Reds

I thought it might be beneficial to watch a movie about the one American who chronicled the most transformative political revolution in the 20th Century. His name was John Reed, and he wrote the book on the Russian Revolution that commenced in 1917: “Ten Days that Shook the World.” (Regrettably, I have never read it).There were two men, both journalists, both Americans from what would later be dubbed “the flyover zones.” One went east, the other west. Edgar Snow left his home in Kansas City in 1928, for what he intended to be a few month trip overseas. He would stay in China for 13 years, and be on good terms with the Chinese Communist leadership, before they came to power, including Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. Snow’s classic account of the Chinese revolution was published in 1937: “Red Star over China.” Snow would live long enough to collect Social Security. Reed grew up in Portland, Oregon (flyover, if you are going longitudinally). Reed would (somehow) get to Petrograd in 1917 (probably not by train from France, as shown in the movie). He would be on good terms with the Russian Communist leadership, including Lenin and Trotsky. In this movie, Lenin who personally arranged for Reed’s release from a Finnish prison would proclaim: “I’d trade 50 Finnish professors for one John Reed.” Reed is the only American buried in the Kremlin, struck down by yet another plague that was denied at the time: typhus. He died in 1920, at the age of 32.I really liked this movie. It commenced with interviews of older people who remembered Reed and the times, and sometimes frankly admitted, they no longer could remember (“Did he leave for Russia in 1913, or was it 1917?”). One of the people interviewed repeatedly was Henry Miller, who actually said that he thought sex nowadays was a bit of a perversion and unfeeling, hinting that it was better back in his day when a dash of romance was thrown in! Yet another example of chutzpah, from the author of “Tropic of Cancer,” et al., though I’ve been told I do not really understand him.Tangled doctrinaire politics complemented by tangled personal relationships (“Plus ca change…” Henry) and a great cast. Warren Beatty plays an admirable John Reed. The pleasant surprise was Diane Keaton, who played Reed’s lover and eventually his wife, Louise Bryant. I’ve improperly typecast her as the sometimes ditzy “Annie Hall.” Keaton can pull off the serious feminist who can take a lover, but gets upset when Reed admits to a notched bedpost or two, one of whom was identified as Mabel Dodge Luhan, who has bequeathed us a museum in nearby Taos. Bryant’s lover would be Eugene O’Neill, of “A Long Day’s Journey into the Night” fame. O’Neill was admirably played by the ever so cynical Jack Nicholson. “You can’t tell the players without a scorecard,” as they used to bark out at the stadiums before the electronic era.Jerzy Kolsinski, of all people, would play Grigory Zinoviev, one of the doctrinaire Communist leaders. Kolsinski most famously wrote “The Painted Bird” which I have read, a largely fabricated and probably plagiarized account of surviving the Holocaust in rural Poland, during WW II. Emma Goldman, bless her heart, pushing for birth control back then, to truly liberate women, was played by Maureen Stapleton. Goldman would eventually be arrested and deported back to Russia, where she and Reed would meet again. One of her comments that resonates today: “the only impact you can make is in the streets.” Imagine that one Minneapolis police officer had over 18 complaints filed against him, including one involving the death of an individual, and it was always “nada,” absolutely nothing was done about it. It took action “in the streets,” and suddenly he is arrested and charged with murder. As for the upcoming election, Goldman proclaimed: “voting is the opium of the masses.”A well-written, well-acted story with much historical and personal drama. And I have had to add “Ten Days…” to my reading list. 5-stars, plus.

MovieREDSReviewBy Richard E. NobleReds is a combination documentary and romance film.John Reed is a famous/infamous American, radical, historical figure. He was an aspiring journalist, writer and poet during one of the most explosive, revolutionary periods in American history.He was an avid Communist and active in the U.S. for many years. He was in my hometown of Lawrence, MA in 1912 along with Big Bill Haywood and the IWW for the well documented Bread and Roses Strike.He was in Paterson, New Jersey, for the silk strike in 1913 and was a major influence in "The Pageant of the Paterson Strike," a radical union play put on to help raise money for the strikers and their families and promote worldwide attention to the cause of labor struggles throughout the world.He wrote about the Ludlow Massacre and other American Labor conflicts.He is most famous as an American journalist and writer for his book "Ten Days That Shook the World." He travelled to Russia after the Russian Army had walked off the battlefields of Europe in 1917 during the First World War. The entire Russian Army quit the "Capitalist" conflict and went home to take care of business. They would kill Czar Nicolas II, topple the centuries old regime and attempt by way of armed and violent revolution to establish a new democratic government. And John Reed was there to record the event.He was a Harvard graduate.The study of the Union Movement here in the U.S. and consequently the American Communist and Socialist parties, has been purposely neglected and even hidden from the American people. Yet the battle over workers' rights, social justice and human equality brought this nation to the brink of a second Civil War.The battle rages on today in our present political system. Hatred for the American worker and his right to earn a living wage is still prevalent in our political system and throughout the populace.The film story centers on the love story between John Reed and Louise Bryant. I was not aware of the extent of this gripping romance until seeing this movie. It was quite an outstanding love affair and Beatty does a fantastic job in documenting and recording it.It is definitely on the Doctor Zhivago level in story and film making.I bought the film because of its documentary significance and my interest in the American Labor Movement.There are interviews with famous radicals, writers, American Communist and Socialists.Despite all the negative propaganda the American Communists and Socialists and their political parties and organizations did more to promote fair pay, the elimination and exploitation of child labor, good working conditions, sexual equality and free speech here at home than all other groups, parties, armies and social movement combined.I feel that from an historical point of view knowing more about this time period and these famous radicals is crucial to a proper understanding of American history.Our present overall understanding of this time and these people and their movements is convoluted and distorted to say the least.This movie, besides its obvious Russian historical value, is American History.Watch what happened then and get a better understanding of what is happening around you here in America today.PS: Believe it or not I was looking for a copy of this film for years. I had the wrong director/producer and I couldn't find it. Finally I stumbled onto Warren Beatty and there it was.It was done quite well - not many movies in the United States with an American communist hero as the subject matter.Beatty concentrates on the love story involved, which is probably the only way that this subject would ever have been acceptable in America.I wish someone would do the life story of Karl Marks in the same manner.Marks' life involves a fantastic love story - along with his political, social, and economic disaster. It would make a wonderful movie - but would probably have as much box office success as Reds.I wanted this movie because of the history involved, but the great and human rendition of the love story involved was like frosting on the cake.This was a combination documentary, history lecture, and romantic love story. I would guess that this would have to be considered the greatest production of Beatty's career. It is quite a movie - and done in a balanced, non-judgemental way. I really enjoyed it.Richard Noble - The Hobo Philosopher - Author of:"America On Strike"

Le blu ray n soit est correct, c'est l'affichage qui est erroné, si j'avais su, j'aurais pas acheté

La calidad del Blu-ray es bastante buena, no hay mucho que decir.La película en sí es una muy buena representación de los conflictos entre la revolución rusa (y subsecuentes movimientos apoyados por los soviéticos) y los ideales del comunismo por los que inició la revolución en parte. Todo esto acompañado de una cinematografía épica con un estilo similar a Lawrence of Arabia

Film eccellente su degli eventi abbastanza sconosciuti. Bella fotografia.

La verdad que todavía no la he visto. me gusto tanto que me da miedo que me defraude. un día de estos la vuelto a ver

Good to have a BluRay of this wonderful film. Beware it has none of the extras of the DVD.