Sunday, October 09, 2005
Political Movies For You
In conversation with a friend, I was asked what some good political films are. Here, in no particular order, are some of my favourites, by Ken Loach, Renoir, Herzog and others. They tend towards the depressing, but I wouldn't say they're ordeals: they're not easy films but I get a lot out of them.
The Revolution starts here - An agitator denounces the Tsarist dictatorship in Battleship Potemkin
Land and Freedom (1997) - the Spanish Civil War from an independent leftist perspective
La Haine (1996) - 3 alienated youth from the Paris suburbs during the urban rebellions of 1995
Burn (1968) - the leader of a 17th century slave revolt must come to terms with post-colonial capitalist realities. Stars Marlon Brando as a slimy British imperial agent
The Battle of Algiers (1966?) - the story of the FLN (Front de Liberation National) of Algeria: fighting a repressive French government, they take up arms, which makes the government more repressive. Famous for being banned in many countries, and now shown to CIA operatives as a model for defeating terrorism, it doesn't gloss over the terrorism of either side. I read it as the failure of terror as a political strategy for liberation; you could read it as the brave, desperate struggle by a people with no other options. Either way, it's gripping.
Ali Fear Eats The Soul (1974?) - a middle aged German woman falls in love with a Moroccan man; shock and horror abound
Weekend (1965?) - Godard's biting satire of consumer society, with long political speeches thrown in for good measure
Battleship Potemkin (1926?) - Eisenstein's greatest film, the story of a mutiny on a Russian battleship in 1905; full of drama, revolutionary sentiment and film techniques still copied today
Strike - another excellent Eisenstein film, humanist and socialist, about a bloodily repressed strike
Man With A Movie Camera (1929) - amazing montage of everyday life in Soviet society
The Magic Christian (1969) - surrealist satire with Ringo Starr
Aguirre Wrath of God (1972?) - Werner Herzog directs Aryan god Klaus Kinski as a Spanish colonialist slowly going mad
My Name Is Joe (1997?) - ex drug addict tries to come clean, until the realities of poverty force him to make difficult choices
Sweet Sixteen (2001?) - Glasgow youth tries to come clean, until the realities of poverty force him to make difficult choices
Rules of the Game (1939) - aristocrats and servants spend a weekend in the country; their lives and classes intertwine
Insane but persuasive - Kinski rallies his troops in Aguirre Wrath of God
The Revolution starts here - An agitator denounces the Tsarist dictatorship in Battleship PotemkinLand and Freedom (1997) - the Spanish Civil War from an independent leftist perspective
La Haine (1996) - 3 alienated youth from the Paris suburbs during the urban rebellions of 1995
Burn (1968) - the leader of a 17th century slave revolt must come to terms with post-colonial capitalist realities. Stars Marlon Brando as a slimy British imperial agent
The Battle of Algiers (1966?) - the story of the FLN (Front de Liberation National) of Algeria: fighting a repressive French government, they take up arms, which makes the government more repressive. Famous for being banned in many countries, and now shown to CIA operatives as a model for defeating terrorism, it doesn't gloss over the terrorism of either side. I read it as the failure of terror as a political strategy for liberation; you could read it as the brave, desperate struggle by a people with no other options. Either way, it's gripping.
Ali Fear Eats The Soul (1974?) - a middle aged German woman falls in love with a Moroccan man; shock and horror abound
Weekend (1965?) - Godard's biting satire of consumer society, with long political speeches thrown in for good measure
Battleship Potemkin (1926?) - Eisenstein's greatest film, the story of a mutiny on a Russian battleship in 1905; full of drama, revolutionary sentiment and film techniques still copied today
Strike - another excellent Eisenstein film, humanist and socialist, about a bloodily repressed strike
Man With A Movie Camera (1929) - amazing montage of everyday life in Soviet society
The Magic Christian (1969) - surrealist satire with Ringo Starr
Aguirre Wrath of God (1972?) - Werner Herzog directs Aryan god Klaus Kinski as a Spanish colonialist slowly going mad
My Name Is Joe (1997?) - ex drug addict tries to come clean, until the realities of poverty force him to make difficult choices
Sweet Sixteen (2001?) - Glasgow youth tries to come clean, until the realities of poverty force him to make difficult choices
Rules of the Game (1939) - aristocrats and servants spend a weekend in the country; their lives and classes intertwine
Insane but persuasive - Kinski rallies his troops in Aguirre Wrath of God
