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film/video reviews by Dr. John Ruhland
Three political films that received my highest rating are recently out
or soon-to-be released on DVD. The importance of a release on DVD is
that it gives new visibility to films which have not seen the widespread
distribution they deserve. The first film, Waco: The Rules Of
Engagement, was directed by William Gazecki and first released in 1997.
This film unambiguously answers whether the ruling class truly desires
freedom or democracy. The film is reminiscent of Patty Hearst, a 1988
film from director Paul Shrader, while not on my list of exceptional or
even good political films, gives a rare depiction of how police and
authorities went to great lengths to avoid taking any prisoners. The SLA
appears to have been systematically exterminated.
The second new DVD release, Hidden Wars Of Desert Storm, was directed by
Audrey Brohy & Gerard Ungerman. In this 2000 film, we have documentation
of what progressive people know, that the media circus that was Desert
Storm had no relationship to reality. We see in their footage some of
the politics involved in the first Desert Slaughter under Papa Bush. The
directors will have far more material to work with if they make a
documentary on Baby Bush's attempt to follow in Papa's footsteps. The
film Three Kings, a 1999 action film directed by David Russell and
starring Ice Cube, also calls into question the legitimacy of the Gulf
"War."
The third new release, A Very British Coup, shows us what to expect if a
Leftist candidate becomes president in this country. While watching the
film, I imagined Dennis Kucinich winning the US presidency as an
approximation of what would excite the secret government of the US into
such a frenzy of activity. In this film, after a truly progressive and
principled labor/socialist candidate wins the election for prime
minister, the establishment struggles to manipulate itself back into
control of the government. The British TV series The Sandbaggers gives
insight into the workings of the secret government to enable this to
happen.
The closest we have come to an election that resembles the one in A Very
British Coup in this country was probably when the Socialist Eugene Debs
ran for president early last century. According to his biography The
Bending Cross, the 1912 election count showed not a single vote for Debs
in his home town of Terre Haute, Indiana. Despite his popularity there,
not even the vote he cast for himself was acknowledged. Nevertheless, at
the time when basically only white males could vote in the United
States, Debs received an impressive one million votes. Which leads me to
the campaign of Dennis Kucinich....
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