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.
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB IS A BIOPIC OF A HEALTH CARE RADICAL Ron Woodroof (played by Matthew McConaughey) was an electrician in Dallas who exemplified the macho culture of Texas. He engaged in a lot of drinking, took drugs, got into fights, swore profusely, was an occasional bronco buster, and had an active sex life. In […]
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THE FIFTH ESTATE CONTRIBUTES TO THE FOURTH ESTATE Directed by Bill Condon, The Fifth Estate is a biopic of Julian Assange (played by Benedict Cummerbatch), who is interviewed making contradictory statements at the end of the film in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Assange admits to a strange upbringing, which supposedly prompted him to want
THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST EXPOSES AMERICAN HYPOCRISY Whenever terrorists attack or attempt to attack Americans, the party line narrative is “they don’t like our values.” So repeated Vice President Biden after the recent Boston attack. And “experts” on television also play amateur psychologist to explain why terrorists act, even equivalencing the 19-year old Chechen with the
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EMPEROR FOCUSES ON CIVILIAN CLOTHES During World War II, the American media depicted the leader of Japanese aggression as Emperor Hirohito, whom Japanese grew up revering as the descendent of the sun god. Lacking access to machi-nations in Tokyo, the media did not identify the prime ministers or the military faction as sole culprits. After
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