a coup. Power slips through their shaking hands. Oligarchs publish a manifesto. Money will replace all ideology. Yeltsin seizes power.

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  4.Part Four - 1992 to 1994

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  Russia goes through the mirror into a chaotic dream world where nothing is stable any more. Dream visions of Russia's imperial past start to rise up. People cannot afford food.

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  5.Part Five - 1993 to 1996

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  Russian society implodes. Millions of people fall into the abyss. Many live underground or in forests. The president attacks parliament with tanks saying he is saving democracy.

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  6.Part Six - 1994 to 1998

  13-10-202260m

  The group around the president believe a war in Chechnya will save him. Others want the war to restore the glory of the Russian empire. The Oligarchs seize control of practically e...

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  7.Part Seven - 1995 to 1999

  13-10-202260m

  Suddenly the western bankers leave. Oligarchs take control and search for a new president to be their puppet. They choose Putin. Russians turn against “the curse of democracy".