Most relevant political commentary in film?

[Zenister 0]

and the nominees are....


Brazil.....

Terry Gilliam should be also be nominated for "modern prophet"

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[quade 3]

1984

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Lefty 0]

If Southpark counts then...Southpark.

Provoking a reaction isn't the same thing as saying something meaningful.
-Calvin

[Skyrad 0]

Hotel Rwanda

http://www.hotelrwanda.com/intro.html

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[ltdiver 3]

Hotel Rwanda


ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[likearock 1]

Quote

If Southpark counts then...Southpark.

Even more than Southpark, Team America: World Police has got to be in contention. Come on, their characterization of Kim Jong-Il was dead on.

[jakee 1,262]

Similar to Hotel Rwanda this is a commentary on a more specific political situation, and one that does not directly affect us in the west, but again like Hotel Rwanda it is an immensely powerful film.

City of God, (Cidade de Deus)

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[LouDiamond 1]

Quote

City of God, (Cidade de Deus)

A very good movie indeed and not just for the politcal mumbo jumbo.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[billvon 2,435]

For our situation today? I'd go with either Brazil or 1984. Both are eerily prophetic. (1984 is a book, but was made into a movie at one point.)

From Brazil:

INTERVIEWER
Deputy minister, what do you believe
is behind this recent increase in
terrorist bombings?

HELPMANN
Bad sportsmanship. A ruthless
minority of people seems to have
forgotten certain good old fashioned
virtues. They just can't stand seeing
the other fellow win. If these people
would just play the game, instead of
standing on the touch line heckling -

INTERVIEWER
In fact, killing people -

HELPMANN
- In fact, killing people - they'd
get a lot more out of life.

. . . .

INTERVIEWER
And the cost of it all, Deputy
Minister? Seven percent of the gross
national produce ...

HELPMANN
I understand this concern on behalf
of the tax-payers. People want value
for money and a cost-effective
service.

HELPMANN
That is why we always insist on the
principle of Information Retrieval
Charges. These terrorists are not
pulling their weight, and it's
absolutely right and fair that those
found guilty should pay for their
periods of detention and the
Information Retrieval Procedures used
in their interrogation.

INTERVIEWER
Do you think that the government is
winning the battle against
terrorists?

HELPMANN
On yes. Our morale is much higher
than theirs, we're fielding all their
strokes, running a lot of them out,
and pretty consistently knocking them
for six. I'd say they're nearly out
of the game.

INTERVIEWER
But the bombing campaign is now in
its thirteenth year ...

HELPMANN
Beginner's luck.

------------------------------------------

1984:

. . . at just this moment it had been announced that Oceania was not after all at war with Eurasia. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Eurasia was an ally.

There was, of course, no admission that any change had taken place. Merely it became known, with extreme suddenness and everywhere at once, that Eastasia and not Eurasia was the enemy. Winston was taking part in a demonstration in one of the central London squares at the moment when it happened. . . .The speech had been proceeding for perhaps twenty minutes when a messenger hurried on to the platform and a scrap of paper was slipped into the speaker's hand. He unrolled and read it without pausing in his speech. Nothing altered in his voice or manner, or in the content of what he was saying, but suddenly the names were different. Without words said, a wave of understanding rippled through the crowd. Oceania was at war with Eastasia! The next moment there was a tremendous commotion. The banners and posters with which the square was decorated were all wrong! Quite half of them had the wrong faces on them. It was sabotage! The agents of Goldstein had been at work! There was a riotous interlude while posters were ripped from the walls, banners torn to shreds and trampled underfoot. The Spies performed prodigies of activity in clambering over the rooftops and cutting the streamers that fluttered from the chimneys. But within two or three minutes it was all over. The orator, still gripping the neck of the microphone, his shoulders hunched forward, his free hand clawing at the air, had gone straight on with his speech.

The thing that impressed Winston in looking back was that the speaker had switched from one line to the other actually in midsentence, not only without a pause, but without even breaking the syntax.

. . . .

Oceania was at war with Eastasia: Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia. A large part of the political literature of five years was now completely obsolete.

[jakee 1,262]

Quote

That is why we always insist on the
principle of Information Retrieval
Charges. These terrorists are not
pulling their weight, and it's
absolutely right and fair that those
found guilty should pay for their
periods of detention and the
Information Retrieval Procedures used
in their interrogation.

With the way storage and interlinkage of our personal information is increasing these days the idea of the Tuttle/Buttle mix up is certainly (I believe) more relevant than ever before.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Gawain 0]

I'll throw in a couple:

Bulworth
Primary Colors

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[shropshire 0]

"Cry Freedom" would right up there on my list.

"You can blow out a candle
But you can't blow out a fire"


.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[VincentVL. 0]

Grave of the Fireflies.

I win.

[lawrocket 3]

A Man for All Seasons.

My end-all, be all of politically relevant film. Dang, I haven't seen the movie in 10 years, but it hit me pretty well. It's the story of Sir Thomas More, who refused to go along with the state because he was, gulp, principled. We can look at religion and the state in detail in this movie. More refusd to take an oath before the King as the head of the new Church of England, and chose to face the consequences.

I googled it to find an exchange I remember. Here it is:
***
"William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake! "***

Watch the flick for an excellent discourse on power versus principle, and who ulitmately prevails.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[jakee 1,262]

Quote

It's the story of Sir Thomas More, who refused to go along with the state because he was, gulp, principled.

Nice one!

I'll be reading More's Utopia after christmas for part of my Uni philosophy module on The Republic. I might just have to see if I can get my hands on that film.

Cheers

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[likearock 1]

Dr. Strangelove.

[jakee 1,262]

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Dr. Strangelove.

Bravo sir. I knew there would be something I forgot!

(Not to mention it has the best start/ end credits ever)

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Michele 1]

Echoing Lawrocket's Man of All Seasons, and adding Birth of A Nation. Something incredibly disturbing about that film...especially when viewed from the position of nearly 100 years later's perspective.

And can't forget "To Kill A Mockingbird", both the film and the movie.

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[Squeak 17]

My pic goes to Milo and Otis, why cant we all get along like that

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[freethefly 6]

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Dr. Strangelove.

You beat me to it!

...or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Sorry, just hed to finish the title. Seems that it really was the message that our governments pushed on us. Don't worry, love the bomb, it loves you!

Animal Farm is another great movie (animation). The book is far better but, the movie is not bad.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young