Sunday, July 01, 2007
Vic's Pics
Since I last wrote, I've completed a 7 hour qualifying exam on feminist theory, and a two week intensive course on the political economy of neoliberalism. So I feel justified in returning to blog about movies I like.
I won't claim these are the greatest movies of all time, but they all have some merit, either artistic or political. Or they're just a good distraction on Sunday night when you're girding yourself for the week ahead. Warning: some spoilers ahead.
Willie Dynamite
I've gotten into blaxploitation films recently, the brief explosion of African-American cinema from the early 70s. The 'pimp' subgenre featured outlandishly dressed men making it to the top by exploiting women. They were flawed men, and (this being Hollywood) they usually failed, but the women themselves didn't have much to do with it (leaving out all Pam Grier films.) Here, Willie Dynamite is a pimp who calls himself a capitalist, but won't submit to the cartel the other pimps want to set up. To compete, he makes his sex workers work harder, and gets the attention of Cora, a crusading ex-prostitute. Here, Cora breaks into his crib and tells the women to unionize:
Spirited Away
One of my absolute favourites. Director Hayao Miyazaki creates a Marxist allegory of work, love and loss in this coming-of-age fantasy. On the way to a new home, Chihiro and her parents get lost in the town of the spirits. To survive, Chihiro must go to work at the spirits' bathhouse. To work there, she must lose her name (and gain a new one, Sen, which translates to '1000' i.e. a number), gain the respect of her coworkers, and defeat the monster 'No-Face', which consumes everything in sight and pays the workers gold, until it devours them too. I can't think of a better way to introduce kids to the contradictions of capital accumulation.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
I didn't really get into the Ghost in the Shell movies. They seemed to be compressing too many ideas into too short a time. Plus the naked girl-bots seemed pasted in to attract teenage boys. But Stand-Alone Complex, the TV series, works much better. In 26 episodes, it explores the line between human and machine, with enough depth to feature real personalities in both - which is the point, that all 'shells', human or machine, have 'ghosts' i.e. souls. The Tachikoma, or anthropomorphic police robots, are cute and compelling.
It's true that the main character, Major Motoko Kusanagi, wears an armoured bustier over her Barbie-doll physique. But unlike a lot of anime women, she's intelligent, mature and a leader without a squeaky voice. Plus the series has an anti-capitalist edge, exposing corporate conspiracies and referencing Godard and Dziga Vertov.
The Host
A gripping monster movie about U.S. imperialism. American scientists pollute the Han river in Seoul, creating a monster. A hapless family tries to stop the creature - but the US military has other plans. This is what political art should be: an entertaining flick that can be enjoyed by someone who's never been on a demonstration, but carrying a political message too. It's also a meditation on the decline of the activist left. At one point a veteran of the student movement says, "We fought for democracy, and now I can't get a job". The daily grind of neoliberalism co-opts militant fervour. But the contradictions of capitalism remain - in this case, as a multi-jawed monster in the river - and the characters keep the struggle alive.
Children of Men
This film has been called an 'apocalyptic' vision of the world, but there's a simpler name: fascism. Britain has been taken over by the jackboots, and social cleansing of immigrants and the poor has started. No one can have children - except for one woman, and it's up to Clive Owen, rugged and cynical as always, to help her. There's nothing allegorical about this film, except for the idea that fascism is the death of humanity. But the dystopia isn't a fantasy: it's the logical conclusion of the refugee camps, imperialism and anti-human resistance taking place around the world today. Children of Men is a warning: this is what the world will look like without the left. It also features Michael Caine in a refreshingly non-shouty role.
Alexei Sayle's Stuff
Brilliant satire from socialist comedian Alexei Sayle. "Stuff" ran in the late 80s and Sayle savages Thatcher-era pretensions, both of the free-market right and the politically correct left:
This will probably need a few more posts - I've got a lot more movies to talk about. In the meantime, all of these shows are 'available' at sites like piratebay.org, demonoid.com and cinema-obscura.com.
I won't claim these are the greatest movies of all time, but they all have some merit, either artistic or political. Or they're just a good distraction on Sunday night when you're girding yourself for the week ahead. Warning: some spoilers ahead.
Willie Dynamite
I've gotten into blaxploitation films recently, the brief explosion of African-American cinema from the early 70s. The 'pimp' subgenre featured outlandishly dressed men making it to the top by exploiting women. They were flawed men, and (this being Hollywood) they usually failed, but the women themselves didn't have much to do with it (leaving out all Pam Grier films.) Here, Willie Dynamite is a pimp who calls himself a capitalist, but won't submit to the cartel the other pimps want to set up. To compete, he makes his sex workers work harder, and gets the attention of Cora, a crusading ex-prostitute. Here, Cora breaks into his crib and tells the women to unionize:
"What are you trying to prove?"Far from the alpha-male hero so loved by hip-hop today (think any reference to The Mack or the Player's Ball), Willie is bumbling and ineffectual. In true capitalist fashion, the cartel corners the market and defeats him. But Willie is also human and forms a halting friendship with Cora. They share an understanding that when you're trying to survive in this system, the line between right and wrong is very thin.
"Nothin, except you are the saddest ripped-off bitches I have ever known. Get it together! I mean you wear out your back, you bring in the bread, you feed Willie, dress him like a king! He's wearing mink! - and you get rabbit. ... You are being ripped off on everything. Now baby, do whatcha wanna do, I'm no preacher, but do it for yourselves. Organise. You don't need Willie. Didn't you know? We liberated now."
Spirited Away
One of my absolute favourites. Director Hayao Miyazaki creates a Marxist allegory of work, love and loss in this coming-of-age fantasy. On the way to a new home, Chihiro and her parents get lost in the town of the spirits. To survive, Chihiro must go to work at the spirits' bathhouse. To work there, she must lose her name (and gain a new one, Sen, which translates to '1000' i.e. a number), gain the respect of her coworkers, and defeat the monster 'No-Face', which consumes everything in sight and pays the workers gold, until it devours them too. I can't think of a better way to introduce kids to the contradictions of capital accumulation.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
I didn't really get into the Ghost in the Shell movies. They seemed to be compressing too many ideas into too short a time. Plus the naked girl-bots seemed pasted in to attract teenage boys. But Stand-Alone Complex, the TV series, works much better. In 26 episodes, it explores the line between human and machine, with enough depth to feature real personalities in both - which is the point, that all 'shells', human or machine, have 'ghosts' i.e. souls. The Tachikoma, or anthropomorphic police robots, are cute and compelling.
It's true that the main character, Major Motoko Kusanagi, wears an armoured bustier over her Barbie-doll physique. But unlike a lot of anime women, she's intelligent, mature and a leader without a squeaky voice. Plus the series has an anti-capitalist edge, exposing corporate conspiracies and referencing Godard and Dziga Vertov.
The Host
A gripping monster movie about U.S. imperialism. American scientists pollute the Han river in Seoul, creating a monster. A hapless family tries to stop the creature - but the US military has other plans. This is what political art should be: an entertaining flick that can be enjoyed by someone who's never been on a demonstration, but carrying a political message too. It's also a meditation on the decline of the activist left. At one point a veteran of the student movement says, "We fought for democracy, and now I can't get a job". The daily grind of neoliberalism co-opts militant fervour. But the contradictions of capitalism remain - in this case, as a multi-jawed monster in the river - and the characters keep the struggle alive.
Children of Men
This film has been called an 'apocalyptic' vision of the world, but there's a simpler name: fascism. Britain has been taken over by the jackboots, and social cleansing of immigrants and the poor has started. No one can have children - except for one woman, and it's up to Clive Owen, rugged and cynical as always, to help her. There's nothing allegorical about this film, except for the idea that fascism is the death of humanity. But the dystopia isn't a fantasy: it's the logical conclusion of the refugee camps, imperialism and anti-human resistance taking place around the world today. Children of Men is a warning: this is what the world will look like without the left. It also features Michael Caine in a refreshingly non-shouty role.
Alexei Sayle's Stuff
Brilliant satire from socialist comedian Alexei Sayle. "Stuff" ran in the late 80s and Sayle savages Thatcher-era pretensions, both of the free-market right and the politically correct left:
One of the weird things about the left is their obsession with slogans, writing slogans on walls, you know, 'Jobs not bombs'. As if Mrs. Thatcher's going to be walking up Wigan High Street: "Oh! Jobs not bombs! Oh - OK!"His surreal touches are interesting, but Sayle's at his best when he's furious, spitting venom at the lunacy of both capitalism and its weak-kneed detractors.
This will probably need a few more posts - I've got a lot more movies to talk about. In the meantime, all of these shows are 'available' at sites like piratebay.org, demonoid.com and cinema-obscura.com.
Labels: anime, blaxploitation, cinema, comedy, political
