I, Putin' An Inside Look at Russia's Aging, Lonely Leader

Some of this interview reminds me of how the Press (liberals) treated Ronald Reagan..

I, Putin'

An Inside Look at Russia's Aging, Lonely Leader

NDR/ cinecentrum

The world is used to macho images of Vladimir Putin hunting bears, harpooning whales or fly-fishing. A German documentary filmmaker was recently granted unprecedented access to the Russian prime minister. And he found a lonely, aging and surprisingly likeable man.

read the rest of article here..http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,817138,00.html

Surprisingly Likeable

Putin pretends to be open-minded, knowing that he can't treat a German television reporter the same way. But in some interviews with Seipel, he clearly seems annoyed by the never-ending questions about the West's criticism of his policies, saying curtly: "We already talked about that."

Putin ensnared the filmmaker in his own way. Though never chummy, he did indicate that he liked Seipel, sometimes spontaneously inviting him to spend several hours with him over dinner, though without the cameras. "Politically speaking, he's light-years away from me," Seipel says. "It also took me a while to gradually understand what makes him tick. Still, I can't say that I disliked him as a human being."

On one occasion, Putin has his convoy stop somewhere outside Moscow and waved to Seipel and his cameraman to get out of their car and follow him. He said he wanted to show them something special and led them along a narrow path to his private chapel, where he told them about his faith and how his mother had secretly had him baptized. The temptation to focus on these images of a very private Putin must have been tremendous. But Seipel felt that the scene was too private, so he simply left it out of his film.
Why did Seipel leave this out of his film???