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.
13 MINUTES SHOWS WHY HITLER COULD NOT FIND A CONSPIRACY Although the most famous plot to kill Hitler occurred in 1944, involving several military officials, less famous but celebrated in 13 Minutes was Johann Georg Elser (played by Christian Friedel). The film begins with the explosion of a bomb and Elser’s arrest on November 8, 1939. The bomb […]
WAR MACHINE IS THE BIGGEST ANTI-WAR FILM SINCE PLATOON Inspired by Michael Hastings’s book The Operators, director David Michôd has out-Oliver Stone’d us by deciding to tell the truth about the Afghan War. Although Barack Obama once called the intervention in Afghanistan as a “good war,” portrayal of the longest war in American history clearly seems anything but
THE ZOOKEEPER’S WIFE KEPT MORE THAN 4-LEGGED ANIMALS When the film begins, the Warsaw Zoo is reproduced as it was in early 1939 (though filming is in Prague), with Antonina Zabinski (played by Jessica Chastain) petting and showering love on many animals as she begins the morning and continues throughout the day and night. The zoo’s
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BITTER HARVEST FINDS 7-10 MILLION DEAD The film Bitter Harvest provides an historical account of the Ukraine from 1917 to 1933. Known as the “breadbasket of Europe,” the Ukraine in January 1917 was a part of the Russian Kingdom. By October, Lenin had taken over Russia and soon began to integrate the Ukraine into a new economic order
BOTSWANA STRUGGLES FOR INDEPENDENCE IN A UNITED KINGDOM Prince Seretse Khama (played by David Oyelowo), the heir to the kingdom of Bechuanaland, was only 4 years old when his father dies, so his uncle Charles (Arnold Oseng) not only serves as Regent but also rears him until he goes away to London for school, eventually enrolling
55 STEPS FEATURE THE ASCENT OF THE RIGHTS OF MENTAL PATIENTSPatients are now accustomed to signing their name multiple times before their blood is drawn or other medical procedures are undertaken. But up to 1985, mental patients were deemed incompetent, so decisions were made for them without consultation, as the opening scene vividly demonstrates. Diagnosed with
SILENCE TRIES TOEXPLAIN HOW JAPAN RESISTED CHRISTIANITY Portuguese Catholics introduced Christianity to Japan in 1549, when Francis Xavier brought three Japanese Catholic converts from India, seeking to start a church in Nagasaki. Today only 1 percent of Japanese are Christians. Directed by Martin Scorsese, Silence is based on an historical novel by Shusako Endo that begins in the
I, DANIEL BLAKE EXPOSES LIFE AMONG THE UNDERCLASS Director Ken Loach has done it again: He has brought to the screen a slice of life that those who live in comfort never see—but must see if they want to understand how the underclass nowadays tries to survive. The film is about a certain Daniel Blake (played
THE SIEGE OF JADOTVILLE EXPOSES UN MISMANGEMENT IN THE CONGO In 1961, the newly independent Congo was in turmoil. President Patrice Lumumba proceeded to do business with the Soviet Union, but he was assassinated. His successor, Joseph Kasavubu, did not have the support of Moise Tshombe, prime minister of the mineral-rich province of Katanga, which armed
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SNOWDEN OPENS MORE EYES THAN THE NEWS MEDIA DARED Much of Snowden takes place in the Hongkong hotel room where Edward Snowden (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) releases records to journalist Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto), his boss Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson), and documentarian Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo). Chronologically, Snowden’s patriotism is evident as he tries to