Tim and Susan have been on the forefront of our political and artistic landscape for many years, regardless of the personal or artistic costs. They are Hollywood players, and as such, I do not always stand and cheer when I see one of their films. It's taken some time for me to recognize their excellent aspirations. Not to say I haven't embraced their intentions in a general way. With this film, "Cradle Will Rock," however, I embrace them unconditionally.
I have deep theatrical roots, and was simply enchanted by the frame of this story inside Roosevelt's WPA theatre project of the early '30s. As deeply embedded in the theatre as I am, I had no idea, I blush to admit, that I owed so much to the extraordinary legacy of the artists and managers from that era. So, for this alone, I am grateful to the filmmakers.
Within my personal history in the theatre, I have long struggled with the zeal in needing to produce "theatre in defense of civil and human liberties," and reconciling that with the ongoing pressures of making a buck. Not that I insist all artistic need be "liberty" oriented. But I am uneasy in choosing a work to produce or to witness, if I cannot find a pillar of social justice within it. The earth is far too fragile, and the threats to her and her inhabitants are far too imminent, to waste time otherwise.
Back to the film: Not only was I unaware of the WPA theatre project, I was unaware there was a McCarthy-Era-like-witch hunt to dismember the artists and producers and administrators. I kept thinking as I watched the Senate interrogations, "Is that Senator McCarthy? That can't be--that doesn't happen for 30 years!" The parallel is unmistakable (uncanny), and one can't help but ponder its legacy: The McCarthy Era; Senator Jesse Helms' vicious, relentless attacks on public funded arts, media and humanities; the Bush Doctrine, and so on. And as I watched, there was this small voice telling me what we all know: "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it." I was shocked to learn that this hideous bureaucracy has been using every weapon at hand to demolish the arts in the US for at least 80 years. For this revelation alone, I honor these filmmakers.
The history and political science are presented excellently here, and might be subjects for good documentaries. Believe it or not, I do like entertainment, and it's likely I would've missed the lessons had they been presented as documentaries. Instead, Tim has written one of the most compelling screenplays with very diverse human stories interwoven in what must've been a pitch to studio execs that was unwieldy and impossible to track. Not so in the execution. I write screenplays, and I am many times undone by the weight of my convictions. Not so with "Cradle." The writing here is superb.
To climax with a performance of the musical "Cradle Will Rock" booked in a vaudeville house in a last ditch effort after the Feds close down the original venue is divinely inspired. The "show-must-go-on" mentality produced with a pianist and piano on an empty stage, before a standing room only crowd of recently fired performers and technicians, their families, friends, and supporters is just bloody brilliant. When the performers stand up in the house to join the performance--Equity Union rules they cannot step on stage--when these performers step into their roles, rising up from the audience itself, and in spite of very real threats of being black balled--the effect is sublime. It's as though the observers become the observed--that alchemical magic every sincere performer strives to achieve. To accomplish this on film is rare. Sure, you often identify with a character in a film, but you often do it in a kind of hypnotic escapist state. This film achieves something more particular, more active in the way of audience/performer union.
"Cradle Will Rock" is one of the best film arts arguments for democracy. It is a gift to all of us. Let us honor and treasure the filmmakers.
I have deep theatrical roots, and was simply enchanted by the frame of this story inside Roosevelt's WPA theatre project of the early '30s. As deeply embedded in the theatre as I am, I had no idea, I blush to admit, that I owed so much to the extraordinary legacy of the artists and managers from that era. So, for this alone, I am grateful to the filmmakers.
Within my personal history in the theatre, I have long struggled with the zeal in needing to produce "theatre in defense of civil and human liberties," and reconciling that with the ongoing pressures of making a buck. Not that I insist all artistic need be "liberty" oriented. But I am uneasy in choosing a work to produce or to witness, if I cannot find a pillar of social justice within it. The earth is far too fragile, and the threats to her and her inhabitants are far too imminent, to waste time otherwise.
Back to the film: Not only was I unaware of the WPA theatre project, I was unaware there was a McCarthy-Era-like-witch hunt to dismember the artists and producers and administrators. I kept thinking as I watched the Senate interrogations, "Is that Senator McCarthy? That can't be--that doesn't happen for 30 years!" The parallel is unmistakable (uncanny), and one can't help but ponder its legacy: The McCarthy Era; Senator Jesse Helms' vicious, relentless attacks on public funded arts, media and humanities; the Bush Doctrine, and so on. And as I watched, there was this small voice telling me what we all know: "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it." I was shocked to learn that this hideous bureaucracy has been using every weapon at hand to demolish the arts in the US for at least 80 years. For this revelation alone, I honor these filmmakers.
The history and political science are presented excellently here, and might be subjects for good documentaries. Believe it or not, I do like entertainment, and it's likely I would've missed the lessons had they been presented as documentaries. Instead, Tim has written one of the most compelling screenplays with very diverse human stories interwoven in what must've been a pitch to studio execs that was unwieldy and impossible to track. Not so in the execution. I write screenplays, and I am many times undone by the weight of my convictions. Not so with "Cradle." The writing here is superb.
To climax with a performance of the musical "Cradle Will Rock" booked in a vaudeville house in a last ditch effort after the Feds close down the original venue is divinely inspired. The "show-must-go-on" mentality produced with a pianist and piano on an empty stage, before a standing room only crowd of recently fired performers and technicians, their families, friends, and supporters is just bloody brilliant. When the performers stand up in the house to join the performance--Equity Union rules they cannot step on stage--when these performers step into their roles, rising up from the audience itself, and in spite of very real threats of being black balled--the effect is sublime. It's as though the observers become the observed--that alchemical magic every sincere performer strives to achieve. To accomplish this on film is rare. Sure, you often identify with a character in a film, but you often do it in a kind of hypnotic escapist state. This film achieves something more particular, more active in the way of audience/performer union.
"Cradle Will Rock" is one of the best film arts arguments for democracy. It is a gift to all of us. Let us honor and treasure the filmmakers.