GOLDA TRIES TO REDEEM THE REPUTATION OF GOLDA MEIR Israel’s prime minister Golda Meir, sometimes known as the “Iron Lady,” has been blamed for unnecessary deaths in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, but when her conduct before, during, and after the war are examined in Golda, filmviewers may make a very different assessment. Directed […]
AURORA’S SUNRISE Graphically Explains the Armenian Genocide A biopic about Arshaluys Mardiganian, Aurora’s Sunrise is also a biopic and mini-critique of the previously forgotten film Auction of Souls (1919). The latter film is a story (though she was renamed Aurora to sell to an American audience), of a 14-year-old who is evicted from her home
Oppenheimer Tries to Restore A Reputation A biopic about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy), scenes shift back and forth throughout his life, with particular attention to those trying to destroy his reputation after his face appears on Time magazine as the father of the atomic bomb. Although he mostly speaks softly in
WE SAID NO! NO! A STORY OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE FOCUSES ON Japanese Although most Japanese sent to “internment camps” during World War II appeared compliant, some were not. We Said No! No! A Story of Civil Disobedience, a re-enactment with historical film footage and interviews with participants, is the story of those who resisted. The
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THE WIND AND THE RECKONING DESCRIBES AN ANTI-COLONIAL STRUGGLE IN HAWAIʽI After titles inform filmviewers that the Kingdom of Hawaiʽi was overthrown in 1893, the context is on a new law of the Republic of Hawaiʽi that required all persons with leprosy (Hansen’s disease) to be rounded up and sent to a “leper colony” on
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CHEVALIER FEATURES WHITE SUPREMACY Historical information about Joseph Bologne has been pieced together, and the film Chevalier has a lot of interesting subplots that are doubtless fictional. But the message of the film is one of the most fascinating of 2023 and seems very timely indeed, with White males infuriated by an upstart Black whom
SWEETWATER REMINDS FILMVIEWERS OF THE EARLY DAYS OF CIVIL RIGHTS PROGRESS In 1990, a man by the name of Nathaniel Clifton (played at age 78 by Everett Osborne) is driving a Chicago taxi. After his rider asks to increase the volume of an ongoing basketball game, a discussion begins, and the driver reveals that he
88 IS A FILM ABOUT “DARK MONEY” Many political messages are poured into the film 88—perhaps too many. The spotlight is on the financing of a presidential campaign of African American Harold Roundtree (played by Orlando Jones) for the year 2024. His SuperPAC, OneUSA, is chaired by Agatha Frost (Amy Sloan), with Fred Fowlkes (Michael
WOMEN TALKING RECOUNTS SEXUAL ABUSE IN BOLIVIA Mennonite “colonies” exist in Canada, the United States, and Bolivia. Women perform household chores and are not allowed educational opportunities. Such asymmetry evidently provokes the view of some men that they are superior, while women are mere objects. Between 2009–2009, about 150 women were raped, ages 5 to
CAIRO CONSPIRACY EXPLAINS HOW EGYPT IS NOW GOVERNED The Grand Imam of Egypt is in bad health, so the Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s government is concerned that 2 of the 3 possible successors might provoke civil war. Colonel Ibrahim (played by Tares Tares) of the Security Services is assigned to ensure that the favored Sheik becomes