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- Review count2
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- First reviewDecember 7, 2008
- Last reviewSeptember 11, 2011
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating4.5
dancingsailor's Reviews
Overall rating
4
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5
looking back
PostedSeptember 11, 2011
dancingsailor
from Brooklyn, NY
The footage shot by Swedish film makers 45 and more years ago is a vivid reminder of people and views not easily accessible to most people at the time despite being well-known names. The fragments and interviews have been reassembled and presented as decently as possible, the perspective, as stated, that of a few Swedish film makers about events in America in the late 60's and early 70's, the period we know of as "the 60's."
Some current interviews are included as voiceovers--that of Angela Davis, for example, reminding us as always we still have much work to do. I write this as we Remember Attica (as well as 9/11) -- prisoners in Attica at the time of the uprising and premeditated murders by the state spoke at Riverside Church Friday; the movement to abolish prisons is still gaining traction, working to make rehabilitation rather than retribution a reality. We are reminded of the systematic policies tracking young people of color into prisons particularly through the War on Drigs, an ongoing Jim Crow system that perpetuates state violence.
Looking backward in the film through the scenes and voices and images of people who were important in my life and the life of the nation in the 60's, I was brought back to the widespread despair that white America would not change, to the courageous vision of Black Panthers who made Breakfast for Children Programs as well as arming for self defense, who worked with white radicals as well as blacks on the left, And who were murdered.
All of those depicted in the film were vilified for standing up in the spirit of American promises of freedom and equality, whether the increasingly radical voice of Malcolm X whose turn to the political left cost him his life, or the also increasingly radical voice of King whose new stand against the Vietnam war cost him his life as well. The child's voice, mourning the loss of his heroes including Robert Kennedy and JFK, as well as Emmet Till and Medgar Evers. This was the era that the Right used to build its movement of reaction, fear and hatred.
It still is. The Right only sounds reasonable when voices like theses are not heard and understood. For those unfamiliar with the racism of the times more context might be useful, but the footage was shot it seems for an audience familiar with its subjects, people who knew who Fred Hampton and Erica Huggins were, as well as Stokely Carmichael and Eldridge Cleaver and Angela Davis.
The film is a simple one, not built on a dramatic narrative arc--just recovering rare footage of lost voices who deserve a place in American History, an American history more sensitive to the times, the plight of all her peoples, and the courageous ones who opposed her injustice.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
5
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5
terrific
PostedDecember 7, 2008
dancingsailor
from Brooklyn, NY
A must-see for young and old alike, from teens to grandfolks, for straight and gay, for those who have been active in movements and those who have been active in their places of worship and all the diverse communities we are. In this time of hope when we need to be reminded of how inspiring is the difficult work of speaking out on all the issues we care about, an excellent film.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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