Original subtitles

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NEXT, ON "P.O.V."

THEY WERE THE LAST GENERATION TO GROW UP

BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN.

WHEN THE CURTAIN LIFTED, EVERYTHING CHANGED.

"MY PERESTROIKA," ONLY ON "P.O.V."

[ CHILD SPEAKING RUSSIAN ]

[ CHILDREN'S CHOIR SINGING IN RUSSIAN ]

[ SINGING IN RUSSIAN ]

[ HANGS UP TELEPHONE ]

[ GIRL LAUGHING ]

[ PLAYING THE BLUES ]

[ MAN SPEAKING RUSSIAN ]

[ CHILD SINGING IN RUSSIAN ]

[ DOORBELL RINGS ]

[ MAN SINGING IN RUSSIAN ]

[ MAN SINGING IN RUSSIAN ]

[ MAN SINGING RUSSIAN BALLAD ]

[ BOY SAYS GOODBYE ]

[ WOMAN SINGING IN RUSSIAN ]

[ CHILD SINGING IN RUSSIAN ]

[ SPEAKING RUSSIAN ]

[ CHILD SINGING IN RUSSIAN ]

IN THE SOVIET UNION AND IN RUSSIA TODAY,

FOR THE MOST PART, PEOPLE ARE WITH THE SAME 20 OR 25 PEOPLE

FROM FIRST GRADE THROUGH THE END OF HIGH SCHOOL.

AND SO THAT'S AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF SHARED EXPERIENCE,

AND EVEN IF PEOPLE AREN'T CLOSE TODAY,

THEY'VE HAD THIS VERY INTENSE CHILDHOOD CONNECTION.

AND SO I THOUGHT MY APPROACH WOULD BE

TO FIND THE FIRST PERSON WHO SHOULD DEFINITELY

BE IN THE FILM, AND THERE, FROM THEN,

MEET HIS OR HER CLASSMATES.

A HISTORY TEACHER OF THIS GENERATION WOULD HAVE BEEN

TAUGHT A CERTAIN KIND OF HISTORY IN THE SOVIET UNION,

AND THEN, IN 1988, WHEN THIS PERSON

WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE PEDAGOGICAL INSTITUTE,

LEARNING TO BECOME A HISTORY TEACHER,

THE HISTORY EXAMS WERE CANCELLED FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.

THE ARCHIVES WERE OPENING UP.

NOBODY KNEW WHAT THE RIGHT ANSWER

WOULD BE ON AN EXAM ANYMORE.

AND TODAY, THEY'RE TEACHING CHILDREN WHO WERE ALL BORN

AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE USSR, AND FOR WHOM

THE SOVIET UNION IS REALLY MORE LIKE ANCIENT ROME

THAN A COUNTRY THAT THEIR OWN PARENTS GREW UP IN.

AND SO I DID START TO TALK

SPECIFICALLY TO HISTORY TEACHERS,

JUST INTERESTED IN HEARING THEIR PERSPECTIVES.

I WENT TO SCHOOL 57. I MET BORYA.

HE INVITED ME HOME THE FOLLOWING NIGHT FOR DINNER.

AND I WENT TO THE MEYERSONS'.

THAT FIRST NIGHT IN THEIR HOME,

WE SPOKE FOR HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS,

AND, OF COURSE, ALONG THE WAY OF THE CONVERSATION,

I ALSO ASKED IF THEY KNEW ANYBODY WHO HAD EVER

TAKEN ANY HOME MOVIES IN THE '70s AND '80s,

AND BORYA SAID, "ARE YOU KIDDING?

MY FATHER WAS OBSESSED."

AND HE OPENED A CLOSET, AND THERE WERE

STACKS AND STACKS OF 8-MILLIMETER FILMS.

AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE,

HE TOOK OUT THE PROJECTOR AND SET UP A LITTLE SCREEN,

AND FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS,

WE WATCHED SOME OF HIS HOME MOVIES.

AND MARK WAS 8 AT THE TIME AND HAD NEVER SEEN THEM.

AND SO, AT THE END OF THAT EVENING, IT WAS JUST CLEAR

THAT I HAD LANDED, THAT THIS WAS WHERE THE FILM BEGINS.

THE KIND OF, THE HUMAN STORIES ARE REALLY,

IN MANY CASES, THE MOST IMPORTANT STORIES.

AND EVERYTHING ELSE,

THESE POLITICAL AND HISTORICAL CHANGES,

ARE OFTEN IN THE BACKGROUND.

AS OLGA SAYS, YOU KNOW, DESPITE EVERYTHING THAT WAS HAPPENING,

IF YOU WERE A STUDENT, YOU WENT TO SCHOOL.

IF YOU WERE WORKING, YOU WENT TO WORK.

AND I REMEMBER THAT MYSELF VERY WELL.

YOU KNOW, YOU'D HEAR ON THE RADIO OR READ IN THE PAPERS

THAT YELTSIN HAD JUST DISSOLVED THE PARLIAMENT ANOTHER TIME,

BUT I HAD AN EXAM TO STUDY FOR,

AND I HAD TO GO BUY LAUNDRY DETERGENT, AND THE BALANCE

OF THESE FRONT-PAGE, CAPITAL-LETTER EVENTS

AND THE THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN YOUR OWN LIFE

REALLY ARE -- WHEN YOU READ THE HISTORY BOOKS,

THE BALANCE, PERHAPS, SEEMS ONE WAY,

BUT FOR PEOPLE LIVING THROUGH IT AT THE TIME,

SOMETIMES IT'S A VERY DIFFERENT THING.

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