Medium Cool (1969) Director: Haskell Wexler Actors: Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz Runtime: 111 min A realistic movie centered around a TV cameraman and his relationship with a single working class mother, made in the social atmosphere of a mass political awakening and loss of trust in the legitimacy of the system. The focus …
Szegénylegények (1966) Director: Miklós Jancsó Actors: János Görbe, Zoltán Latinovits, Tibor Molnár Runtime: 90 min The year is 1869 in Hungary – the government has decided to deal with uncontrolled elements in order to stabilize the system. In an improvised prison which has elements of a concentration camp a large group of people is detained. …
O slavnosti a hostech (1966) Director: Jan Nemec Actors: Ivan Vyskocil, Jan Klusák, Jiri Nemec Runtime: 68 min This simple and intelligent movie skillfully and effectively questions conformism and obedience to authority. It was made within the framework of the Czechoslovak New Wave and banned as “subversive” after the Soviet intervention in 1968. The critique …
Shoah (1985) Director: Claude Lanzmann Runtime: 566 min Shoah is the Hebrew term for the Holocaust, the genocide of approximately six million of European Jews conducted by Nazis (and their collaborators) during World War II. It is very difficult to find the words to express or think about the Nazi industry of death. I will …
Chronique des Années de Braise (1975) Director: Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina Actors: Yorgo Voyagis, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Leila Shenna Runtime: 177 min It is very rare to see colonialism depicted from the perspective of the enslaved. In this great Algerian movie, director Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina succeeded in showing the essence of colonial rule and many aspects of resistance to …
Shake Hands with the Devil (2007) Director: Roger Spottiswoode Actors: Roy Dupuis, Owen Sejake, James Gallanders Runtime: 112 min General Roméo Dallaire was the Force Commander of the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda (UNAMIR) in the moment when, at the beginning of April 1994, the Rwandan army and paramilitary forces of the ruling party MRND …
Enemy of the State (1998) Director: Tony Scott Actors: Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight Runtime: 126 min Although it is a blockbuster thriller with a Hollywood happy ending, this is also one of the first movies to realistically deal with modern high-tech surveillance and the state offensive against personal privacy, which has in recent …
Bloody Sunday (2002) Director: Paul Greengrass Actors: James Nesbitt, Allan Gildea, Tim Pigott-Smith Runtime: 107 min Bloody Sunday, also known as the Bogside Massacre, was an incident on 30 January 1972 in a neighborhood in Derry, the second largest city of Northern Ireland. British soldiers opened fire on a protest march of the Northern Ireland …
Defence Of The Realm (1986) Director: David Drury Actors: Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, Denholm Elliott Runtime: 96 min A British journalist follows the story of a politician who might have contact with a KGB agent, but eventually comes up to a much larger discovery. It appears there has been some cover-up at the highest level …
Syriana (2005) Director: Stephen Gaghan Actors: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright Runtime: 128 min A movie about the impact of the oil industry and petroleum politics on the Middle East, but also on world politics. Syriana is a term used by Washington think-tanks to describe a hypothetical re-shaping of the Middle East. The structure …
