Just by virtue of when it was released, “Reds” (1981) has been praised as courageous filmmaking in the age of Reagan.  But thirty years later, what exactly was being praised then and now?

In the bonus features of the commemorative DVD release, Warren Beatty says that he made this film to combat America’s “inordinate fear of communism.”  But the majority of screen time dealing with politics involves those who don’t buy into it.  Eugene O’Neil, played cynically by Jack Nicholson, calls Bolshevism the “latest theocracy.”  Maureen Stapleton’s Emma Goldman early on recoils from the Soviet regime’s abuse of civil liberties.  Reed himself attacks the Bolsheviks for censoring his copy and looks on in horror as the Soviet Army marches by.

Beatty must have realized impassioned support of Leninism wouldn’t have played well with ’80s audiences.  Hence he drastically edits Reed’s political speech down to one word:  in answer to a Democrat’s question about what World War I is about, he says “profits.”  When asked by Louise Bryant what Reed’s views on politics are, Beatty avoids the all-night speech by fast-forwarding to morning, where Reed attempts to embrace Bryant. (more…)

An extraordinary film just came out on DVD which couldn’t be more timely.  It’s about a fiercely outspoken, beautiful woman trapped in a country rapidly descending into socialism, with the government steadily ratcheting up control over all aspects of life.

No, it’s not The Ann Coulter Story.

The movie is We The Living, based on the Ayn Rand novel of the same title.  Rand said that We The Living “is as near to an autobiography as I will ever write.”

Conservatives and libertarians have long lamented the scarcity of movies that depict the evils of communism.  Let’s see, there’s Doctor Zhivago, The Killing Fields, The Lives of Others, and… and, well, now there’s We The Living — a long-lost classic filmed in 1942, and now available on DVD for the first time ever.

WTL takes place soon after the Bolshevik takeover of Russia (which Rand experienced as a young woman).  The stunning Alida Valli plays Kira, a fiery college student who detests the communists ruining her country.  (Valli is perhaps best known to American audiences for her indelible performances in The Third Man and The Paradine Case.) (more…)