|
|
|
Movie Reviews
Robert Brent Toplin
Contributing Editor
| |
|
Reel Report, 2006–2007 | |
| After twenty-one years of service as the Journal of American History's editor for movie reviews, I am stepping down. Thanks to excellent assistance from the staff at the Journal and fine contributions from hundreds of colleagues in the history profession, this job has been most gratifying. A fine student of film and history, Thomas Doherty, will now assume the position of editor for movie reviews. Doherty, of Brandeis University, has published excellent books on film and history, including Projections of War (1993), Pre-Code Hollywood (1999), and Hollywood's Censor (2007), and he has contributed several movie reviews over the years to the Journal. Individuals who wish to recommend films for review can reach Thomas Doherty at doherty@brandeis.edu. |
1
|
|
And now to the business of "Reel Report," which is to detail notable recent developments in filmmaking and television programming of interest to historians. |
2
|
|
In the past year, controversy surrounded some important new television and theatrical productions. Latinos registered protests against The War, Ken Burns's seven-part documentary series that dealt with American people's experiences in World War II. The War appeared on PBS Television in September 2007. Months before the broadcast, Hispanics complained that their ethnic group did not receive adequate attention in the film. They noted that approximately three hundred thousand Latinos served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II, but Burns's production did not include interviews with Latinos. Eventually, Burns responded to the demands. He added twenty-nine minutes of new material to the production, including two interviews with Hispanics and an interview with a Native American. Despite these protests, The War received critical acclaim in the national media. Controversy also developed around Hollywood's plans to release Valkyrie, a movie about Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the German army officer who was executed by the Nazis following a July 1944 attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Tom Cruise plays the role of Stauffenberg. Some Germans criticized the choice of Cruise for lead actor. They pointed out that Stauffenberg was one of Germany's heroes of the Nazi era. These Germans said it was insulting that Cruise, a Scientologist, would represent the heroic figure on the silver screen. They characterized Scientology as a cult and a business that preys on vulnerable people. |
3
|
|
It is likely that controversy will also surround the next movie from one of Hollywood's most politically minded and provocative filmmakers. Oliver Stone is beginning production of yet another film about Vietnam. Pinkville, the working title, deals with American soldiers' involvement in the massacre at My Lai, Vietnam, in 1968. To prepare for the production, Stone visited Vietnam, traveled to the site of the atrocities, and interviewed survivors. He told the press, "Iraq is a terrible nightmare but we have to be reminded of what happened in My Lai, otherwise we would repeat our mistake" ("My Lai Movie to Be Reminder of War Atrocities: Stone," Sept. 7, 2007, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSHAN10194020070907). Stone has directed several controversial films related to the history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, notably Platoon (1986), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), and Heaven and Earth (1993). |
. . . |
There are about 1133 more words in this article.
Please log in (or, if you are not yet an
authorized user, please go to the
User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
|
