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.
FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING DEPICTS NORTHERN IRELAND AT ITS WORST The title of the film Fifty Dead Men Walking, as explained at the end of the film, refers to the number of British police and soldiers whose lives were saved by Martin McGartland (played by Jim Sturgess), who spied for the British while working undercover […]
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Although the era of Queen Victoria is usually identified with sexual repression, The Young Victoria biopic focuses on her days as a swinger of sorts who gave birth to nine children after marrying Prince Albert of Belgium (played by Rupert Friend). Chronologically, the film begins in 1836, when Victoria (played by Emily Blunt) is seventeen, meets the
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STORM REVEALS THE POLITICS OF THE BOSNIAN WAR CRIMES TRIALS Heinous acts were committed in the Bosnian Civil War, so the UN Security Council set up a special war crimes tribunal to bring the major perpetrators to justice. The procedure was for a prosecutor’s office to compile information about persons to be tried from documents
THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD—IF ONLY THEY COULD! Another installment in the capers of Andy Bichlbaum and Michael Bonnano, who codirect The Yes Men Fix the World, tells lies that should be true and upsets the elites as usual. First, they set up a website for Dow Chemical Company and await an invitation to
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SKIN REVEALS THE FATE OF SANDRA LAING Directed by Anthony Fabian, Skin is a biopic of Sandra Laing that differs in important ways from the 1977 documentary The Search for Sandra Laing. In the documentary, journalists try to find Sandra’s whereabouts, so they inquire at various places featured in news reports, ultimately finding her in
THE INFORMANT! IS A TRAGICOMIC BIOPIC OF MARK WHITACRE Biochemist Mark Whitacre blew the whistle on price fixing by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) but served nearly nine years in prison while those he exposed served three years. The Informant!, directed by Stephen Soderbergh, tries to explain why. Soon after the film begins, in 1992, filmviewers
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX DEPICTS A 1970S URBAN TERRORIST GANG IN GERMANY A biopic of notorious urban terrorists, The Baader Meinhof Complex (Der Baader Meinhof Complex) explains how some Mao-quoting German opponents of the American misadventure in Vietnam morphed into urban terrorists. Directed by Uli Edel, the film begins at a nudist beach in Germany,
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Flame & Citron (Flammen & Citronen), directed by Ole Christian Madsen, is a biopic of the most famous members of the Danish resistance to the German occupation of World War II–Bent Faurschou-Hviid (Flame) and Jorgen Haagen Schmith (Citron). President Harry Truman posthumously awarded them the Medal of Freedom in 1951. The film demonstrates the ambiguity
The Russians reached Berlin first and remained for occasional raids to wipe out lingering Nazi resistance. Most of their idle time was spent eating, sleeping, and turning the city into a whorehouse. In A Woman in Berlin (Anonyma—Eine Frau in Berlin), directed by Max Fäberböck, the women of Berlin find protectors and try to turn
DOLPHIN BLOOD RUNS DEEP IN THE COVE Richard O’Barry made the adorable bottlenose dolphin a focus of worldwide awe in the television series Flipper (1964-1968). As he trained the five dolphins known as Flipper, he learned of their beauty, intelligence, and sensitivity, but not until after ten years, when one died by suicide in his