Films that bring previously obscured truths about the political process to the attention of the public, showing for example how offices of public trust are used for private purposes.
SAVING LINCOLN HONORS PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORABILIA AND A BODYGUARD Reproduced photos from the Library of Congress of the Lincoln era provide the background sets for scenes in Saving Lincoln, directed by Salvador Litvak, whose “cine-collage” is largely in a very comfortable black and white. The story is a biopic not only of Lincoln (played by Tom […]
A DARK TRUTH EXPOSES HOW EVEN RAINWATER IS DENIED TO RAINFOREST DENIZENS A Canadian company has purchased water rights from the government to an Ecuadorian rainforest, extracts all water for sale abroad, but a torrential rain overflows the sewage system, causing an outbreak of cholera. Rather than calling upon WHO to stop the epidemic, the
ARGO REVEALS THE OP THAT GOT 6 AMERICANS OUT OF TEHRAN IN 2009 The seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran during 1979 by Iranian militants and the detention of 52 personnel for 444 days is well known. But, for those who have no memory of the event, Argo begins with an explanation. What was
MULBERRY CHILD REENACTS THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION FROM A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE What suffering occurred during the Cultural Revolution? Whereas the autobiographical Mulberry Child (2008) by Jian Ping describes the suffering of one family, the film Mulberry Child presents a docudrama of that experience while focusing on the interplay between Jian Ping (played by the author herself)
COMPLIANCE EXPOSES A NATION OF SHEEP Do you believe that it is possible for a prankster to fool personnel running almost 70 fast-food businesses in small towns of 30 states over a period of 10 years into believing that police require managers to mistreat their employees in order to avoid their arrest on phony charges?
FOR GREATER GLORY ENDS ABRUPTLY IN TRAGEDY The Catholic Church used the threat of excommunication to control civilian authorities for many centuries until the rise of militarism and secularism. From the mid-19th century, México had sought to establish a clear boundary between church and state, but in practice the appropriate formula was difficult for a
LULA, SON OF BRAZIL PORTRAYS HIS HUMBLE ROOTS AND METEORIC RISE Covering his birth in 1945 until his mother’s death in 1980, with much attention to his family life, Lulu, o Filho do Brasil shows how a boy born into abject poverty exhibited much intelligence as a child, became a machinist, joined the union, and
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THE IRON LADY FEATURES BURNOUT AT #10 Only three prime ministers have portraits at #10 Downing Street—David Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, and Margaret Thatcher. All three won wars. In her case, the Falklands War, also known as the Malvinas War. And, midway in The Iron Lady, her conduct of the war becomes a paradigm for her
IN DARKNESS SHEDS LIGHT IN LWÓW’S SEWERS DURING WORLD WAR II For 14 months a group of Jews who had dug their way into the sewers of Lwów, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine), hid from the Nazis until 1945, when Russian troops liberated the city, Simon Wiesenthal’s hometown. Leopold Socha (played by Robert Wieçkiewicz), whose job
KINYARWANDA IMPRESSIONISTICALLY RECREATES THE RWANDA GENOCIDE AND AFTERMATH Impressionistic painters place dots on a canvas, allowing viewers to organize what they see into a coherent picture. Although perhaps not deliberately, that is what Kinyarwanda does in trying to depict the Rwanda genocide of 1994. Scenes are organized with subtitles, flashbacks, flashforwards, and other scenes during