Revolutionary Movies

[Abluegreen7]

Has anyone seen the Movie V for Vendetta ?

Its a revolutionary movie.

Any other good Revolutionary movies?

[Hit The North]

Reds about John Reed is a good one.

Matewan about the West Virginia coal strike is really good: the class struggle played out like a Western.

Battle for the Planet of the Apes is also worth looking out - kind of influenced by the Black Panthers.

Talking of which: Panther about the Black Panthers is watchable.

[Pirate turtle the 11th]

I thought the motorcycle diaries was shit. - there i said it "runs away"

[Prairie Fire]

Reds isn't very revolutionary at all; it focuses on romance between Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton, and on trying to discredit the USSR (although, granted, Zinoviev made a lot of mistakes).

The motorcycle diaries also wasn't revolutionary; more love-story drama, that happened to feature Che Guevera as a character.

For my pics, I would say my favorite is The wind that shakes the barely, about the irish struggle for independence from britain, and the struggle between socialist elements and bourgeois elements in the IRA (who eventually became the new puppet government).

Also, another Warren Beatty film, Bulworth, is pretty good (some fairly revolutionary content).

[Hit The North]

Originally posted by Comrade Joe
I thought the motorcycle diaries was shit. - there i said it "runs away"
I agree. Total yawn-fest.


Originally posted by Prairie Fire
Reds isn't very revolutionary at all; it focuses on romance between Warren Beatty and Diane lane, and on trying to discredit the USSR (although, granted, Zinoviev made a lot of mistakes).
I don't recall the attempt at discrediting the revolution, although I'll concede that it does focus too much on the love story. But, hey, that's Hollywood.


For my pics, I would say my favorite is The wind that shakes the barelyYes it's excellent .There's also Ken Loach films such as Bread and Roses

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212826/

and Land and Freedom

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

And of course there's Kubrik's excellent Spartacus:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054331/

But probably the most famous revolutionary movie is Sergei Einsenstein's Battleship Potemkin:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015648/

[Random Precision]

Reds isn't very revolutionary at all; it focuses on romance between Warren Beatty and Diane lane, and on trying to discredit the USSR (although, granted, Zinoviev made a lot of mistakes).

First off, Diane Keaton, secondly, that may have a bit of truth, but on the other hand it's the only Hollywood movie I've seen that deals sympathetically with the Russian Revolution (remember Reed's argument with Emma Goldman?) and it was made during the height of the Reagan Reaction, so you have to give it credit for that.

My picks: the Wind that Shakes the Barley, Land and Freedom, Oktober, Battleship Potemkin, the Battle of Algiers- those don't really need to be explained. Also of revolutionary interest is The Year of Living Dangerously with the young Mel Gibson, who plays an Australian reporter in Indonesia during the PKI's attempt to seize power from Sukarno in '65.

[Prairie Fire]

First off, Diane Keaton,


It's been a while since I've seen that show.

[Lenin's Law]

I concur with some of the mentions here: Bread and Roses, Land and Freedom are both very good. On Cuba, there is a little-known movie called "I am Cuba" which deals with the Batista regime and US support for it.

As for V for Vendetta, it may be rebellious in some sense but its message is totally utopian and idealistic. A masked desperado, without a party, movement, any real connection with the working class making individualistic terrorist attacks is no way for any real revolution to occur. It does contain some important points about the system we live in but the method it goes about to pursue its 'revolution' is completely reactionary and idealistic.

There is a new movie coming out soon about Che Guevara which deals with both the Cuban and Bolivian campaigns, be interesting to see how that turns out. On the Motorcycle Diaries, while I admit it was limited to an extent I am not quite as harsh as some others here.

The movie is about Che's journeys around South America when he was 23; it isn't about a revolution. More about how someone coming from a privileged middle class existence starts to open his eyes to see the reality around him. About a love story? Wow. His love interest was only in a couple scenes during the entire movie and they broke up shortly thereafter...really didn't see that criticism coming.

The scenes where Che is with the miners and when a couple is telling him how they and their comrades were persecuted by the authorities for being Communists were very powerful I thought.

The movie is more subtle than I guess some people would like but I think the biggest letdown was for people who didn't really know Che's history and expected the movie to be all about revolution...that wasn't what Che's trip was about.

[rednordman]

On Cuba, there is a little-known movie called "I am Cuba" which deals with the Batista regime and US support for it. Interesting, I would actually consider soy cuba (i am cuba) to be more of a classic than little known. If anyone has not seen it, i would probably put it top of the list. Its rather old but has so great scenes in it, and smashes to death the american cold war myth that any thing made in a socialist country is second rate.



On the Motorcycle Diaries, while I admit it was limited to an extent I am not quite as harsh as some others here.

The movie is about Che's journeys around South America when he was 23; it isn't about a revolution. More about how someone coming from a privileged middle class existence starts to open his eyes to see the reality around him. About a love story? Wow. His love interest was only in a couple scenes during the entire movie and they broke up shortly thereafter...really didn't see that criticism coming.

The scenes where Che is with the miners and when a couple is telling him how they and their comrades were persecuted by the authorities for being Communists were very powerful I thought.

The movie is more subtle than I guess some people would like but I think the biggest letdown was for people who didn't really know Che's history and expected the movie to be all about revolution...that wasn't what Che's trip was about.
I totally agree with what you have said here. Im really suprised at the amount of critisism that it has recieved in this thread. For me the movie was all about the experiences that lead Che' to become a revolutionary and i think that is a bit of a masterstroke how they displayed the film (not revolutionary, a tiny bit soppy, idealistic, and, middle class) as a lot of people who would never agree with leftist ideals (mainly the middle class), felt compassion with his character and got an insight into why not everyone is a conservative (without even realising in some cases). Like you said, its quite subtle but effective, and the best thing is that it shed a human light on to a historical character that a lot of people (mainly anyone not left wing) would rather have remembered as a naive ideological monster.

[rocker935]

I think the biggest reason why people hate The Motorcycle Diaries is because it wasn't in the direction they were expecting. If you go into that movie expecting revolutionary shit, you will be disappointed.

[FinnMacCool]

Libertarias is a great anarchist film.

[MarxSchmarx]

"Human resources", by Laurent Cantet.

I agree with Rednormand's point. Boring as it was, motorcycle diaries wasn't meant to be revolutionary, so much as describe how the experience changed che.