Films

The revolution introduced me to art, and art, in its own turn, brought me to the revolution.

Sergei Eisenstein

Monday, 23 December 2019 15:18

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Written by Jack Brindelli

in Films

Jack Brindelli offers some lessons for the radical left from an animated skeleton This December is particularly troubling for an unrepentant leftist like me. On top of the usual festival of gluttony and materialism that caps every year, I find myself living a very real nightmare before Christmas. Like many…

Monday, 23 December 2019 15:10

The Decade of Asian Cinema: Top Ten Films of 2019

Written by Dennis Broe

in Films

Dennis Broe reviews the best films of 2019 This is the end of the decade, and it is worth noting that the two most consistently outstanding directors of the last 10 years are both Asian. They are China’s Jia Zhangke and South Korea’s Bong Joon-ho, whose film Parasite is the…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 09 December 2019 14:36

arise! film review

in Films

Written by Jack Brindelli

Jack Brindelli reviews arise!, the new film from Culture Matters, available to watch here. Director: Carl Joyce Writer: Paul Summers Cast: Joyce McAndrew, Amber Pearson, Brenda Heslop, Jac Howard, Jean Spence, Mollie Brown, Paul Summers Running time: 7 mins The situation in the UK is symptomatic the global political moment…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 27 November 2019 22:46

Blow It to Bits

in Films

Written by Rita Di Santo

Rita di Santo interviews the British director Lech Kowalski, director of of Blow It to Bits Timely and urgent, but not in the daily papers, Blow It to Bits is the story of workers who threaten to blow up a factory. A dense, entertaining, informative, and thought-provoking documentary, which clearly…

Lech Kowalski

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Thursday, 14 November 2019 20:57

Synonyms: a denunciation of aggressive Israeli nationalism and its macho, militaristic culture

in Films

Written by Rita Di Santo

Rita Di Santo reviews Synonyms by Nadav Lapid, showing at the Seville Film Festival Seville Festival is a great place to catch up with the best in recent European cinema. Audiences can enjoy prizewinners such as the winner of Berlin’s Golden Bear, Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms. The film follows an ex-Israeli…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 08 November 2019 14:26

The Architects: a film about the reasons for the GDR's collapse

in Films

Written by Jenny Farrell

Jenny Farrell discusses The Architects, a film made in 1989/90 which traced the reasons for the collapse of the GDR 30 years ago, on 9 November 1990, the inner-German border was opened, West Berlin was flooded with shoppers, and over the next few days and weeks the East German state…

Friday, 01 November 2019 11:25

arise! filmpoem

Written by Mike Quille

in Films

Culture Matters has produced a short film, made by Carl Joyce, of the poem arise! by Paul Summers, which was sponsored by the Durham Miners' Association. You can watch the film for free on Vimeo here or on Youtube here. The film invokes the collective and co-operative spirit of past…

General Election jeremy corbyn Miners' Gala

Monday, 28 October 2019 08:48

Joker: living without class-consciousness and solidarity

Written by Fran Lock

in Films

Fran Lock reviews Joker's treatment of violence, poverty, class, gender and race, and the way it subverts 'one of capitalism's most pernicious fictions' If you want to get ahead in life, just go for it on your own. Facing obstacles? There’s nothing you can’t overcome and put right. You just…

Friday, 11 October 2019 16:54

Sorry We Missed You: how capitalism is destroying working-class families

Written by Mike Wayne

in Films

Sorry We Missed You is director Ken Loach’s follow-up to his excoriating I, Daniel Blake which exposed how the welfare system has been turned into an apparatus of punishment and cruel indignity for those without work. It took a film to expose the moral vacuum at the heart of the…

Tuesday, 08 October 2019 15:35

Culture Punch: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and righteous anti-capitalist violence

Written by Paul Victor Tims

in Films

Paul Tims argues that Tarantino's assertion of the value of violence in his latest film has a message for anti-capitalist activists I’m a huge Tarantino fan. You’re shocked, I can tell. Sarcasm aside, regular readers can probably infer from my writing style and thematic preoccupations that I’m equally enthused by…