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Interview with the director of The Trotsky
This is an interview with the director of The Trotsky I did for the Left Film Review
http://leftfilmreview.net/2012/01/27...f-the-trotsky/
+ YouTube Video
Oh to hell with youtube (malfunctioning speakers).
Have you got a transcription or something?
FKA LinksRadikal
“The possibility of securing for every member of society, by means of socialized production, an existence not only fully sufficient materially, and becoming day by day more full, but an existence guaranteeing to all the free development and exercise of their physical and mental faculties – this possibility is now for the first time here, but it is here.” Friedrich Engels
"The proletariat is its struggle; and its struggles have to this day not led it beyond class society, but deeper into it." Friends of the Classless Society
"Your life is survived by your deeds" - Steve von Till
Thanks for that.I wanna see The Trotsky now. I've heard of it before, but never really looked into the movie until after watching your interview. Hopefully the local video stores have it.
I believe in a better Earth.via
=
Star Wars and video gaming fanatic for life!
Stupid film. I downloaded and deleted it pretty quickly.
"Machinery in itself is a victory of man over the forces of nature, but in the hands of capital it makes man the slave of those forces" - Uncle Karl
I don't think anyone could argue the contrary, but it's satisfying in a politically carnal fashion.
6/10 --Average. It's a perfectly average film. No brilliant acting, yet not so terrible as to distract the viewer. Typical, manufactured script. Typical, manufactured obstacles.
Had it not been for the political twist, nothing would have separated this film from anyone of the dozens upon dozens of profit-driven bogus Hollywood degradations of art.
In fact I had submitted a review of the film on IMDB a couple months ago.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away".
I found that if you take it as a little comedy for 20 something college kids who think it's cool to hear the name Trotsky in a movie, then...well....Nevermind it does suck. Can we do a thread on the ideological undertones of Zoolander or Ghostbusters even.
Link me up, comrade.
"Machinery in itself is a victory of man over the forces of nature, but in the hands of capital it makes man the slave of those forces" - Uncle Karl
Anyone can submit a review to IMDB, mine wasn't really very significant ...just a couple paragraphs. The one titled "A light watch for the socially incline"
imdb(.)com/title/tt1295072/reviews
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away".
It wasn't that bad. I at least sat through the whole thing and even chuckled at times.
I think shitty highschool comedies are something of a 'guilty' pleasure of mine. I went through a phase of watching loads of South Korean highschool films. There's some weird shit being regurgitated by film industries around the world. The Trotsky is far better than some of the crap I've seen.
Modern democracy is nothing but the freedom to preach whatever is to the advantage of the bourgeoisie - Lenin
I know what you mean. I'm a complete sucker for stuff like that.
Are you one of those "movies are just movies" people? (Which is quite a silly position for anti-capitalists/materialists to have)I found that if you take it as a little comedy for 20 something college kids who think it's cool to hear the name Trotsky in a movie, then...well....Nevermind it does suck. Can we do a thread on the ideological undertones of Zoolander or Ghostbusters even.
Zizek talks about a person being able to have 'two minds' when watching cinema that allows them to experience the desired responses of the creator as well as the ability to devise alternative meaning. I also ascribe to the concept of 'death of the author' where we can enjoy film for reasons other than those intended by the producer. I think people who think that watching Third Cinema or obscure political documentaries making them better socialists are often more 'silly' than someone with a 'movies are just movies' mindset.
When we, as a socialist and objective audience, watch a film like The Trotsky we can identify problematic discourses within the film such as the sympathetic representation of the police, the naive allegory of revolution being equated to the formation of a students' union and the shite constructed relationship between the protagonist and his love interest (to name but a few). However by understanding this nature of the film, we can also understand how the producers of the film wanted to create a simple high-school comedy that attempts to deal with some serious issues. The terribly put together relationship becomes funny because of its ridiculous construction and not in spite of it.
Socialism isn't a lifestyle choice where you can simply boycott Hollywood to prove your hatred of capitalism. The idea is to seize control of the means of production and cinema is as much an industry as car manufacturing. It is our job as socialists to educate the consumers of film, the working class, about the problematic nature of capitalist film, the contradictions within and the subtle bourgeoise propaganda, lest we become dictators of culture by telling them that enjoying one thing is 'wrong' while enjoying another thing is 'revolutionary'.
Modern democracy is nothing but the freedom to preach whatever is to the advantage of the bourgeoisie - Lenin
Ooooh oooh...do the 'Breakfast Club'!I found that if you take it as a little comedy for 20 something college kids who think it's cool to hear the name Trotsky in a movie, then...well....Nevermind it does suck. Can we do a thread on the ideological undertones of Zoolander or Ghostbusters even.
I wasn't aware that people thought that watching obscure or political documentaries made them "better socialists" and I certainly hope that wasn't directed at me.
Indeed, I completely agree with this and don't see how it is different from what I've said in the past.
It was fun. As a 30something Trotskyist I found it very amusing. It's light and fun.
The comments on Kubrick are interesting.
Don't sweat it. Good interview!
I've met many people who've watched a Godard film and think that gives them the nuanced film knowledge to criticise mainstream film without actually having any understanding of Godard let alone mainstream cinema. I was channeling my annoyance at them and I wasn't intentionally directing anything at you. However, if it came across that way, I'm sorry.
I believe that it's not 'silly' to watch a film and enjoy it without having to apply marxist theory, or any other kind of film theory, in order to find every problematic point. Your post implied otherwise.
Modern democracy is nothing but the freedom to preach whatever is to the advantage of the bourgeoisie - Lenin
Agreed, but this kind of pretentiousness is unavoidable at many levels of theory and culture
Perhaps it did seem as if I was implying this but I didn't mean for it to. While I of course agree that sometimes you just want to enjoy a film for what it is: I would imagine we could agree that those films are part of the broader culture we live in, part of an industry, etc. I believe you already pointed this out of course so I doubt we disagree on this point.
Cultural criticism does serve an important function in society, but so does sitting back and enjoying a good film for what it is.
2.48. Director talks about how Trotsky played a vital part in the revolution and was later erased from history.
Interviewer changes subject!
Classic.
20 minutes later, still no discussion of Trotsky. No more discussion of the film.
Apparently it is a good film, but this interview only discusses it for about 30 seconds.
Yes I know how all things must revolve around Trotsky for you, but this was an interview about film and politics more broadly. Also, as per how interviews go, the Director was done with that subject and clearly ready for a new question.2.48. Director talks about how Trotsky played a vital part in the revolution and was later erased from history.
Interviewer changes subject!
Classic.
20 minutes later, still no discussion of Trotsky. No more discussion of the film.
Apparently it is a good film, but this interview only discusses it for about 30 seconds.
I know you would only be satisfied if the entire thing were devoted to Leon Trotsky himself, but there are other things in the world.
