Hollywood tears up script to make anti-war films while conflicts rage

[babylonsister]

Hollywood tears up script to make anti-war films while conflicts rage


Tradition overturned as star-studded movies deal with Iraq and Afghanistan

Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian



For Americans sitting in cinemas watching the summer's fun movies, such as The Simpsons and Hairspray, the trailer for Lions for Lambs is jarring and unexpected. It opens with a moody shot of the Washington Memorial, and shifts to a series of quick-fire scenes about President George Bush's "war on terror".

Lions for Lambs, scheduled for release in the US on November 9, is not a documentary nor an art house film nor even a Michael Moore-style piece of agitprop. It is mainstream Hollywood, starring Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, who also directed it. It is one of about a dozen Hollywood films due for release or being made that deal with America divided, the national debate over Iraq and Afghanistan, and other consequences of 9/11.

This is a departure for Hollywood. During the second world war, there were almost no films made other than propaganda ones. The same happened during Vietnam: it was three years after the fall of Saigon before film-makers felt brave enough to make explicit anti-war movies - Mash hid its colours behind humour and a previous war.

Controversy

Jerry Sherlock, director of the New York Film Academy and executive producer of movies including The Hunt for Red October, welcomed the prospect of movies coming out while wars were being waged. "I think it is great because films do influence people. I hope that the films coming out influence people. The truth sets us free, after all the bullshit that we get every day in Washington and the airways and Cheney... I am surprised it has taken so long," he said.

more...

http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2148221,00.html

[aquart]

1. All of America went to war in World War II.

I don't recall Congress declaring this war, do you?

[redqueen]

2. "I am surprised it has taken so long,"

no kidding...

[babylonsister]

3. Per the article, this is the first time filmmakers feel comfortable

enough making flicks while the conflict is ongoing, so it says a lot that it's happening at all.

[Raster]

4. my feeling is not so much comfortable making such films, but NEEDING to.

I think creative artists of all genres realize the precarious position we are in. We have a fascist, imperialistic Executive Branch with censorship intent. Television already belongs to the beast. Film and the Internet are still free.

Wake up America!:kick:

[Duppers]

7. well put, raster.

"Television already belongs to the beast." So do most "news"papers.

[Raster]

11. As Marine One ferried Tricky Dick to his final Air Force One flight to San Clemente,

Nixon cursed the media whom be blamed for his demise. He wasn't sorry he broke the law. He was sorry he got caught. And the vermin scattering--Ailes, Atwater, Cheney--learned their lesson well. Control the media, control the message, control the meme. The systematic destruction of a fair and impartial media in this country was no coincidence.

Wake up America!:kick:

[cascadiance]

5. I wonder if Hollywood is seeing an increase in demand for documentaries now too...

... on the topics of war and other "divisive" topics that are ignored by the media, and perhaps seeing a drop off of people going to the movies as they watch more of these documentaries or stay at home watching DVDs. With the "timely" element of these such films, perhaps they are starting to realize that they could pick up demand for their mainstream movies if they were to make them more relevant to us all like we've been finding documentaries to be recently and that's the way also to increase their box office takes too.

[mogster]

6. Wow!

Dig that! :-)

[Horse with no Name]

8. Problem is

the distributors get to choose what they will show.
I doubt anything anti-establishment will be shown in this neck of the woods.

[Vidar]

9. Bravo!

[MagickMuffin]

10. Ya Gotta Love the Redford

He is truly a National Treasure. His living green Tuesdays on Sundance Channel are a joy to watch, especially the series Being Green. He deserves a :hug: along with a :thumbsup:

[Sparkly]

12. Maybe they got sick of being labeled "Hollywood Elite," too.

I hope they come back fighting, and show BushCo for what they are.

[Cha]

13. Sounds like what this

country needs..something besides cnn and fauxnoise tellin' what's goin' on.

Hey, maybe a few people will get over their Tom Cruise snark if he's in an anti-fascist war movie?