Viewing List

[praxis1966]

I thought it might be helpful if we could start a viewing list of leftist oriented films. Something along the lines of the reading list. If you want to post recomendations, it might be helpful if you could make your list in the form of hyperlinks to either IMDB or Rotten Tomato so that readers can get reviews easily. If one of the mods could sticky this it would be much appreciated.

My suggestions:

Panther (http://imdb.com/title/tt0114084/)
Malcolm X (http://imdb.com/title/tt0104797/)
A Huey P. Newton Story (http://imdb.com/title/tt0278490/)
Roger and Me (http://imdb.com/title/tt0098213/)
The Big One (http://imdb.com/title/tt0124295/)
Bowling for Columbine (http://imdb.com/title/tt0310793/)
Fahrenheit 9/11 (http://imdb.com/title/tt0361596/)
Mississippi Burning (http://imdb.com/title/tt0095647/)
The Milagro Beanfield War (http://imdb.com/title/tt0095638/)
Romero (http://imdb.com/title/tt0098219/)
Choices of the Heart (http://imdb.com/title/tt0085332/)
The Grapes of Wrath (http://imdb.com/title/tt0032551/)
Bloody Sunday (http://imdb.com/title/tt0280491/)
Michael Collins (http://imdb.com/title/tt0117039/)
In the Name of the Father (http://imdb.com/title/tt0107207/)
The Hurricane (http://imdb.com/title/tt0174856/)
4 Little Girls (http://imdb.com/title/tt0118540/)
Steal This Movie (http://imdb.com/title/tt0161216/)

[EneME]

Some at the top of my head..... Are we doing documentaries too? :huh:
I can't remember the titles of documentaries I saw on the bay of pigs and on the cuban missile crisis..
Salvador (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091886/)
Salt of the Earth (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047443/)
Viva Zapata! (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045296/)
Apocalypse Now (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078788/)
Platoon (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091763/)
Sarafina (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006472P/002-0352188-0848036?v=glance)
In the Time of the Butterflies (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263467/)
Soy Cuba/Ya Kuba/I am Cuba (Russian Soviet propaganda film translated into Spanish and then translated into English afterwards... lol) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058604/)
Quilombo (African slaves in Brazil who escaped and created their own settlement) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091816/)
Maria's Story (Documentary) (http://www.filmakers.com/indivs/MariaStory.htm)
The Panama Deception (Documentary) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105089/)
Hawaii's Last Queen (Documentary) (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_experience_hawaiis_last_queen/)
Mickey Mouse Goes To Haiti (Documentary) (http://uwc.takingitglobal.org/opps/event.html?eventid=1809)
Father Roy: Inside the School of the Assassins (Documentary) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144911/)
Discovering Dominga (Documentary) (http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2003/discoveringdominga/)

[Guerrilla22]

Haiwaii's Last Queen was an excellent documentry, I've seen it 3 or 4 times.

also:

The Weather Underground- doc. on the revoluntionary group bent on overthrowing the US governmnet in the 70's.

S.O.A.- School of Assassigns- if you can find it

One Day in September (about the '62 Munich Olympic hostage incident)

La Hija de la Puma (a Mexican film about the plight of the Maya people in 1980's Guatemala)

Fidel (its a pretty good film)

Osama (filmed in afghanistan)

The Fog of War (McNamara doc./interview)

[Agent provocateur]

Coverup - Behind the Iran-Contra Affair

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...id=9A84ESFKONS3 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6301045661/ref=wl_it_dp/002-0043908-8584801?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=I3KD4QVJH6ACDT&v=glance&colid=9A84ESFKONS3)

Power and Terror - Noam Chomsky in Our Times

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...id=9A84ESFKONS3 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008XS1C/ref=wl_it_dp/002-0043908-8584801?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=I14C6R1413F5JH&v=glance&colid=9A84ESFKONS3)

Fidel (2001)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...?v=glance&s=dvd (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009IAYC/qid=1090546770/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/002-0043908-8584801?v=glance&s=dvd)

Fidel (2002)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...?v=glance&s=dvd (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000640RU/qid=1090546770/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-0043908-8584801?v=glance&s=dvd)

For a good laugh see:

Reefer Madness (Restored Edition) (1938)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...id=9A84ESFKONS3 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00018D3XM/ref=wl_it_dp/002-0043908-8584801?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=I1VU8NJSGE9PSA&v=glance&colid=9A84ESFKONS3)

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

http://www.chavezthefilm.com/index_ex.htm

http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_review.../10/103101.html (http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/2003/10/103101.html)

[DaCuBaN]

I wouldn't recommend anyone watch anything by the Biased piece of shit known as Michael Moore. It's the leftist equivelant of watching Fox.

[Guerrilla22]

I just got done watching Sex Y Lucia, it was erotic it firdt, but then just got boring.

[praxis1966]

Are we doing documentaries too?
Might as well. Four of the ones on my list are.


I wouldn't recommend anyone watch anything by the Biased piece of shit known as Michael Moore. It's the leftist equivelant of watching Fox.
I wasn't trying to start a debate here. If you have suggestions then say so, but let's not have an argument about this.

[dopediana]

Originally posted by [email protected] 23 2004, 07:23 AM
I just got done watching Sex Y Lucia, it was erotic it firdt, but then just got boring.
nooo, that was a fantastic movie. i like how they did all the meshing of events and you had to piece it together yourself. then in the end it all makes sense.

i haven't seen this one yet but i'm dying to:

the trials of henry kissinger (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009V7S0/qid=1090705177/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/103-1146974-1823842?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846)

stickied it for you, praxis

[praxis1966]

The Trial of Henry Kissinger was an excellent doc. Well worth a gander, I just can't believe I didn't think of it. I think it's about the only time that I've ever agreed with Christopher Hitchens. :lol:

Edit: Thanks again for the sticky.

[DaCuBaN]

If you have suggestions then say so

my suggestion was not to watch anything by Michael Moore :lol: I think it's a valid observation, and it was not intended to spark debate.

My recommendation:

Brazil - Terry Gilliam

[praxis1966]

*Sigh* What I meant was recomend movies that you thought leftists should see. If you want to have a debate about a particular film, start a new thread. I appreciate your point of view, I simply feel that the membership should have access to all possible perspectives. Like a bumper sticker I once read "Minds are like parachutes, they only function when open." Let the members decide for themselves.

By the way, if anyone is interested, Brazil reviews can be found here: http://imdb.com/title/tt0088846/.

[praxis1966]

I just saw this one this evening.

Death in Gaza (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0412631/)

[Commie Girl]

My hubbie works at the University of Calgary, and we thought these might be of interest to our comrades here (these are from students):


http://mongrelmedia.com/films/Fidel.html


- available formats: 35mm, VHS, DVD Fidel - a documentary film by Estela Bravo

"Estela Bravo's film about Castro is an inspiration"
- Harold Pinter, Playwright

"Estela Bravo's films are the work of an intelligent heart; moving, informative, challenging, all at once; a viewer feels trusted to be just as smart and compassionate - in as tough a way as she is"
- Alice Walker, Author

"Deep down is her wonderfully internationalistic outlook which says that all of us, sooner or later, must start working closely together if we are going to build a good life for this planet."
- Pete Seeger, Folk Singer

"I have no idea how she came to be a filmmaker, what inspired her to make those documentaries that cast so much light on some of the dark corners of our conscience. I don't know how she does it, but the truth is that those who face her camera and her microphone somehow find themselves disarmed. Estela invites them to speak about things as they are, or as they think they are."
- Tomas Gutierrez Alea, Cuban Filmmaker, 'Strawberry and Chocolate'



Fidel Castro is one of the most influential and controversial figures of our time. Rarely are Americans given a chance to see inside the world of this socialist leader. The new documentary film by Estela Bravo, FIDEL, offers a unique opportunity to view the man through exclusive interviews with Castro himself, historians, public figures and close friends, with footage from the Cuban State archives.


and this too:

http://mongrelmedia.com/films/IAmCuba.html


- available formats: 35mm, VHS I Am Cuba - a film by Mikhail Kalatozov

"A newly discovered classic! Visually staggering... Its textual brilliance would be astounding in any context. Shot in shimmering deep-focus, high contrast B&W, the movie is one gorgeous image after another. Some of the endless shots defy belief... I Am Cuba is remarkable."
- Variety

One of the most amazing films ever made, I Am Cuba was designed to be Cuba's answer to both Sergei Eisentstein's propaganda masterpiece, Potemkin, and Jean-Luc Godard's freewheeling romance, Breathless. It turned out to be something quite unique, a wildly schizophrenic celebration of Communist kitsch, mixing Slavic solemnity with Latin sensuality. The plot, or rather plots, feverishly explore the seductive, decadent (and marvelously photogenic) world of Batiste's Cuba, deliriously juxtaposing images of rich Americans and bikini-clad beauties sipping cocktails with scenes of ramshackle slums filled with hungry children and old people. Using wide-angle lenses that distort and magnify, and filters that transform palm trees into giant white feathers, the acrobatic camera achieves wild, gravity-defying angles as it glides effortlessly through long continuous shots. But I Am Cuba is not just a catalogue of bravura technique, it also succeeds in exploring the innermost feelings of the characters and their often desperate situations, a rare feat in any film.

Mikhail Kalatozov was born in Tiflis, Georgia in 1903. He is most well known for his film The Cranes Are Flying, the winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1958. His films include: Conspiracy of the Doomed, Faithful Friends, Waves of Rancor, The First Echelon, The Letter Never Sent and The Red Tent. He died in 1973.



1964, Cuba/Russia, 141 min. In Russian, Spanish and English. MON004






2001, UK/USA/Canada, 91 minutes.

[Guerrilla22]

watch Kids.

[pandora]

Danton, it got a thumbs up from Micheal Parenti, follows the bloodbath that followed the French Revolution and explains how it's leaders were sabotaged from within.

Very useful for keeping such things at bay in the future.

[Eddie999]

I'd recommend Fight Club. Yes I know its a 'Hollywood' film but it has anarchist undertones, especially the at the end of the film.

[Latifa]

Originally posted by [email protected] 20 2004, 02:20 PM
I'd recommend Fight Club. Yes I know its a 'Hollywood' film but it has anarchist undertones, especially the at the end of the film.
As for 'Hollywood' movies I'd also reccomend American History X. It doesn't have anything to do with socialism but is very interesting none the less.

[sickdiscobiscuit]

Here's my suggested viewing list. Not just for communists but for people who want a better understanding of the world and how to be a better person.

1 Giant Leap (http://imdb.com/title/tt0312296/) <- Journey throughout the world with some good ideas and music.

Life and Debt (http://imdb.com/title/tt0284262/) <"Documentary look at the effects of globalization on Jamaican industry and agriculture.>

just a couple off the top of my head but must see.
ALSO, I recommend everyone watching every kind of film. To say Michael Moore is the equivalent of FOX is ridiculous. One must watch everything to know what they believe and to fight against. You can watch everything, but make up your mind for yourself and don&#39;t be brainwashed. You people are so ignorant sometimes..


_love and peace-
Matty

[choekiewoekie]

I like the idea of a list very much, but it would be great if there was a link to download some of this material.
It is not only that it costs a lot to buy all those beautiful movies, i also think it is not necessary to actually own all those materials. There is so much out there, and i don&#39;t think i can Have All of it... So my question is, is there a place were i can download these movies? With english subtitles? Kazaa is not working here, i will tell you directly, so that is not an option. And with Indymedia i never find these works. Any suggestions?
Thank you&#33;

[choekiewoekie]

I like the idea of a list very much, but it would be great if there was a link to download some of this material.
It is not only that it costs a lot to buy all those beautiful movies, i also think it is not necessary to actually own all those materials. There is so much out there, and i don&#39;t think i can Have All of it... So my question is, is there a place were i can download these movies? With english subtitles? Kazaa is not working here, i will tell you directly, so that is not an option. And with Indymedia i never find these works. Any suggestions?
Thank you&#33;

[Fidelbrand]

Fresa y chocolate

http://moviesweb.iespana.es/moviesweb/Carteles_Peliculas/F/fresaychocolate.jpg
(titled as "Strawberry and chocolate" in English)

A naive young Cuban college student in the communist oyuth league meets a homosexual writer and a woman who inspires him on the passion of life, love and freedom. Its a bit critical towards the Cuban Government, but hindsights can be gained, depends on how you take it. (Even myself as an admirer of Fidel can take it, so it shouldn&#39;t be a problem for anyone i guess.) I really think it&#39;s a good movie, wept a bit.

[gaf]

look at "dark city" illusion at it is best. no links find it out your self.

[celtopunk]

In addition to the many great films mentioned:

Cry Freedom
Land and Freedom (Ken Loach films are a good bet)
Hidden Agenda
Some Mother&#39;s Son (about the hunger strikes of 1981)
A Further Gesture (I haven&#39;t seen it but it looks intersting)
The Battle of Algiers
Eat the Rich
Night of the Living Dead
The Cradle Will Rock
Incident at Oglala
Thunderheart for a kind of Hollywood version of Incident at Oglala
Matewan
Eight Men Out

www.imdb.com has info on just about every movie.

[Pawn Power]

Reds (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6300214028/qid=1103070402/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-2042975-7194466?v=glance&s=video)

[truthaddict11]

Originally posted by [email protected] 22 2004, 07:48 PM
I wouldn&#39;t recommend anyone watch anything by the Biased piece of shit known as Michael Moore. It&#39;s the leftist equivelant of watching Fox.
Fox news is more entertaining than anything Moore does

celtopunk, how is NOTLD leftist? I know it features a black man in the lead role but that doesnt make it leftist.

[celtopunk]

Originally posted by truthaddict11+Dec 16 2004, 04:13 AM--> (truthaddict11 &#064; Dec 16 2004, 04:13 AM)
[email protected] 22 2004, 07:48 PM
I wouldn&#39;t recommend anyone watch anything by the Biased piece of shit known as Michael Moore. It&#39;s the leftist equivelant of watching Fox.
Fox news is more entertaining than anything Moore does

celtopunk, how is NOTLD leftist? I know it features a black man in the lead role but that doesnt make it leftist. [/b]
No you are right, not leftist but perhaps progressive is a better term. There is certainly a subtext of social commentary throughout the film. Not only is Duane Jones a black man in the leading role but he is also the hero. He was protecting a white woman from the stupid white guy that wanted to go into the basement and hide. He tells the guy you may be the boss down in the basement but I&#39;m the boss up here. Then he gets shot in the end by the white posse that just assumes he is a zombie.

I also really love this movie and couldn&#39;t help but bring it up.

[Maynard]

The Trial of Henry Kissinger was an excellent doc. Well worth a gander, I just can&#39;t believe I didn&#39;t think of it. I think it&#39;s about the only time that I&#39;ve ever agreed with Christopher Hitchens Christopher Hitchens used to be a socialist and was, for much of his career, a radical. He has gone down the Neo Conservative route lately, though he still holds many leftist beliefs. A lot of work he done before 2001 was excellent, I thought and worth checking out.

Books like The Trial of Henry Kissinger, For the sake of Argument, Why Orwell Matters. Hostage to History: Cyprus for the Ottomans to Kissinger, The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice, Letters to a Young Contrarian and Blaming the Victims: Spurious Scholarship and the Palestinian Question are all good reads

[encephalon]

I&#39;d second Cradle Will Rock. It&#39;s a great movie, even if you take out all of the symbolism.

Has anyone seen "Goodbye, Lenin?" I&#39;ve been looking for it around this area for quite some time, but to no avail. I hear that it&#39;s supposed to be rather funny.. I was wondering if it had any particular message to it.

[ElRayoQueNoCesa]

Hello my friends:

I would like to add some other movies to this list about leftist oriented movies:

- O Que É Isso, Companheiro? "Four Days in September"
Brasil, 1997. Directed by Bruno Barreto.
Fernando, a journalist, and his friend César join terrorist group MR8 in order to fight Brazilian dictatorial regime during the late sixties. Cesare, however, is wounded and captured during a bank hold up. Fernando then decides to kidnap the American ambassador in Brazil and ask for the release of fifteen political prisoners in exchange for his life.

- Rojo Amanecer
Mexico, 1989. Direceted by Jorge Fons
October 2, 1968 in Mexico City. There&#39;s only ten days for the Olympic Games and a small student&#39;s revolt has turned into a major political turmoil. A meeting will be carry out that day in Tlatelolco (the largest housing complex in the city) and the situation is extremely tense. A typical middle-class mexican family (living in Tlatelolco) will be tragically involved in the events, when the meeting is brutally interrupted by the army and hundreds of people are killed in the square in front of their apartment building.

- Los Olvidados
Mexico, 1950. Directed by Luis Buñuel
A group of juvenile delinquents live a violent and crime-filled life in the festering slums of Mexico City, and the morals of young Pedro are gradually corrupted and destroyed by the others...

- Underground
Yugoslavia, 1995. Directed by Emir Kusturica.
The story starts from an underground manufacture of weapons of Belgrade, during the WWII, and evolves into fairly surreal situations. The black marketeer who smuggles the weapons to partisans forgets to mention to the workers that the war is over, and they keep producing. 50 years later, they become suspicious, and break out of their underground "shelter" --- only to convince themselves that the guy was right: the war is still going on.

- La Ley de Herodes.
Mexico, 1999. Directed by Luis Estrada.
After the corrupt former Mayor is killed by the peasants, poor janitor Juan Vargas is appointed new Mayor of a desert town in central Mexico. Although he tries to bring the motto of the ruling party to town (modernity, peace and progress) he realizes soon that there&#39;s nothing to do against corruption... except to become corrupt. Step by step, helped by his pistol, Juan Vargas becomes the law and the worst Major in the town&#39;s history.

[Djehuti]

Ken Loach
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0516360/
A lot of great movies, like Land and Freedom (Spanish revolution), Bread and roses (about illegal mexican imigrants and their struggle to survive in LA), etc. Almost all his movies are great.

Bernardo Bertolucci
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000934/
His movie "1900" is one of the very best movies EVER. It is about Italian 20th century history, all from a marxist perspective. He has made quite a few great movies besides 1900 too.

Lukas Moodysson
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0600546/
His movies includes Terrorists (about the Gothenburg riots, great intro scenes&#33;), Lilja 4-ever (very good movie about trafficking), and Together (a really funny movie about hippies living in a commune...great discussions)



All of these are leftist directors, and all of them are great. It might be hard to find most their movies in regular video-stores, but use Direct Connect or something. It is definitly worth it. Check out the DC-hub vansterhubben.no-ip.com it is a swedish leftist hub, and you should find quite a few of these movies there.

[Dwarf Kirlston]

Originally posted by [email protected] 1 2005, 10:46 PM
Has anyone seen "Goodbye, Lenin?" I&#39;ve been looking for it around this area for quite some time, but to no avail. I hear that it&#39;s supposed to be rather funny.. I was wondering if it had any particular message to it.
depends on your sense of humor to see if its funny or not. I dont remember laughing much...
its about how much west berlin after the end of the berlin wall... how it sucked... along with other things such as the human aspect and so on...

m3w

[praxis1966]

-Facing Arthur (2005) (http://www.filmwest.com/Catalogue/itemdetail/2419/) - "An extraordinary and moving look at the relationship between a young German descendant of a Nazi soldier, and a 101 year old Holocaust survivor who is too frail to leave his New York City apartment. Although being very different people, a strong bond forms, and changes both of them forever."

-A Place Called Chiapas (1998) (http://www.sundancechannel.com/popup/?ixFilmID=3240) - "Canadian filmmaker Nettie Wild took her cameras into the rugged and remote southern Mexican state of Chiapas to try to understand the uprising of the Zapatista rebels, who, with their charismatic leader Subcommander Marcos, seized hundreds of ranches and five towns in what was dubbed &#39;the first post-modern revolution.&#39; "

[Djehuti]

By the way, you can download the movie "Fourth world war", here:
http://www.ngvision.org/mediabase/369

"From the front-lines of conflicts in Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Palestine, Korea, &#39;the North&#39; from Seattle to Genova, and the &#39;War on Terror&#39; in New York, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It is the story of men and women around the world who resist being annihilated in this war."

[Floyd.]

-Traffic by Steven Soderbergh
-Lord of The Flies
-Fight Club
-The first Matrix
-Akira
-Ninja Scroll
-Battle Angel Alita
-My Own Private Idaho
-Drugstore Cowboy... actually fuck it nearly any Gus Van Sant film
-The Waterdance
-The Kevin Smith Films
-The Quentin Tarantino films except the shitty four rooms
-The Stanley Kubrick films except the shitty Eyes Wide Shut and A.I.
-Fritz The Cat
-Shall We Dance (Japanese original)
-Sugar Dreams
-All the Jeunet films such as Amelie, Delicatessen and City of Lost Children
-Eraserhead
-Nosferatu by FW Murnau
-Metropolis
-The Commitments
-all of the Drunken Master films
-Olympia, Parts 1 and 2 (just for the visuals by Leni Riefenstahl)
-Singin&#39; In The Rain
-Adaptation
-King Kong (the original)
-The Royal Tenenbaums
-Groundhog Day
-Strumpet by Guy Ritchie
-Spaceballs
-12 Monkeys
-Bill and Ted&#39;s Excellent Adventure
-Bill and Ted&#39;s Bogus Journey
-Point Break
-Dirty Dancing
-Batman (Keaton only for my tastes)
-The Cook The Thief His Wife And Her Lover
-Dancer In The Dark
-The Harder They Come
-Edward Scissorhands
-What&#39;s Eating Gilbert Grape
-Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
-Ed Wood.... no fuck it again nearly every Johnny Depp film he&#39;s a great actor and makes the film sure Don Juan DeMarco was horrible, Chocolat a little dull, Blow too one dimensional, Sleepy Hollow lightweight and From Hell sensationalist but all of these films would of been total crap without him
-Basketball Diaries
-Baraka
- Animal House
-The Blues Brothers (the original)
-One Flew Over the Cuckoo&#39;s Nest
-Le Circle Rouge (sp?)
-Unbreakable
-Bully
-Ken Parke... nope I&#39;m doing it again just watch all the Larry Clark films and make your own mind up
-The Lion King; it is a very good western rip off of Kimba and quite a good film
-Aladdin; I&#39;m allowed to have a soft spot for it
-Natural Born Killers
-Lost In Translation
-Forrest Gump
-Planet Of The Apes (original)
-Interview With The Vampire
-every single Cheech and Chong film including Tommy Chong&#39;s solo Far Out Man
-The Labrynth (sp?)
-Dracula starring Keanu Reeves
-Feeling Minessotta(sp?)

and a lot of classic French New Wave cinema, German Expressionism and other foreign films. I make a point of watching on the local Australian TV stations SBS (caters to ethnic groups and is the multicultural channel) and ABC (is the non commercial more high brow channel) I also often really like watching old American and Brittish black and white romances late at night but never remember their titles. I like what has been coming out of France within the past 7 years or so a lot too. If you are in Aus. or have these channels by satellite it&#39;s easy to see good film if you do as I do.

Sorry but that&#39;s all I can think of at the moment.

[praxis1966]

Not to be an ass or anything Floyd, but these were supposed to be leftist movies and quite a number of the ones you posted have little, if anything, to do with leftism. The list was intended to be akin to the Reading List thread.

Anyhow, in the past I have run across my fair share of Pol Pot apologists on this board. This recommendation is for them:

The Killing Fields (http://imdb.com/title/tt0087553/)

[Floyd.]

None of them are leftist as far as I know but who gives a shit it&#39;s a list everyone should watch.

If you want good leftist film watch the Yugoslav film Underground (it was made in 1995).

[Urban Rubble]

Anyhow, in the past I have run across my fair share of Pol Pot apologists on this board. This recommendation is for them:

The Killing Fields was a great movie, but I don&#39;t think it really exposes the horrors of the Pol Pot era as well as it could have. It was a great story though.

The part where Pran gets kicked out of the French embassy made me cry.

[praxis1966]

It doesn&#39;t show everything, but it does discuss some of the reports coming into the embassy about atrocities as well as the pitiful conditions in the labor camps. It more or less just alludes to it. I&#39;d love to get my hands on something that goes further in depth, but the spoken word/one-man-show done by Spalding Gray called Swimming to Cambodia (http://imdb.com/title/tt0094089/) is the closest thing I could find (that&#39;s a link by the way). But there&#39;s no footage of the actual incidents, just alot of discussion.

[which doctor]

A Place Called Chiapa


City of God ~ not everyone would call this one leftist, but it is a very good biography/movie/documentery that showcases the poverty, violence, and drugs that are prevalent in the slums of rio de janeiro, brazil

[The Grey Blur]

La Haine - Shows the part of Paris that isn&#39;t on any tourist map, brilliant.

City Of God - Same as above except in Rio De Janeiro slums.

Goodbye Lenin - in response to encephalon, this film is hilarious. I have a review in the main forum.

Die Edukators - Also in the main forum.

Weather Underground - I second this

The Motorcycle Diaries - Brilliant dramatization of Che Guevara&#39;s formative journey around South America.

Bloody Sunday/ Sunday - There were two films on this subject, both were good.

Bowling for Columbine - Smart, witty film. Now hate me for picking a Michael Moore film.

P.S - I don&#39;t know how to make a link to them in the imdb, sorry. :(

[JazzRemington]

Brazil (director&#39;s cut) <-- HIGHLY recommended&#33;
A Clockwork Orange
The End of Evangelion
Pink Flamingos
Once Upon a Time in the West
Terminator 2 (director&#39;s cut)
The Toxic Avenger (director&#39;s cut)
Blade Runner (director&#39;s cut)
Seven (director&#39;s cut)
THe Last House on the Left
Dawn of the Dead
Pink Floyd&#39;s The Wall
Return of the Living Dead
Citizen Kane

[praxis1966]

P.S - I don&#39;t know how to make a link to them in the imdb, sorry.
Click the "http://" button at the top of your post window. In the dialogue box that pops up, either type or paste the address of the page you want to link to. Click OK. Another dialogue box will come up you can type the name of the movie in there. Click OK again. Presto&#33;

[southernmissfan]

The Battle of Algiers (http://imdb.com/title/tt0058946/)

I can&#39;t believe this hasn&#39;t been listed yet. An excellent film showcasing the Algerian insurrection against French colonial rule. Definitely a must-see, not just for leftists, but for cinema fans.

[praxis1966]

Like The Trial of Henry Kissinger, that&#39;s another one I can&#39;t believe I forgot about. I caught it a couple of months ago on either The Sundance Channel or IFC, can&#39;t recall which. I concur, great flick for both reasons.

[praxis1966]

I personally haven&#39;t seen this one, but there were enough people in another thread who seemed to like it so I&#39;m posting the link. It&#39;s about the failed coup that attempted to topple the government of socialist President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. It exposes the lies perpetrated by the private media there, and suggests that the Bu&#036;h administration may have had something to do with sponsoring the attempted overthrow.

Chavez: Inside the Coup (http://imdb.com/title/tt0363510/)

PS Pay no attention to the fascists on the IMDB message boards in regard to this film.

[celtopunk]

Some cool stuff mentioned here:
www.liberationvideo.com

[YoUnG192]

-Clockwork Orange
-City of God
-Full Metal Jacket
-Death in Gaza (documentary on the conflict in Palestine)
-Control Room (documentary on Al-Jazeera channel)
Held Hostage in Colombia ( documentary on the 3 U.S contractors who were taken in captivity by the FARC)
-Enron: The smartest guys in the room (documentary of the scum of the earth)

[che_diwas]

Hey Commandates&#33;&#33;&#33;
The Red Salute.....



Here is my list of great movies...
they might not be focused on left but sure are great movies...

(Not in order....)

1. The Motorcycle diaries
2. A beautiful mind
3. Monsters
4. Desperado
5. Mystic Rivers
6. Enemy at the Gates
7. Bagger Vance
8. Basketball diaries
9. 21 grams
10. The Hours
11. House of Sand and fog
12. Lost in Translation
13. Big Fish
14. The Terminal
15. My Left foot
16. Irish
17. Sideways
18. Frida
19. Hotel Rwanda
20. Two bits
21. The Shawsank Redemption
22. SLC punk
23. The door in the floor
24. City of Gods
25. From Hell
26. The Machinist

[dannie]

I saw the strawberry statement a couple years back and i still remeber it, so i guess it&#39;s a good one.
strawberry statement (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066415/)

[Doshka]

Fuck you people&#33;&#33; You stole all my films. now I have nothing new to suggest&#33;&#33;

since this is entirely the forum&#39;s fault I will revert to seconding suggestions, and you can all just assume they were mine ok?

(the must-sees are underlined for your convenience hehe)

City of God
The Hours - kindof chickflicky though
Wit - WATCH THIS if you like John Donne
Hotel Rwanda
Death in Gaza
The Fog of War - Kissinger, that motherfucker
The Battle of Algiers
The Taste of Cherry - seriously seriously people watch this (Iranian film)
Time for Drunken Horses - (the title might be slightly different, I saw it dubbed in arabic. it&#39;s in farsi, about the situation of the people living on the mountains between Iran and Iraq. really sickening)
Rushmore - hilarious&#33;&#33;
Melinda and Melinda (woody allen)
annie hall (woody allen)
actually everything for woody allen i cant be fucked to list them
Wag the Dog
Hiroshima mon Amore - ok it&#39;s not THAT amazing, why does everyone make such a big deal about it? worth seeing though


ok for the rest of my BRILLIANT suggestions you can see the new topic thing I started. I thought of adding all those here but then I thought you guys would probably screw me so I&#39;m leaving where it is.

[Doshka]

and Devine Interventions&#33;&#33;&#33;

[tambourine_man]

my leftist film suggestions; the ones in bold are the ones you should definitely see, if you&#39;re short on time:

Week End (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062480/)
Pierrot Le Fou (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059592/)
Breathless (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053472/)
Band of Outsiders (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057869/)

all of those are of godard&#39;s "new wave" cinema...though he was a maoist, he did do a good job in exposing the emptiness of bourgeois society.

also:

Umberto D. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045274/)
The Bicycle Thief (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040522/)
The Earth Trembles (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040866/)

these are italian post-war films that deal with unemployment and poverty of the working people. they are really interesting because none/most of the actors are not professionals, are just regular people, and everything is filmed on location...in line with the "neorealist" cinema.

also:

Battleship Potemkin (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015648/)
October (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018217/)
Alexander Nevsky (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029850/)

eisenstein...russian cinema centered on working-class triumph over the bourgeoisie...the last one not so much, pretty nationalistic, but a good film anyway

[Jimmie Higgins]

Originally posted by [email protected] 24 2004, 10:34 PM

If you have suggestions then say so

my suggestion was not to watch anything by Michael Moore :lol: I think it&#39;s a valid observation, and it was not intended to spark debate.

My recommendation:

Brazil - Terry Gilliam
I love Mony Python and really enjoy Gillaim&#39;s own films. "Brazil" is a fantastic work and should be watched, however, politically, it is frankly repulsive in it&#39;s presntation of workers. Rober DeNero&#39;s character is basically a (commically) glorified scab.

My Recomendations:

I&#39;d like to 2nd the Battle of Algiers.

Matewan Great movie, check it out, it&#39;s like the trade union version of "High Noon".

Roger and Me

9 to 5 Yeah, it&#39;s Dolly Parton, but it&#39;s about workers who kidnap their boss and pretend he is on vaccation and they do a better job than he did. It&#39;s pro-worker and anti-sexist&#33;

Malcom X

Documentaries:

The Take it&#39;s about workers taking over factories in Argentina&#33;

Harlan County USA a modern (1970s) coal mining struggle in the US where company thugs are caught on tape shooting at striking miners.

Panama Deception

You can&#39;t be Neutral on a Moving Train

Berkeley in the 60s

Hidden Wars of Desert Storm

When we were Kings

[1984]

Can&#39;t belive nobody mentioned "Modern Times" yet&#33;

Anyway there&#39;s a movie I belive you won&#39;t be dissapointed with : "El Juego de Arcibel", it&#39;s about a "fictious" South American country named Miranda (actually represents ANY South American country who&#39;s passed through ultra-right dictatorships in the 60&#39;s/70&#39;s).

And that movie about Neruda... "Il Postino" is a very good one also.

[Cult of Reason]

Libertarias
Machuca

[1984]

Originally posted by [email protected] 19 2006, 04:43 PM
Machuca
Great film&#33;

Just watched it the other day.

A coulple of movies I&#39;d also recommend:

Próxima Salida
Sub Terra
Was tun, wenn&#39;s Brennt? (What To Do In Case Of Fire?)

The last one is not that "serious" but it&#39;s rather enjoyable.

[RebelDog]

Everyone should watch Land and Freedom.

&#39;Dockers&#39; is also a great film;

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206691/

[anomaly]

I just got back from V for Vendetta...It was awesome&#33; It really goes into some revolutionary stuff. Great movie, you should see it.

[praxis1966]

Originally posted by [email protected] 17 2006, 09:24 PM
I just got back from V for Vendetta...It was awesome&#33; It really goes into some revolutionary stuff. Great movie, you should see it.
Agreed. You know what&#39;s funny? I don&#39;t know if you payed attention during the closing credits, but guess who played V in that movie? Hugo Weaving, the same cat that played Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy and Lord Elrond in the LOTR trilogy. If that&#39;s not bizzare I don&#39;t know what is.

Anyhow, I have a new recommendation: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (http://imdb.com/title/tt0413845/). It takes a good hard look at the Enron collapse and details the robber barons who ran it. High points are the discussion of the close ties between its executives and Bush, Cheney, and Schwarzenaeger (or however you spell that mental midget fascist&#39;s name).

[LoneRed]

well thats probably because the same guys that made the matrix movies made V for Vendetta

[peaccenicked]

V for Vendetta is the must see of the year

[1984]

Classe operaia va in paradiso, La (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066919/)

Watched it recently for free from a cinema cicle dedicated to the workers class (due to May 1st) at College. The sad thing about it is... there were only 6 people in the cinema room with me at the cultural center...

<_<

I *suppose* I was the only engineering student there&#33;

:rolleyes:

Anyway, anybody who&#39;s worked a single day in life should watch this movie. Brilliant.

[More Fire for the People]

The Take — a documentary by Naomi Klein and her husband. Covers the story of the fábricas ocupadas and the growth of an anti-government movement in Argentina.
The Corporation — detailed discussion of the growth of corporations and their affect on modern society. Features Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Michael Moore, Vandana Shiva, and Howard Zinn.

[Comrade Don]

Liberia: An Uncivil War

Darwins Voyage { it shows the effects of capitalism in africa }

[Comrade Don]

Liberia: An Uncivil War

Darwins Voyage { it shows the effects of capitalism in africa }

[Comrade Don]

Liberia: An Uncivil War

Darwins Voyage { it shows the effects of capitalism in africa }

[More Fire for the People]

Originally posted by Comrade [email protected] 21 2006, 10:41 PM
Liberia: An Uncivil War
I saw this on Discovery Times. I didn&#39;t watch it because Discovery Times only shows the most vile reactionary film available.

[More Fire for the People]

Originally posted by Comrade [email protected] 21 2006, 10:41 PM
Liberia: An Uncivil War
I saw this on Discovery Times. I didn&#39;t watch it because Discovery Times only shows the most vile reactionary film available.

[More Fire for the People]

Originally posted by Comrade [email protected] 21 2006, 10:41 PM
Liberia: An Uncivil War
I saw this on Discovery Times. I didn&#39;t watch it because Discovery Times only shows the most vile reactionary film available.

[rioters bloc]

Originally posted by The [email protected] 13 2006, 11:35 AM
Everyone should watch Land and Freedom.
fo sho

&#39;the take&#39; is good too.

[praxis1966]

A couple of new recommendations:

Rabbit Proof Fence (http://imdb.com/title/tt0252444/)-A poignant look at the apartheidist and near eugenic policies of Australia during the 1930s. Very emotional.

Hidden Agenda (http://imdb.com/title/tt0099768/)-Kind of has a meandering plot vehicle, but worth a look. A civil rights activist (Frances McDormand) and a special inspector (Brian Cox) investigate the deaths of Irish activists in 1987 Belfast. Provides a dramatic look at what we now know to be true (British records recently released under the Thirty Years Rule come to mind) about the activities of the Crown&#39;s occupational forces.

Born Into Brothels (http://imdb.com/title/tt0388789/)-Heart wrenching examination of the lives the children of prostitutes in Sonagchi, Calcutta lead. Keep a box of tissue handy.

[MolotovLuv]

Why We Fight is a good doc. It is about the rise of the military industrial complex and US imperialism from WWII till the present.

[Invader Zim]

Once Upon a Time in the West - a clear critique on the ambition for wealth.

[float_613]

Machuca
About the Chilean coup installing Pinochet. Through the eyes of 2 young boys.

Sometimes In April
Rwandan genocide.. dramatization & even though the people in the movie arn&#39;t real people it&#39;s more &#39;real&#39; than Hotel Rwanda (even though that&#39;s a great movie too).

[harris0]

Reds (25th Anniversary Edition)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IOM0Y...ASIN=B000IOM0Y2 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IOM0Y2?ie=UTF8&tag=htbacfm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000IOM0Y2) ---"Warren Beatty&#39;s lengthy 1981 drama about American Communist John Reed and his relationships with both the Russian Revolution and a writer named Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton) is a compelling piece of little-known history told in a uniquely personal way. Beatty plays Reed as he did the title gangster in Bugsy and Senator in Bulworth, as a visionary likely to die before anyone fully recognizes the progressiveness of the vision, including those who are supposed to be on the same page. Jack Nicholson has an interesting part as fellow intellectual Eugene O&#39;Neill, and the late author Jerzy Kosinski--himself a refugee from then-Soviet-controlled Poland--makes a strong impression as Reed&#39;s problematic Russian liaison."

Matewan
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005Y7R...ASIN=B00005Y7R6 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005Y7R6?ie=UTF8&tag=htbacfm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00005Y7R6) ---"A little-known chapter of American labor history is brought vividly to life in this period drama from writer-director John Sayles. It&#39;s a fictional story about labor wars among West Virginia coal miners during the 1920&#39;s, but every detail is so right that the film has the unmistakable ring of truth. The tension begins when the Stone Mountain Coal Company of Matewan, West Virginia, announces a lower pay rate for miners, who respond by calling a strike under the leadership of a United Mine Workers representative (Chris Cooper). Proving strength in numbers, the miners are joined by black and Italian miners who initially resist the strike, and a fateful battle ensues when detectives hired by the coal company attempt to evict miners from company housing. Violence erupts in a sequence of astonishing, cathartic intensity, and Matewan achieves a rare degree of moral complexity combined with gut-wrenching tragedy. The film salutes a pacifist ideal while recognizing that personal and political convictions often must be defended with violence. To illustrate this point, Sayles enlisted master cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who creates the film&#39;s authentic visual texture--a triumph of artistry over limited resources. The result is a milestone of independent filmmaking, and Matewan remains one of Sayles&#39;s finest achievements."

Harlan County USA
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E5LEV...ASIN=B000E5LEVU (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E5LEVU?ie=UTF8&tag=htbacfm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000E5LEVU) ---"A man crouches and pokes at what first appears to be a wad of chewed-up pink bubble gum on the ground. "That&#39;s what a scab will do to ya, by God," he says, his voice quavering with emotion. The pink wad is brain tissue from a striker shot in the head by a strikebreaker. That&#39;s one of the harsh realities of Harlan County USA. Barbara Kopple&#39;s documentary camera looks at this forgotten corner of 1970s America, the site of some of the bitterest labor violence in American history. It&#39;s hard to believe that some 40 years after the Depression, there were parts of Appalachia that were hardly better off than they were in the 1930s. The care-worn faces of the miners and their families speak volumes. They&#39;re the tough, proud faces of people struggling to make a living the way that their parents and grandparents did in generations past. Kopple skillfully weaves archival footage and traditional labor songs through the film to give a historical perspective to the strike against Eastover Mining Company. Above and beyond the labor issues, the film takes a hard look at the living conditions, health issues, and poverty faced by Harlan&#39;s residents, the human toll that goes along with the mining industry. The tense confrontations between Eastover&#39;s slimy security goons and the unionizers are particularly gripping, with the threat of violence hanging thick in the air. Sometimes ugly, always absorbing, this is an important, enlightening social record, one that serves the highest calling of the documentary filmmaker&#39;s art."

The Wobblies
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FBFZ2...ASIN=B000FBFZ2M (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FBFZ2M?ie=UTF8&tag=htbacfm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000FBFZ2M) >---""Solidarity&#33; All for One and One for All&#33;" With that slogan, the Industrial Workers of the World, aka the Wobblies, took to organizing unskilled workers into one big union and changing the course of history. Along the way to winning an eight-hour workday and fair wages in the early 20th century, the Wobblies were one of the few unions to be racially and sexually integrated and often met with imprisonment, violence, and the privations of prolonged strikes. This award-winning film airs a provocative look at the forgotten American history of this most radical of unions, screening the unforgettable and still-fiery voices of Wobbly members--lumberjacks, migratory workers, and silk weavers--in their 70s, 80s, and 90s. Eerily echoing current times, THE WOBBLIES boldly investigates a nation torn by naked corporate greed and the red-hot rift between the industrial masters and the rabble-rousing workers in the field and factory. Replete with gorgeous archival footage, the film pays tribute to American workers who took the ideals of equality and free speech seriously enough to die for them. Directed by Stewart Bird and Deborah Shaffer, THE WOBBLIES is a rare and challenging invitation to rethink both past and present through the eyes of an organization largely omitted from memory."

The Corporation
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007DBJM...ASIN=B0007DBJM8 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007DBJM8?ie=UTF8&tag=htbacfm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0007DBJM8) ---"An epic in length and breadth, this documentary aims at nothing less than a full-scale portrait of the most dominant institution on the planet Earth in our lifetime--a phenomenon all the more remarkable, if not downright frightening, when you consider that the corporation as we know it has been around for only about 150 years. It used to be that corporations were, by definition, short-lived and finite in agenda. If a town needed a bridge built, a corporation was set up to finance and complete the project; when the bridge was an accomplished fact, the corporation ceased to be. Then came the 19th-century robber barons, and the courts were prevailed upon to define corporations not as get-the-job-done mechanisms but as persons under the 14th Amendment with full civil rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (i.e., power and profit)--ad infinitum.
The Corporation defines this endlessly mutating life-form in exhaustive detail, measuring the many ways it has not only come to dominate but to deform our reality. The movie performs a running psychoanalysis of this entity with the characteristics of a prototypical psychopath: a callous unconcern for the feelings and safety of others, an incapacity to experience guilt, an ingrained habit of lying for profit, etc. We are swept away on a demented odyssey through an altered cosmos, in which artificial chemicals are created for profit and incidentally contribute to a cancer epidemic; in which the folks who brought us Agent Orange devise a milk-increasing drug for a world in which there is already a glut of milk; in which an American computer company leased its systems to the Nazis--and serviced them on a monthly basis--so that the Holocaust could go forward as an orderly process.

The movie goes on too long, circles too many points obsessively and redundantly, and risks preaching-to-the-choir reductiveness by calling on the usual talking-head suspects--Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Michael Moore. And except for an endlessly receding tracking shot in an infinite patents archive, there&#39;s scarcely an image worth recalling. Still, it maps the new reality. This is our world--welcome to it."

Manufacturing Consent
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005Y72...ASIN=B00005Y726 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005Y726?ie=UTF8&tag=htbacfm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00005Y726) ---"Peter Wintonick and Mark Achbar made this penetrating documentary about the career and views of linguist and media critic Noam Chomsky. While the man is the subject of the movie, the filmmakers wisely and carefully choose not to make Chomsky more important than his insights into the way print and electronic journalism tacitly and often willingly further the agendas of the powerful. We learn a lot about Chomsky&#39;s formative experiences as a child, student, academic, activist, and politician (he has campaigned for office), but we learn just as much about the media institutions that deny him access today, from ABC to PBS. The centerpiece of the film, arguably, is a long examination into the history of the New York Times&#39; coverage of Indonesia&#39;s atrocity-ridden occupation of East Timor, reportage that (as Chomsky shows us) was absolutely in lock step with the government&#39;s unwillingness to criticize an ally."

Anarchism In America
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/190485951...ASIN=1904859518 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1904859518?ie=UTF8&tag=htbacfm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1904859518) ---"Two fascinating documentaries on one disc&#33; In the first, Anarchism in America, the filmmakers take a road trip to map anarchism as a distinctly American tradition, interviewing a diverse cast of characters: from "ordinary" truckers and farmers to famous anarchists like Kenneth Rexroth and Ursula LeGuin. The second, The Free Voice of Labor, traces the history of the Yiddish anarchist newspaper of that name-publishing it&#39;s final issue after 87 years-as told by it&#39;s now elderly, but decidedly unbowed staff."

Norma Rae
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000059HA...ASIN=B000059HAN (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000059HAN?ie=UTF8&tag=htbacfm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000059HAN) ---"In an Oscar-winning performance, Sally Field is unforgettable as Norma Rae, the Southern millworker who revolutionizes a small town and discovers a power in herself she never had. Under the guidance of a New York unionizer (Ron Leibman) and with increasing courage and determination, Norma Rae organizes her fellow factory workers to fight for better conditions and wages. Based on a true story, Norma Rae is the mesmerizing tale of a modern day heroine. Beau Bridges co-stars."

A Place Called Chiapas
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00082ZR6...ASIN=B00082ZR6M (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00082ZR6M?ie=UTF8&tag=htbacfm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00082ZR6M) ---"A trip into the perilous state of Chiapas in southern Mexico is taken in this documentary, which focuses on the Zapatista National Liberation Army and its mysterious leader, Subcomandante Marcos. The narration notes that The New York Times has referred to the struggle of the Zapatistas as the "world&#39;s first postmodern revolution," and there is a remarkably surreal air at times. At one point Subcomandante Marcos is filmed while posing for the French fashion magazine Marie Claire, yet there can be no denying that the residents he champions are extremely poor. The interviews with farmers who fear they will be murdered by government troops are moving, and a press conference in which tape recordings of death threats are played is disturbing. The film&#39;s director, Nettie Wild, has a definite point of view and notes stoically that a memo from American bankers may have inspired the violence directed against the local rebels by the Mexican government. The background of the rebellion in Chiapas is told concisely with most of the film consisting of atmospheric footage showing life in the troubled and violent region. The film crew was itself threatened by right-wing paramilitary death squads, and the paranoia that is an asset in such an environment is tensely translated via filmed encounters with government troops."

Molly Maguires
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001FGBL...ASIN=B0001FGBLG (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001FGBLG?ie=UTF8&tag=htbacfm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0001FGBLG) ---"An expensive box-office flop when released in 1970, The Molly Maguires can now be appreciated as a compelling drama with potent political undertones. The talent involved is first-rate all the way: In addition to the volatile teaming of Sean Connery and Richard Harris on opposite sides of a Pennsylvania miners&#39; war, director Martin Ritt and screenwriter Walter Bernstein were at the height of their Hollywood powers, determined to give viewers a visceral, grittily authentic drama about the exploitation of Irish immigrant miners in the centennial America of 1876. Connery&#39;s secret gang, the Molly Maguires, retaliates by destroying mines and equipment; Harris infiltrates the group as an informer hired by the coal-company owners, leading to his inevitable crisis of conscience. Pub brawls and manly action give the film its meat-and-potatoes appeal, and discerning viewers will appreciate the story&#39;s careful pacing and moral ambiguity; ironically, those qualities were blamed for the film&#39;s commercial failure."

[tambourine_man]

here are some more films i recommend that havnt been mentioned yet:

Nuit et Brouillard (1955)

alain resnais&#39; documentary about nazi concentration camps. you can watch it online here (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6854113117967578704&q=nuit+brouillard)

the films of guy debord & the situationist international

i wont lie, i havnt watched them all yet, but "the society of the spectacle" is really good especially if youre reading the text.

you can watch these all online here (http://www.ubu.com/film/debord.html)

the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie (1972)

luis bunuel. pokes fun at the strange customs and hypocrisies of the bourgeoisie.

two or three things i know about her (1967)

jean-luc godard as usual makes strange and funny commentaries on bourgeois society in very interesting cinema.

masculin, feminin (1966)

godard again.

all of these films can be seen for free online. personally, i prefer using torrents because they are higher quality, and i guarantee all of the films here can be found on any good torrent search site. hopefully i will add a couple more soon.

[1984]

The Seventh Seal

Mandatory&#33;

[CNT-FAI]

LAND & FREEDOM by Loach is an interesting film on a rare subject but hard to follow unless you know the history. For those who don&#39;t, i recommend Orwell&#39;s HOMAGE TO CATALONIA & the Epilogue to Brenan&#39;s THE SPANISH LABYRINTH.

Orwell fought in the POUM (Trotskyist) militia, as does the protagonist of the film.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0114671/

If it was not mentioned, THE SPANISH EARTH, a documentary narrated by the writers Dos Passos (who later became a rightist) & Ernest Hemingway.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029594/

[Mujer Libre]

I just watched Joyeux Noel today, and I quite enjoyed it. Possibly because I&#39;m a Daniel Bruhl fangirl.

It was moving, but sometimes got a little too mushy- maybe because I wasn&#39;t in a serious frame of mind. Good anti-nationalist and anti-war messages too.

[whoknows]

I would find it helpful if writers would list documentries and fictions in different lists.

as I perfer the fictitious side of life here are a couple titles that I have not seen in any list. Both of course are fictions:
Deus e o Diablo na Terra do Sol usally translated as &#39;back god, white devil&#39; but more exactly &#39;God and the Devil in the Land of the Sun&#39; You can only get the DVD from an importer of Brazian goods. Don&#39;t bother with the VHS tape, you wont be able to read the subtitles and the picture quality is very poor. The story is set just after Lampiado&#39;s death and it is leftist. I wouldn&#39;t sugest anything else here.

The second title is Chinese, &#39;PEKING OPERA BLUES&#39;, it is a comedy and involves the efforts of two reveloutionaries an army private (awakening to worker self awareness) and a proto femanist to foil a general&#39;s attempt to sell the country to the western capitalists. And believe me you&#39;ll need a laugh after seeing &#39;Deus e o Diablo&#39;.

Also I&#39;ve only seen one soviet film on anyone&#39;s list. Some interesting things were made back then. How about the Gorky Trilogy? Only the first one is on DVD and the VHS tapes are horrable transfers. But here are the titles for those who are asking &#39;Gorky who?"

&#39;Detstvo Gorkogo&#39;-&#39;the childhood of Maxim Gorky&#39;
&#39;V lyudyakh&#39;- &#39;My Apprenticeship&#39; (aka on his own/ out in the world&#39;
and lastly &#39;Moi Universitety"-"My Universities"

And if you don&#39;t know Kino has put out a DVD of Soviet Propaganda animations. Some of which are quite beautiful. Some of which are still valid in their message. and as you are working against bush&#39;s great raid on bagdad, you will be touched by "we can do it"

[whoknows]

Many of us on this thread are interested in documentries. Have you gone to your local public and college libraries and requested that titles you think are important be added to their collections. Libraries will listen to such requests and if they act on them you will be responsable for making these titles available in your community. As the libraries are requeried to buy their materials you will also be suporting the film makers with the dollars collected by government from your fellow workers.

[whoknows]

STOP THE CHURCH
by Robert Hiferty
a docutmentry following ACT-UP and Abortion rights workers in there planing and stageing a direct action against Archbishop O&#39;Connor in St Patrick&#39;s Cathedral in New York City about 1990.
This is not just for AIDS and abortion rights activists. It spends most of it&#39;s time of 24 minutes viewing the planning of the zap, and is of value for those who have never been part of a direct action but feel they should be.

[Mujer Libre]

The American Ruling Class (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455906/) - it&#39;s a musical-drama-documentary that explodes the myth of the United States as a classless society and a democracy and gives a good introduction to class antagonism without being too simple or too theoretical. It also has catchy songs- "When empire falls...."

[BreadBros]

Venezuela Bolivariana: Pueblo Y Lucha de la IV Guerra Mundial (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463771/) - pretty good documentary on the &#39;Bolivarian revolution&#39; in Venezuela and the evolution of capitalism. Got this from a friend although I think it may be available in torrent form online.

Can Dialectics Break Bricks? (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069970/) - Situationist movie that dubs over a martial arts/samurai movie, turning it into a film about class warfare. Funny at parts too, especially the little kid. Only been able to find this on eMule p2p network, although I think some remnant of the SI sells VHS versions online.

La Chinoise (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Chinoise) - Haven&#39;t seen this yet but its by Jean-Luc Godard and apparently about a group of Maoist students living together in Paris in 1967. Wikipedia says
Thematically, the film concerns late 1960s left-wing political interest in theorists/leaders Mao, Marx, Lenin, Althusser; and the role certain objects and organizations (such as Mao&#39;s Little Red Book, the French communist party, and small leftist groups) play in this group&#39;s ideology. [...] La Chinoise is seen, for the most part, as signalling Godard&#39;s switch to his overtly political phase of the early 1970s. But while La Chinoise seems more nearly tied to real events than much of Godard&#39;s 1960s cinema (Le Petit Soldat is another example), it still paints a highly ambiguous portrait (wavering between sympathy and contempt) for the student movements, seemingly suggesting at once that the students are serious revolutionaries and confused children. Not available on DVD or VHS in the United States, but you can find it on eMule and probably other p2p networks.

The Thin Blue Line (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096257/) - Not explicitly leftist, but a documentary on police misconduct/corruption in one case of the murder of a police officer in Texas. Very good.

[praxis1966]

I just saw this recently; I checked Amazon and apparently it&#39;s also out on DVD. Perhaps if you have a good indie oriented video store in your town you might actually be able to see it.

Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus (http://imdb.com/title/tt0800334/)--A critical look at ID and what the scientific community is doing/needs to do to counter it. Humorous and entertaining, it&#39;s vaguely in the style of Micheal Moore only not quite as didactic. Worth the time of all evolutionists since even if you understand exactly what ID is really all about, it will at the very least entertain and perhaps even provide some decent arguments to use when you encounter the fundies.

[tambourine_man]

le chagrin et la pitie (the sorrow and the pity) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066904/) (1969)
- extremely famous 4 1/2 hour documentary on the nazi occupation of france, examined through various interviews with both ordinary people and the men in charge, and primary footage. i would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the history of france, wwii, nazism, etc. probably the best documentary ever made, imo.

[krakatoan]

they´ve said it already

BRAZIL (1985)

one of my favourite films of all time, really worth watching, really

[whoknows]

&#39;Sweet Movie"
it&#39;s out on DVD.
the picture of capitalism will strike many as on the mark, the depiction of communisism may be troubling to some.
The woman on the barge "survival" is an alagorical figure of Reveloution, who kills all who love her. Not a whore as the one of the critics claim.
Any way, it will give the young&#39;ns a gimpts of the s&#39;60s. Although I think it&#39;s still banned in the UK.

[krakatoan]

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

comedy directed by Luis Buñuel

"Like a tombola." -National Geographic

realy realy funny, and very good, one personal favourite

[krakatoan]

Originally posted by [email protected] 31, 2007 05:35 am
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

comedy directed by Luis Buñuel

"Like a tombola." -National Geographic

realy realy funny, and very good, one personal favourite
I agree

[1984]

Someone mentioned &#39;Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol&#39;... must see indeed&#33;&#33;&#33;

I&#39;d recommend any Glauber Rocha&#39;s films, as Terra em Transe (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062352/). In my opinion, he was the greatest filmmaker in Brazil.

[YSR]

Originally posted by The [email protected] 12, 2006 09:34 pm
Everyone should watch Land and Freedom.
I echo these thoughts.

The film is about a working class Englishman who goes to Spain to fight in the Civil War and further the revolution. It is vaguely similar to George Orwell&#39;s exploits as recorded in "Homage to Catalonia" but has way more gun battles, attractive Spaniards, and priest killing. It&#39;s by British socialist director Ken Loach, and very well done. The best scenes are extended shots of peasants and militia debating how to collectivize land. Really inspiring stuff.

You get extra points if you can sing along to "A las barricadas," which is sung several times during the film. And double extra points if you bike home shouting "Death to the Stalinists, long live the revolution&#33;" which is both the best line and the theme of the film.

[Faux Real]

Oh dear, posted a mainstream, non-political movie in this thread. Dumb me...

Occupation 101, on google video.

[onionhead]

have The Laoch film - Land And Freedom downloading via torrent as Im typing. Also anyone know of his other film from 2007? "Its a Free World". whats it about etc?

[Digitalism]

a MUST see Oscar winning documentary on the Vietnam War

http://www.criterion.com/content/images/full_boxshot/156_box_348x490.jpg

http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=156
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071604/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearts_and_Minds_(film)

http://www.mininova.org/tor/472686 - torrent
http://freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=168 - STREAM

Enjoy, you must see this

[rocker935]

I just put it on hold at the library, i will prolly go pick it up 2morrow.

[JimmyJazz]

Lumumba (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246765/).

It was about the Congo declaring independence from Belgium in 1960. It did a great job showing the obstacles facing any country attempting to escape from its colonial/neocolonial/imperialist past, I definitely recommend it.

[LOLseph Stalin]

I'm not sure if it's leftist, but I thought I would add Zeitgeist to the list.

[Comrade B]

Innocent Voices
A great movie, takes place during the Salvadorian Civil War

[che_diwas]

1. Across the Universe
2. Oh brother where art thou?
3. The Motorcycle diaries
4. The Wind that shakes the barley.
5. In the name of the father.
6. My left foot.
7. North Country.
8. The doors.
9. Once
10. I'm not there
11. Malcom X.
12. Philadelphia.
13. Billy Elliot.
14. Erin Brockavich
15. City of God
16. Good luck and good night.
17. Vera Drake

Lets discuss if you have watched them..

[UndergroundConnexion]

not a really consistent list.. why is the Doors there (good movie though) and not Reds, Fidel y Che , Potemkin etc.

[Mujer Libre]

There's already a viewing list thread for things like this- no point having a personal list for everyone, and that way people can comment and add their own films etc.

[Pirate Utopian]

The Doors is so terribly inaccurate.

[Lenin's Law]

Can't belive nobody mentioned "Modern Times" yet!



Good pick. I'll go with another Chaplin film: The Great Dictator. The speech Chaplin gives at the end makes the film worth it...along with the hilarious parodies of Hitler and Mussolini.

A bit disappointing people are naming films which are clearly devoid of any leftist content whatsoever.

[Cory]

I can't believe noone's mentioned this:

The Battle for Chilie

It's a huge documentary using real footage and interviews from people on the street in the events leading up to and including the military coup that overthrew the democraticaly elected socialist government there.

[brigadista]

why vera drake? you like tea? lol

[Woland]

The Irony of fate, or enjoy your bath.

[Dr Mindbender]

Where is-

Clockwork Orange
Kes
Michael Collins
Enemy at the Gate
American History X
Higher Learning

[Holden Caulfield]

A Scanner Darkly
Metropolis
Strike/October/Potempkin/Alexander Nevski

etc etc

[Sprocket Hole]

Cecil B. Demented :)

[Nietzsche's Ghost]

What about if.....(thats the title) its from 68 but it about a sort of militant student uprising in a british school

[Sprocket Hole]

Oh and

The Edukators..

Bout these kids who break into rich people's houses, rearrange everything, and leave notes that say "you have too much money"

[Nietzsche's Ghost]

Yeah the Edukators was a good one, maybe Children of Men?

[Kassad]

Thank you for Smoking. Everyone should have to see that movie.

[JimmyJazz]

Il Posto. It's probably one of my top 5 favorite movies of all time. It's subtle, but the whole thing is basically a commentary on the way that corporations treat workers--submitting them to bullshit arbitrary selection criteria, dehumanizing them on the job and deskilling their work, elaborately making them run a rat race against each other, etc.

Given that Ermanno Olmi also directed Tree of the Wooden Clogs, which is a portrayal of peasant life with a beginning and ending that emphasize the arbitrary power of landlords in such a society, I think he had to be somewhat sympathetic to the left, and probably had some familiarity with the historical materialist progression of feudalism to capitalism (so, probably knowledgeable about more than simply the liberal "left").

I'm curious about his other movies like I Fidanzati. Because he seems to have a fondness for creating protagonists whose outstanding characteristic is their social class.

[JimmyJazz]

Clockwork Orange

An even better Malcolm McDowell movie is If...

If it wasn't explicitly political, it was at least about rebellion against overbearing authority. And Malcolm's character had posters of Lenin and (I think) Mao on his dormitory wall. It also includes basically one of the coolest movie scenes of all time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5sJ5kwGY0g

[Mujer Libre]

We already have a "Viewing List" thread ya know. :P

I just find these new list threads that keep popping up quite pointless as nobody discusses anything in them!

[JimmyJazz]

well I would feel like an idiot making posts as detailed as I just did in a stickied thread.

[An archist]

El memoria del saqueo, a documentary.

After the fall of the military dictatorship in 1983, successive democratic governments launched a series of reforms purporting to turn Argentina into the world's most liberal and prosperous economy. Less than twenty years later, the Argentinians have lost literally everything: major national companies have been sold well below value to foreign corporations; the proceeds of privatizations have been diverted into the pockets of corrupt officials; revised labour laws have taken away all rights from employees; in a country that is traditionally an important exporter of foodstuffs, malnutrition is widespread; millions of people are unemployed and sinking into poverty; and their savings have disappeared in a final banking collapse. The film highlights numerous political, financial, social and judicial aspects that mark out Argentina's road to ruin. Written by Eduardo Casais (http://www.imdb.com/SearchPlotWriters?Eduardo%20Casais%20%[email protected] m.org%7D)[/URL]

([url]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0400647/plotsummary (http://www.imdb.com/SearchPlotWriters?Eduardo%20Casais%20%[email protected] m.org%7D))

online version pt1:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7470743912986095493
pt2:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5911055113163856683

[Angry Young Man]

Oh and

The Edukators..

Bout these kids who break into rich people's houses, rearrange everything, and leave notes that say "you have too much money"

And despite the director's noble intent, it was still brazenly shit. Goodbye Lenin is by far the superior German film. Where's Battle Royale?

[MAVA]

tGtuRf2J7Ko

[Robespierre2.0]

Battle of Algiers. It's an Italian/Algerian movie from the 60s. Watch it. It's still very relevant to today's world, and many parallels can be drawn between the anti-colonial struggle of the Algerians and that of the Palestinians.

[Angry Young Man]

I'm disgusted that Blazing Saddles hasn't been mentioned

[Redmau5]

Soy Cuba is a great film.

[Sarah Palin]

Oh and

The Edukators..

Bout these kids who break into rich people's houses, rearrange everything, and leave notes that say "you have too much money"

I loved The Edukators. Great film.

[x359594]

Essential viewing for the Left: Everything by Santiago Alvarez.

[Das war einmal]

Where is-
(...)
Enemy at the Gate
(...)


At the garbage bin between other classics like 'the red menace', 'red dawn' and 'I married a communist'

[DaughterJones]

Where is-

Clockwork Orange
Kes
Michael Collins
Enemy at the Gate
American History X
Higher Learning
I think everyone should see naomi klien's short film based on her book the shock doctrine:thumbup1:

[JimmyJazz]

Slumdog Millionaire.

[Invincible Summer]

Fight Club and American beauty? They're not overtly leftist, but they're "counter-culture" and good movies, nonetheless.

[Pawn Power]

An even better Malcolm McDowell movie is If...



If... is a great movie. You should also check out its sequels, Oh Lucky Man! and Brittani Hospital.

[brigadista]

http://www.revleft.com/vb/literature-films-f21/revleft/misc/tag.png Amandla a revolution in 4 part harmony (http://www.revleft.com/vb/literature-films-f21/amandla-revolution-4-t100590/index.html)

interviews with south African musicians .comrades of the ANC and Umkhonto we Sizwe and generally people involved in the struggle in south africa. The Film explains the importance of music in resistance struggle . A really good film about the brutal reality of apartheid and the bravery of the resistance movement - for those who remember apartheid days you get to find out exactly what were the words of the songs as well as how the famous toyi toyi came from Zimabawe and was used as a method of resistance in SA.....

[brigadista]

http://www.revleft.com/vb/literature-films-f21/revleft/misc/tag.png Amandla a revolution in 4 part harmony (http://www.revleft.com/vb/literature-films-f21/amandla-revolution-4-t100590/index.html)

interviews with south African musicians .comrades of the ANC and Umkhonto we Sizwe and generally people involved in the struggle in south africa. The Film explains the importance of music in resistance struggle . A really good film about the brutal reality of apartheid and the bravery of the resistance movement - for those who remember apartheid days you get to find out exactly what were the words of the songs as well as how the famous toyi toyi came from Zimabawe and was used as a method of resistance in SA.....
i posted the link in a separate thread as the full film is available to view on youtube.

[JimmyJazz]

If... is a great movie. You should also check out its sequels, Oh Lucky Man! and Brittani Hospital.

I do really want to see Oh Lucky Man!. I didn't realize it was a sequel though, and I've never even heard of Brittani Hospital, so thanks.

[Pawn Power]

I do really want to see Oh Lucky Man!. I didn't realize it was a sequel though, and I've never even heard of Brittani Hospital, so thanks.

It's not actually a sequel in the sense of a continuation of a plot. But it is directed by and stars the same people (Anderson and Malcolm McDowell) and is shot in a similar vain. But yeah, the plot is completely different.

[#FF0000]

Land And Freedom, The Wind that Shakes The Barley, Persepolis.

[Charles Xavier]

Che part 1

The Great Debater

Manchuca

Reds

Milk

John Q.

Scarface

Salvador

Platoon

JFK

Defiances

Escape from Sobibor

Schindlers List

Grapes of Wraith

Modern Times

The Great Dictator

Viva Zapata

Spartacus

Spartacus(Yugoslavia)

The Wind that Shakes the Barley

Crash

Real Girls have curves

American History X

Malcolm X

HBO's Rome mini series.

All the King's Men

I am Sam

The Rainmaker

The Hurricane

Battle of Algiers

Braveheart

1900

The Pianist

Dr. Bethune

Good Night, and Good Luck.

Michael Clayton

To name a few.

[brigadista]

matewan

blue collar

[Plagueround]

1. Across the Universe

Terrible, terrible movie. Not only was it rather grating to watch them patch together a hackneyed plot by taking lines from Beatles songs literally and stealing the rest from Hair, but it was also insulting to watch their depiction of the "radical left" as being inferior and stupid because their plan of action wasn't sitting back and waiting for everything to just "be alright" like the fucking liberal main characters.

Their version of Strawberry Fields was pretty good though.

[Comrade B]

The Edukators..
favorite movie


Soy Cuba
interesting movie, strangely done. Still enjoyed it

Surprised that Innocent Voices isn't on there, really great movie about El Salvador.

[Angry Young Man]

GDII: Why is Rome in there?

[Random Precision]

Terrible, terrible movie. Not only was it rather grating to watch them patch together a hackneyed plot by taking lines from Beatles songs literally and stealing the rest from Hair, but it was also insulting to watch their depiction of the "radical left" as being inferior and stupid because their plan of action wasn't sitting back and waiting for everything to just "be alright" like the fucking liberal main characters.

Their version of Strawberry Fields was pretty good though.

I mostly agree, the politics of the film were awful and the end was incredibly unconvincing- so Jude and Lucy get back together without even talking about the problems they had, cause "true love" overcomes all else? :rolleyes:

The scenes that dealt with Vietnam were pretty good though; the rendition of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" was ace and the "Let It Be" during the Detroit Riots was pretty good. The main strength of the movie was the music.

[brigadista]

Across the universe

i am NOT a beatles fan so i was forced to watch by a friend. The worst bit imho was with bono ..i had my jumper over my head in cringing discomfort through a lot of this film...

[Killfacer]

Don't know if it's been mentioned but:

The Battle of Algiers

[MarxSchmarx]

Don't know if it's been mentioned but:

The Battle of Algiers

^^ Great suggestion.

[brigadista]

Lumumba (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246765/).

It was about the Congo declaring independence from Belgium in 1960. It did a great job showing the obstacles facing any country attempting to escape from its colonial/neocolonial/imperialist past, I definitely recommend it.


I agree lumumba was good film.

I would recommend any film by Ousman Sembene

details here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ousmane_Semb%C3%A8ne

[Tatarin]

No Oliver Stone fans? :)

Nixon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_(film)) and JFK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JFK_(film)) is something to be considered over. Also, don't forget his interview with Fidel Castro, Commandante (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comandante) and the "sequel" Looking For Fidel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking_for_Fidel).

I'd have to check out W. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._(film)) about George Bush.

[eisidisirock]

Rambo (:p)

[african postman]

I watched THE FEVER last nighti think thats a great filmit's about an old lady who reads Marx's capital and decides to visit a 3rd world country

[Pirate Utopian]

Diabolik.
He defies authority and the movie is awesome.

[Anonymous]

Too bad I can't post links yet (I have under 25 posts). The best political film I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot (cinephile here), is Ilha das Flores (Isle of Flowers); a brazilian short film of only 12 minutes. You can find it on youtube.

Also, I strongly recommend for my lefty brethren:
Le Salaire de la Peur
The Treasure of Sierra Madre
Ikiru
Brazil
The Corporation
Stachka
Battleship Potemkin
La Jetee
Diarios de Motocicleta
Good Bye Lenin!
Duze Zwierze
Fahrenheit 451
Metropolis
Stroszek
There Will Be Blood
Underground
Warui Yatsu Hodo Yoku Nemuru

...and I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot.

[Pirate Utopian]

No Man's Land.
I saw it yesterday, very good.

[brigadista]

Xala (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xala)
touki bouki
sengalese films -xala is very funny but the last scene is very powerful

[Akim]

I just watched The Clockwork Orange as recommended here , and I dont see what all the fuzz is about. What a disgusting movie. Like we wouldnt have enough violence in the real world , why to make crap fiction like this?
Plus I didnt see any leftist message in it. Depressing as fuck.

Blaim it on Fidel: This was a good one! The little girl was just adorable. :) I would love to see more movies like this.

[brigadista]

I just watched The Clockwork Orange as recommended here , and I dont see what all the fuzz is about. What a disgusting movie. Like we wouldnt have enough violence in the real world , why to make crap fiction like this?
Plus I didnt see any leftist message in it. Depressing as fuck.

Blaim it on Fidel: This was a good one! The little girl was just adorable. :) I would love to see more movies like this.

the book is better than the film...

[Pirate Utopian]

Book's good, movie's great.
Book has a better ending though.

[Janine Melnitz]

Yeah, can anyone who thinks Burgess' book was better than Kubrick's movie explain their position? The only things that make the latter great, to me, are its purely filmic aspects; with the book, you don't have those, and what do you have? A little more linguistic fun, I guess, along with a heavier emphasis on anticommunism and individualist moralism.

So anyway I recommend anything by Kubrick. The only thing he did that wasn't better than its source is Full Metal Jacket; Gustav Hasford's novel, The Short-Timers, is pretty crude, but doesn't flinch from its theme (inhumanity etc.), whereas Kubrick is a bit of a coward: making the protagonist a "nice guy" so the audience can "identify" with him, taking a fucking pogue drill sergeant's word on what boot camp is like over Hasford's, toning down both the atrocity and some of the more overt politics. The novel also has some genuinely surreal moments that didn't get into the movie, and in its sequel, Joker joins the Viet Minh.


"Let It Be" during the Detroit Riots
Haha oh god what

Is this as insufferable as it sounds

[brigadista]

Yeah, can anyone who thinks Burgess' book was better than Kubrick's movie explain their position? The only things that make the latter great, to me, are its purely filmic aspects; with the book, you don't have those, and what do you have? A little more linguistic fun, I guess, along with a heavier emphasis on anticommunism and individualist moralism.

So anyway I recommend anything by Kubrick. The only thing he did that wasn't better than its source is Full Metal Jacket; Gustav Hasford's novel, The Short-Timers, is pretty crude, but doesn't flinch from its theme (inhumanity etc.), whereas Kubrick is a bit of a coward: making the protagonist a "nice guy" so the audience can "identify" with him, taking a fucking pogue drill sergeant's word on what boot camp is like over Hasford's, toning down both the atrocity and some of the more overt politics. The novel also has some genuinely surreal moments that didn't get into the movie, and in its sequel, Joker joins the Viet Minh.


Haha oh god what

Is this as insufferable as it sounds


to answer your question purely the linguistic fun- and i you neglected to mention eyes wide shut - imho not a good movie..

[Trystan]

My suggestions:

Reds
Land and Freedom (Spanish Civil War flick by the king of realism Mr. Ken Loach)
Baader Meinhof Komplex (just incase you had any doubts about how dumb they were)
My Brother is an Only Child (Italian flick about two brothers - one a Commie, another a fascist)
Also Trainspotting is really good and has some anti-capitalist undertones.

[RedScare]

Waltz With Bashir - It's a pretty heavy condemnation of war and the IDF.

[Janine Melnitz]

eyes wide shut - imho not a good movie..
I'm sorry that you have to feel wrong about this :(

[Pepe Cy]

The revolution will not be televised.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (a.k.a. Chavez: Inside the Coup) is a 2002 documentary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film) about the April 2002 Venezuelan coup attempt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_coup_attempt_of_2002) which briefly deposed Venezuelan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela) President Hugo Chávez (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez). A television crew from Ireland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland)'s national broadcaster, RTÉ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Telif%C3%ADs_%C3%89ireann) happened to be recording a documentary about Chávez during the events of April 11, 2002. Shifting focus, they followed the events as they occurred. During their filming, the crew recorded images of the events that they say contradict explanations given by Chávez's opposition, the private media, the US State Department (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_State_Department), and then White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ari_Fleischer). The documentary says that the coup was the result of a conspiracy between various old guard and anti-Chávez factions within Venezuela and the United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Revolution_Will_Not_Be_Televised_(documentary)

[Pepe Cy]

Comrades, is it possible to make a single list with all those movies and rank them based on their importance?

[JohannGE]

Comrades, is it possible to make a single list with all those movies and rank them based on their importance?

That would be a good idea, is it possible?

I would like to see Paul Greengrass Bloody Sunday included on such a list and somwhere near the top.

To lighten the mood with a good old fasioned nuclear crisis, we could also have Dr Strangelove.

[brigadista]

I'm sorry that you have to feel wrong about this :(

we will have to agree to differ on this:) but dr strangelove does make me cry with laughter...

[Dr.Claw]

Across the universe

i am NOT a beatles fan so i was forced to watch by a friend. The worst bit imho was with bono ..i had my jumper over my head in cringing discomfort through a lot of this film...

I agree, Bono fucking sucks. As for the Beatles I can tolerate them in small doses.

[DJ Braces]

They Live (1988) a must watch, you can find it on google video.

"Nada, a down-on-his-luck construction worker, discovers a pair of special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it really is: people being bombarded by media and government with messages like "Stay Asleep", "No Imagination", "Submit to Authority". Even scarier is that he is able to see that some usually normal-looking people are in fact ugly aliens in charge of the massive campaign to keep humans subdued."

Aliens aka Capitalists

[brigadista]

They Live (1988) a must watch, you can find it on google video.

"Nada, a down-on-his-luck construction worker, discovers a pair of special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it really is: people being bombarded by media and government with messages like "Stay Asleep", "No Imagination", "Submit to Authority". Even scarier is that he is able to see that some usually normal-looking people are in fact ugly aliens in charge of the massive campaign to keep humans subdued."

Aliens aka Capitalists


thata is a GOOD film but then i love JOhn carpenter films..they live is really creepy

[Das war einmal]

If memory serves, 'Mississippi burning'

[x359594]

If memory serves, 'Mississippi burning'

Poorly directed revisionist claptrap. It was roundly denounced by the survivors of Mississippi Summer at the time of its release, including Mickey Schwerner's widow. The heroic FBI and idealistic Justice Dept.? Spare me, please. The New York Times film reviewer wrote that the film's alleged distortions amounted to a "cinematic lynching" of history.

[AntinoiteBolshevik]

Why 'Kes'? Sure, it shows the crappy conditions of North England but there's nothing Communist or political about it. It's just about a boy and his bird.

Sad how the bird is killed though. It's like his hopes died with it :crying:.

[AvanteRedGarde]

The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973)

A Black Power movement film about an urban insurrectionist group

From IMDP:

In order to improve his standing with Black voters, a White Senator starts a campaign for the CIA to recruit Black agents. However, all are graded on a curve and doomed to fail, save for a soft-spoken veteran named Dan Freeman. After grueling training in guerrilla warfare, clandestine operations and unarmed combat, he is assigned a meager job as the CIA's token Black employee. After five years of racist and stereotyped treatment by his superiors, he quietly resigns to return to his native Chicago to work for a social services agency...by day. By night, he trains a street gang to be the vanguard in an upcoming race war, using all that the CIA has taught him...

[Das war einmal]

Poorly directed revisionist claptrap. It was roundly denounced by the survivors of Mississippi Summer at the time of its release, including Mickey Schwerner's widow. The heroic FBI and idealistic Justice Dept.? Spare me, please. The New York Times film reviewer wrote that the film's alleged distortions amounted to a "cinematic lynching" of history.


Ok, it has been years since a watched it, but atleast they did show corrupt cops who were in the KKK. I was 13 or something, I was impressed at that time

[x359594]

...atleast they did show corrupt cops who were in the KKK. I was 13 or something, I was impressed at that time

In that case, it was worthwhile. I hope you go on to read the authentic history of Mississippi Summer aka Freedom Summer if you haven't already. Here's a good book to start: Freedom Summer (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988) by Doug McAdam, and another book with the same title but contemporary with the events described Freedom Summer (University of Virginia Press, 1965, reissued 1990) by Sally Belfrage.

[Communist]

I love the old Soviet silents of which these are my favorites:

* "earth"
* "october"
* "aelita queen of mars"
* "battleship potemkin"
* "zvenigora"
* "the general line"
* "arsenal" (my personal favorite)

and these US films:

* "salt of the earth"
* "reds"

[Oktyabr]

I really enjoy movies, especially the realistic and touching films that Ken Loach made (Land and Freedom; The Wind that Shakes the Barley; those are the only 2 I have seen but I was really impressed)

Most specifically, I have tried to find films of a Leftist perspective, and I think that with your help we could assemble a list of must see films for Leftist beginners such as myself.

Specific Films I have on the basic beginning to the list include:

Battleship Potempkin
Strike
October
Storm Over Asia
1900
Land and Freedom
The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Any more ideas?

[communard resolution]

Battleship Potempkin


If you're into Stalin, you may also enjoy Eisenstein's 'Ivan The Terrible'. Eisenstein made this film about the 'great Russian leader' Ivan the Terrible upon Stalin's request and as a piece of indirect flattery.

Whatever way you look at it, it's still a great piece of cinema, though.

[Pirate Utopian]

No Man's Land
The Battle Of Algiers
Brazil
If....
O Lucky Man!
Britannia Hospital
White Dog

There is also an anti-capitalist message in American Psycho.

[JohannGE]

http://www.revleft.com/vb/viewing-list-t24055/index.html

[communard resolution]

No Man's Land

So fucking good!



There is also an anti-capitalist message in American Psycho

The book was great (I believe your Huey Lewis post was a quote? It's been a few years since I read it), but I haven't watched the movie. Any good?

[Os Cangaceiros]

The book was great (I believe your Huey Lewis post was a quote? It's been a few years since I read it), but I haven't watched the movie. Any good?

The film is really, really good, although quite different from the book (or so I've heard...I've never read the book). The black humor in American Psycho is great, though...Mary Harron really captured the vapid, stereotypical yuppie mentality well, I think. Christian Bale is hilariously self-obsessed in the film.

The only thing I didn't really care for was the ending of the film, especially when considering the director's comments on what it was supposed to mean. I don't think they did a very good job with it, personally.

[Pirate Utopian]

Yes my Huey Lewis post was from this scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwicLgOGJOI&fmt=18
I think Bale comes across as a kind of demented Jim Carrey here. :)

I love the movie, the first hour is it's strongest and it sorta loses steam after it but not too heavily to lose your intrest.
The movie delivers a good message about how superficial and self-intrested the yuppies and snobs really are that they dont even notice a serial killer amongst their mids.

[Oktyabr]

I forgot "I am Cuba"

[communard resolution]

we could assemble a list of must see films for Leftist beginners such as myself.

On that account, I wholeheartedly recommend the movie 'Reds'.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082979/

Try and locate it at any cost!

[communard resolution]

I forgot "I am Cuba"

The narrative is perhaps a bit simplistic, but the cinematography is among the most beautiful in all cinema.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Yes my Huey Lewis post was from this scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwicLgOGJOI&fmt=18
I think Bale comes across as a kind of demented Jim Carrey here. :)

I love the movie, the first hour is it's strongest and it sorta loses steam after it but not too heavily to lose your intrest.
The movie delivers a good message about how superficial and self-intrested the yuppies and snobs really are that they dont even notice a serial killer amongst their mids.

I think Christian Bale's "music reviews" were my favorite moments of the film. "Do you like Phil Collins?" :D

[Pirate Utopian]

Yeah especially when he has this big thing about Genesis and in between he's calmly saying "dont just stare at it, eat it".

[Os Cangaceiros]

Yeah...right before having a three-way with those prostitutes in front of a mirror whilst flexing his muscles. :lol:

Bale was sexy in that movie, though, and I say that as a heterosexual male.

[JimmyJazz]

Another vote for Reds.

The Murder of Fred Hampton (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6418849978684923626&ei=Xpz2SfV0jPCoA-jWjdwJ&q=fred+hampton+black+panther+party+documentary)
COINTELPRO: The FBI's War on Black America (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7574288480731470534&ei=yp_2SdyrN5e2qAO9neSpCQ&q=COINTEL-PRO%3A+The+FBI+War+on+Black+America)
The Weather Underground (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6078589535743610981&ei=TKD2ScPfOamwqAOoye21CQ&q=weather+underground)


Edit: SALT OF THE EARTH (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7334797883480289161&ei=gEb3SaOQC4n-qAOojvTkAg&q=salt+of+the+earth)!

It's the most heavily suppressed film in U.S. history (http://www.culturevulture.net/books/Suppression.htm) (some call it the "only blacklisted film in U.S. history", but from what I can tell that seems like a stretch.)
(http://www.culturevulture.net/books/Suppression.htm)

[Revy]

is this good?
http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000GYI3JA.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V41720166_.jpg

[MarxSchmarx]

I really enjoy movies, especially the realistic and touching films that Ken Loach made (Land and Freedom; The Wind that Shakes the Barley; those are the only 2 I have seen but I was really impressed)

If you like gritty realism in your films, check out "Ressources humaines"

[JohannGE]

is this good?
http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000GYI3JA.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V41720166_.jpg

Probably... the best ever! :)

http://www.revleft.com/vb/peter-watkins-t106553/index.html

Download free (and legal) here:-

http://www.archive.org/details/COMMU...1_PeterWATKINS (http://www.anonym.to/?http://www.archive.org/details/COMMUNE_Paris1871_PeterWATKINS)

[x359594]

As a corrective to Euro-Americancentric recommendations (all good by the way) let me add these:

Night and Fog in Japan (Oshima Nagisa, 1960)
Spy Sorge (Shinoda Masahiro, 2003)
Eros Plus Massacre (Yoshida Kiju, 1969)
Coup D'Etat (Yoshida Kiju, 1973)
Elegy to Violence (Suzuki Seijun, 1966)
To Live aka Lifetimes (Zhang Yi-mou, 1994)
The Story of Qui Ju (Zhang Yi-mou, 1992)
Good Men, Good Women (Hou Hsiao-hsien. 1995)
Goodbye, South, Goodbye (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1996)

[Stranger Than Paradise]

No Man's Land
The Battle Of Algiers
Brazil
If....
O Lucky Man!
Britannia Hospital
White Dog

There is also an anti-capitalist message in American Psycho.

Wow your taste in films is amazing. O Lucky Man! is one of the greatest works of cinema EVER. As is If...

Lindsay Anderson is amazing.

[teenagebricks]

There are a few great films out there, but I find that a lot of leftist cinema is a little arrogant, especially when it comes to the name dropping of historical figures and philosophers, but like I said, some are well worth watching.

La Commune
Land And Freedom
Matewan
Reds

[Pogue]

Land and Freedom

Libertarias

The Wind that Shakes the Barley

Fight Club (sort of)

Reds

1900

[Communist Theory]

Red Dawn. :laugh:

[Random Precision]

Memories of Underdevelopment and I Was Nineteen don't seem to have been mentioned yet.

[Oktyabr]

The Wind that Shakes the Barley

I love this movie.

Land and Freedom was about an ideological civil war, which in all respects, was about opposing factions of society, whose approaches to society were wholly opposing.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley however, was about the brutal birth of a modern nation, and the sickness of violence and the effect it has on the human being. In the end, the two brothers were split apart by a simple yes/no type of question: do you support the Anglo-Irish treaty? What was fascinating was that such a simple question could cause the tragedy at the finale. I love Land and Freedom (Which is basically still my favorite movie), but TWTSTB seemed even deeper and more mature, and thats how I came to love it.

BTW, I have looked all over for LAF for sale, and I have never seen it on DVD. Anyone ever seen it for sale?

[x359594]

La Commune
Land And Freedom
Matewan
Reds


Good list. Thanks for resurrecting Matewan, a neglected movie in recent years.

[brigadista]

blue collar

[Os Cangaceiros]

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/5182VWWD1SL.jpg

[Pirate Utopian]

Oh fuck, that movie is terrible.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Most Troma productions are.

[Pirate Utopian]

Even for Troma standards that movie was tedious.

Cannibal! The Musical is a good Troma title.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Poultrygeist was "good", as well.

[Pawn Power]

The American Ruling Class

[Pirate Utopian]

Poultrygeist was "good", as well.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/Poultrygeistposter.jpg
Havent seen it but this poster is great. :lol:

[manic expression]

I agree with a lot of the posts here, I'm a huge fan of Reds. The Motorcycle Diaries is a great film, easily one of my favorites. It has the ability to hit something revolutionary deep inside oneself without being obvious.

As for other suggestions, Casablanca might be a good watch for a leftist, its anti-fascist message is quite impressive. Also, I've never been able to see it, but Paul Robeson's The Proud Valley looks like it could be a solid leftist movie. By the way, has anyone seen The Last Emperor? I've seen excerpts and it looks very intriguing, I'll try to see it soon.

[Random Precision]

Casablanca might be a good watch for a leftist, its anti-fascist message is quite impressive.

Not from a leftist point of view I don't think. The movie is only anti-fascist in that supports the democratic imperialism of France over the fascist imperialism of Germany. There also is negligible involvement from actual Moroccans although the movie takes place in Morocco, which should bother any leftist I would think.

[manic expression]

Yeah that's all true. For what it's worth, you do see a lot of nationalities who oppose fascism throughout the film (American, Czech, Norwegian, Bulgarian, Russian, French). All things considered (especially the treatment of Sam...ugh), though, I have to agree with you in that regard.

[x359594]

...has anyone seen The Last Emperor? I've seen excerpts and it looks very intriguing, I'll try to see it soon.

The Last Emperor in its long version is well worth seeing.

[Oktyabr]

For Whom the Bell Tolls anyone? The movie is definitely not the absolute masterpiece the book is, and the film makes but one mention of Nazis and Fascist, however, it feels to me like there is a strong anti-fascist message as well.

And what about Che! the oldChe Guevara biopic? That film was supposed to suck, but has anyone seen it, and is it any good?

And to name another obscure film, (as well as another with Omar Sharrif) there's Behold a Pale Horse, about a Spanish loyalist guerilla fighting in the civil war. It was supposed to have a very negative view of fascists, as the main villain happens to be one.

[JohannGE]

BTW, I have looked all over for LAF for sale, and I have never seen it on DVD. Anyone ever seen it for sale?

Amazon UK so region 2 and would require a region free player or software. Only £5.98, a bargain!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Land-Freedom-DVD-Ian-Hart/dp/B0006GVJY4

[Oktyabr]

For Whom the Bell Tolls anyone? The movie is definitely not the absolute masterpiece the book is, and the film makes but one mention of Nazis and Fascist, however, it feels to me like there is a strong anti-fascist message as well.

And what about Che! the oldChe Guevara biopic? That film was supposed to suck, but has anyone seen it, and is it any good?

And to name another obscure film, (as well as another with Omar Sharrif) there's Behold a Pale Horse, about a Spanish loyalist guerilla fighting in the civil war. It was supposed to have a very negative view of fascists, as the main villain happens to be one.

Those 2 films weren't supposed to be that great, I just thought I'd mention the anti-fascism

[x359594]

For Whom the Bell Tolls anyone?..And what about Che! the oldChe Guevara biopic? That film was supposed to suck, but has anyone seen it, and is it any good?

And to name another obscure film, (as well as another with Omar Sharrif) there's Behold a Pale Horse, about a Spanish loyalist guerilla fighting in the civil war. It was supposed to have a very negative view of fascists, as the main villain happens to be one.

For Whom the Bell Tolls was directed by Sam Wood, a notorious anti-communist and friendly HUAC witness who named a lot of names, so it's not surprising that the movie version is depoliticized. (Note that Gary Cooper's costume was ripped off by Steven Spielberg for Indiana Jones.)

Che! (1969) was directed by Richard Fleischer a talented director who made this movie from a simple-minded anti-communist script. The movie was cartoonishly awful.

Behold, A Pale Horse (1964) directed by Fred Zinneman (a director with a left-liberal sensibility), was based on a novel about the last raid of Manuel Sabate. The story is set after the Civil War in the late 1950s. For the true story see Sabate, Guerilla Extraordinary by Antonio Tellez.

For more on Spanish Civil War movies check out these threads: Land and Freedom, http://www.revleft.com/vb/land-and-freedom-t106259/index.html , and Libertarias, http://www.revleft.com/vb/libertarias-t106207/index.html .

[JohannGE]

Behold, A Pale Horse (1964) directed by Fred Zinneman (a director with a left-liberal sensibility), was based on a novel about the last raid of Manuel Sabate.

Trivia time...

The novel it was based on was "Killing a Mouse on Sunday" by Emeric Pressburger. He later teamed up with Michael Powell to form The Archers and make some of the greatest films of british cinema inc "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" and my all time favorite, "A Matter of Life and Death" ("Stairway to Heaven" in the States).

The trial scene of which was an effort to strengthen Anglo-American relations:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGFJamy3CQg&feature=related

[Revy]

Well, I liked Patty Hearst. Not sure if it counts. I just thought it was a good portrayal of the SLA. I thought it was going to be some right-wing trashfest to hate on commies, but it turned out to be very understanding of where the people in the SLA were coming from, while obviously showing how wrong their tactics were.

[Oktyabr]

I've heard about Libertarias, but I saw the trailer and the film did not seem all that great. I'm reading The Battle For Spain (awesome book) right now, and I saw Land And Freedom, as I've mentioned before.

We need someone to compile all of the serious suggestions and make a temporary compiled list before we go on with the thread. We need to reach a concensus sometime soon.

[JoeKenehan]

Given my screen name, this seems like an appropriate 1st post!;)

Here's my list. Some of these have been mentioned, but I'd like to add to their support:

Matewan, Men With Guns, Casa de los Babys, and most every Sayles film
Reds
Battleship Potemkin, Strike, and most every Eisenstein film
The Battle of Chile
The Salt of the Earth
The Harder They Come
Los Olvidados, and many other Bunuel films
Memories of Underdevelopment
High Noon: Not a leftist film per se, but actually smuggles a pretty strong anti-McCarthy message into this great Western.
Modern Times
(I'll try to add more later)


Also, the following book is a great reference:
WORKING STIFFS, UNION MAIDS, REDS, AND RIFFRAFF: An Expanded Guide to Films about Labor by Tom Zaniello
(I tried to post a link to the TOC, but I'm only a noob so I was denied :glare:)

[Oktyabr]

Land without Bread

Espana 1936

Just remebered those 2 when you mentioned Bunuel

[Angry Young Man]

For Whom the Bell Tolls was directed by Sam Wood, a notorious anti-communist and friendly HUAC witness who named a lot of names, so it's not surprising that the movie version is depoliticized.
How do you de-politicise FWBT?

ED: Since the thread's author likes Ken Loach, I'll say Kes. But that's probs just my prejudice towards Yorkshire. Battle Royale might be watched as anti-capitalist. And of course, my very favourite, the film version of Look back in Anger.

[Oktyabr]

the loneliness of the long distance runner

worth considering?

[x359594]

How do you de-politicise FWBT?


By foregrounding the love story and adventure aspects and leaving out the party politics. To be fair, the restored version currently available on DVD is marginally more political.

A partizan with with a Russian surname is present, but it's up to the viewer to supply his political affiliation. Instead, the conflict is between the Nationalists and the Loyalists. The Loyalists are apparently the good guys since Gary Cooper is fighting for them and the campesinos are mostly good folk. The Nationalists are the bad guys since they appear as well trained and well equipped soldiers who mercilessly hunt down the campesinos.

Blockade (1938) is another Hollywood movie about the Spanish Civil War. The screenwriter was John Howard Lawson, a CP member who complained that references to the International Brigades were excised by the Breen Office. Joe Breen was a pro-Franco reactionary Roman Catholic.

[Angry Young Man]

Why did he make a film adaptation of an anti-fascist book then? I read that Hemingway fell out with another author for showing both sides atrocities, rather than just the Nationalists.

Also: Oktyabr, I love Sillitoe. You are in the permanent list of win. Legend.

[JohannGE]

the loneliness of the long distance runner

worth considering?

I would say so. More subtle than some other suggestions perhaps but as Wiki says:-

"The short story has elements of a Hegelian Master-slave dialectic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master-slave_dialectic) between the protagonist (whose interior monologue composes the narrative) and the "In-Laws," the Establishment as represented by the head of the borstal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borstal). The protagonist, haunted by his personal oppression as well as that of the lower-class which he belongs (the "Out-Laws"), believes that he has a more complete realization of freedom due to his enslavement. He experiences freedom through running and the semi-philosophical pondering which he engages in while running."

Alan Silitoe is a favorite author of mine ("Bill Posters Will be Proscecuted".. a brilliant title :)and Tom Courtney a favorite actor from my home city and as President of Hull City AFC's Supporters Club can't be bad ;).

[x359594]

Why did he make a film adaptation of an anti-fascist book then?

The book was a best seller, and Hollywood smelled money, so Paramount Pictures optioned the book after a bidding war with other studios. They put the picture in production in 1942 with what they thought would be a money making team, and Sam Wood had directed several big budget box office hits. The screenwriter was Dudley Nichols and he tried to remain faithful to Hemingway, but in typical Hollywood fashion his scenario was edited and re-written by other hands without credit.

[Bright Banana Beard]

Machuca is one of the good movie. Although the climax is messed up, it was generally overall good.

[JoeKenehan]

Forgot to mention the films of Mike Leigh. I especially like HIGH HOPES, which savages Thatcher's Britain. There's a great scene (it's on Youtube) in which the working class protagonist and his girlfriend visiting the grave of Karl Marx.

I'd also recommend the original Swept Away (1974).



Given my screen name, this seems like an appropriate 1st post!;)

Here's my list. Some of these have been mentioned, but I'd like to add to their support:

Matewan, Men With Guns, Casa de los Babys, and most every Sayles film
Reds
Battleship Potemkin, Strike, and most every Eisenstein film
The Battle of Chile
The Salt of the Earth
The Harder They Come
Los Olvidados, and many other Bunuel films
Memories of Underdevelopment
High Noon: Not a leftist film per se, but actually smuggles a pretty strong anti-McCarthy message into this great Western.
Modern Times
(I'll try to add more later)


Also, the following book is a great reference:
WORKING STIFFS, UNION MAIDS, REDS, AND RIFFRAFF: An Expanded Guide to Films about Labor by Tom Zaniello
(I tried to post a link to the TOC, but I'm only a noob so I was denied :glare:)

[Eva]

I have found and posted some of the films listed on my blog, and a few others; if you'd like to watch for free (I apologize not simply inserting links. I am not allowed to do so yet. Site policy, I suppose):

-La Commune
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/03/22/385/

-Century of the Self
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/04/09/century-of-the-self/

-Guerrillera
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/guerrillera/

- EEUU vs Allende*
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/04/05/eeuu-vs-allende/

- Surplus
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/04/05/surplus-terrorized-into-being-consumers/

- El Desencanto*
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/425/

- Battle of Algiers
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/144/

- They Live
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/89/


* No subtitles.

I also like:

- Blade Runner
- Cria Cuervos
- I am Cuba
- Machuca
- Soylent Green
- Hotel Rwanda
- The Great Dictator
- Pan's Labyrinth

[Stranger Than Paradise]

The Edukators is a good film. It's about a group of anti-capitalists who kidnap this big greedy businessman. Worth a watch.

Another one which isn't expressly leftist I can think of is Videodrome. Directed by the great David Cronenberg. His finest achievement if you ask me. It's is about the effect of the media on the individual in society. Really brilliant surrealist masterpiece. It is fucking amazing.

[AntinoiteBolshevik]

Ballad of a Soldier
Noch Nad Chili
Earth
Bezhin Meadows
The General Line
A State of Mind
Cranes Are Flying

[AntinoiteBolshevik]

I have found and posted some of the films listed on my blog, and a few others; if you'd like to watch for free (I apologize not simply inserting links. I am not allowed to do so yet. Site policy, I suppose):

-La Commune
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/03/22/385/

-Century of the Self
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/04/09/century-of-the-self/

-Guerrillera
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/guerrillera/

- EEUU vs Allende*
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/04/05/eeuu-vs-allende/

- Surplus
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/04/05/surplus-terrorized-into-being-consumers/

- El Desencanto*
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/425/

- Battle of Algiers
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/144/

- They Live
diezimedia.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/89/


* No subtitles.

I also like:

- Blade Runner
- Cria Cuervos
- I am Cuba
- Machuca
- Soylent Green
- Hotel Rwanda
- The Great Dictator
- Pan's Labyrinth



Are any of these in English?

[Angry Young Man]

The Edukators is a good film.
Go fuck yourself. Or watch Goodbye, Lenin instead.

Sorry about the rudeness, but it was my immediate reaction to such a daft statement.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

Go fuck yourself. Or watch Goodbye, Lenin instead.

Sorry about the rudeness, but it was my immediate reaction to such a daft statement.

of course it isn't very pro-leftist in the sense it is sort of taking the piss out of the new left of the 60's but it is still interesting.

[Angry Young Man]

No it isn't: that's the problem!

[Stranger Than Paradise]

No it isn't: that's the problem!

Yep just realised it isn't now. Haven't seen it in a while. Sorry mate.

[Oktyabr]

Have mentioned The Motorcycle Diaries yet? I heard that was a brilliant film.

[Pirate Utopian]

Motorcycle Dairies is okay, but not really political.
It's like a latin version of Easy Rider but not quite as good.

[x359594]

Don't know if all of Charlie Chaplin's left movies have been mentioned:

Modern Times (1936)
The Great Dictaitor (1940)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947) With a scathing anti-capitalist finale.
A King in New York (1956) The only film of the period to openly mock the HUAC hearings.

[Eva]

Are any of these in English?

All of them come with English subtitles, with the exception of two.

[RedScare]

I like Waltz With Bashir, because it has a pretty strong anti-IDF message.

[brigadista]

Xala

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073915/plotsummary

Moolade
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416991/plotsummary

the bicycle thieves

[Oktyabr]

Rome, Open City Just thought of that one.

[x359594]

Rome, Open City Just thought of that one.

And the other two films in Rosselini's "War Trilogy" are also great, Germany Year Zero and Paisa. So are all of his historical films, especially The Seizure of Power of Louis XIV.

Rosselini was preparing a bio pic on Marx at the time of his death.

[manic expression]

Motorcycle Dairies is okay, but not really political.
It's like a latin version of Easy Rider but not quite as good.

I disagree, it may not be overtly political, but it paints a vivid picture of the capitalist crimes that the two young travelers encounter, and indirectly points to the Ernesto Guevara we all know. The scenes of the workers and peasants looking directly at the camera (in black-in-white) still send chills down my spine and tears down my face. Again, it's not openly "political", but in my opinion, it (poignantly) illustrates the plight of the masses and the desire to fight for progress, and that in itself is revolutionary.

By the way, I might be just a bit biased because it's one of my favorite movies.

[JohannGE]

Land without Bread

Espana 1936

Just remebered those 2 when you mentioned Bunuel

Can't seem to find Espana 1936 as a torrent download, any suggestions?

Land without Bread... Isn't this film now considered to be exploitational and damaging by the local inhabitants?

[Pirate Utopian]

I disagree, it may not be overtly political, but it paints a vivid picture of the capitalist crimes that the two young travelers encounter
As does Easy Rider.
With a beter soundtrack!

[Oktyabr]

Can't seem to find Espana 1936 as a torrent download, any suggestions?

Land without Bread... Isn't this film now considered to be exploitational and damaging by the local inhabitants?Bunuel was a leftist for all I know, and if he had to exploit the people of the village to display the suffering they experienced, it is better to do so than to let them continue suffering without anyone else knowing of it.

As for the first film you mentioned, I have no idea of where to find Espana 1936, I merely read about it on wikipedia. The internet is the best place to find such obscure foreign films, and I'm sure it is out there somewhere. Maybe someone on this site would be knowing of where to find it.

[JohannGE]

Having watched Land without Bread (Las Hurdes ) again I am still unsure. I agree Bunuel was indeed a leftist and made the film with good intentions. Available as a torrent or view on YouTube in three parts:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf9a8omRyQE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z_3ketCDGk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHUmqqULp4Y&feature=related

Interesting review here:-

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=250

I still can't find Espana 1936 unfortunatly.