Comments on: What Are the Best Films on Communism?

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:30:50 +0000

Has anyone seen “The Joke” by Milan Kundera? The plot summary looks good, but one never knows.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065241/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

By: Kate Pitrone

Kate Pitrone — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:14:35 +0000

That’s wonderful. I watched every one of the movies I could find through our state library system. I am a Mikhalkov fan now; some of the movies were so good that it was inevitable to watch everything by those directors. This post and thread provoked so much interesting viewing.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:22:13 +0000

How heartening and discouraging to see so many people here sharing the same interest and the same data, even the Reason article…. I put the movies in a list at IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/list/UG4xS0LZra0/

One that I had that others did not mention was Andrzej Wajda’s 2007 movie Katyn; it was shown on Russian television after the plane went down with the current generation of the Polish intelligentsia on the way to the Katyn memorial ceremony.

By: Mercedes

Mercedes — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:28:36 +0000

One of the best:
The Lives of Others (2006)

This are not in the best list but are good.

Tales from the Golden Age 2009

Guantanamera – Cuba – (1995) -

By: Marianne

Marianne — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 21:57:49 +0000

The Inner Circle I feel is one that should be on your list Directed by Andrey Konchalovskiy. With Tom Hulce, Lolita Davidovich, Bob Hoskins, Aleksandr Zbruev. The true story of Ivan Sanchin

By: Pastor Spomer

Pastor Spomer — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:49:20 +0000

The Trial (1955) Starring Glenn Ford
It’s about Communist manipultion of civil right in order to take away said rights.

By: Rape and Women in the Military » Postmodern Conservative | A First Things Blog

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:58:10 +0000

[...] addition, in response to Carl Scott’s post on movies about Communism, I’ve been watching some, including A Woman in Berlin, which is based on a journal that might [...]

By: João Pinheiro

João Pinheiro — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 16:29:48 +0000

It must be noted that 1984 is not a film, or a book, against Communism. It is a book against Stalinism, which is a completely different thing.

Also Cambodja is not often considered to be a Communist Country. They were destroyed by the Vietnamese and helped by the Americans. Not a very Communist thing to do.

By: Jim F

Jim F — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:08:31 +0000

The Thief
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0124207/

By: Carl Eric Scott

Carl Eric Scott — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 20:10:04 +0000

Thanks all for the great recommendations…I’ve definitely got some viewing to do.

I’m sure many of you are noticing what I am, however, that Netflix often doesn’t have the lesser-known titles here. That’s not an ideological thing with Netflix, as you see this dearth of lesser-known titles across the board, but it nonetheless reflects the continued resistance of certain elites in Western and post-communist nations to such films getting made and getting publicity.

There probably are many more films than we’ve mentioned here that at least touch upon the subject–that is, I suspect that experts on Eastern European cinema prior to 1989, or on Chinese cinema to this day, could likely point out many films that contain sly comments upon, or esoteric critiques of, communist ideology/society. One of the weirder animated films GhaleonQ links to above, for example, seems to be presenting a humanistic critique of communist totalitarianism under the guise of this critique being against capitalism/fascism. In less-tricky and more allegorical spirit, one might also recall the haunting balloon scene from the stunning Soviet film Andrei Rublev. I’m sure there are other instances along these lines, although I’d hope to find some less arty and ambiguous.

Peter, the full exploration of what we’re touching upon here, i.e., 1) the overall pattern(s) of films about communism, 2) the comparison with films about Nazism/fascism, and 3) the reasons for the lesser number (and public prominence) of the former, would be another book or two.

But I am going to link to that invaluable Reason article MPB linked to in a regular post.