Tag: Viceroy’s House

Churchill and Movie Mogul Alexander Korda, by John Fleet

Churchill and Movie Mogul Alexander Korda, by John Fleet

John Fleet is a film­mak­er who has pro­duced an excel­lent doc­u­men­tary on Win­ston Churchill and Alexan­der Kor­da. Their col­lab­o­ra­tion in movie mak­ing, though not wide­ly known, was sub­stan­tial. A trail­er for “Churchill and the Movie Mogul” may viewed online. For the full lec­ture, includ­ing Q&A—or the option of read­ing a tran­script—click here.

A Treat Instead of a Treatment

We always begin watch­ing any new film about Churchill with trep­i­da­tion. After the skewed por­traits in the tele­vi­sion series The Crown, the fake his­to­ry about post­war India in Viceroy’s House, and the absur­di­ties of Churchill played by Bri­an Cox, we are fear­ful of hav­ing sit through anoth­er slap­dash, ill-researched por­trait.…

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Is the Movie “Dunkirk” Dumbed Down?

Is the Movie “Dunkirk” Dumbed Down?

Reviews of Christo­pher Nolan’s new film on Dunkirk, which take quite oppo­site points of view.

Dunkirk without Context

Dorothy Rabi­nowitz, in The Wall Street Jour­nal, pro­claims “the dumb­ing down of Dunkirk.” Mr. Nolan, she writes:

…con­sid­ers Dunkirk “a uni­ver­sal story…about com­mu­nal hero­ism.” Which explains why this is—despite its impres­sive cin­e­matog­ra­phy, its mov­ing por­trait of suf­fer­ing troops and their rescuers—a Dunkirk flat­tened out, dis­con­nect­ed from the spir­it of its time, from any sense even of the par­tic­u­lar mighty ene­my with which Eng­land was at war.

When an event in his­to­ry has become, in the mind of a writer, “uni­ver­sal” it’s a tip-off.…

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Churchill and Racism: Think a Little Deeper

Churchill and Racism: Think a Little Deeper

Q: Anoth­er new movie, A Unit­ed King­dom,  sad­dles Churchill with racism. It’s the sto­ry of Seretse Khama of the Bechua­na­land roy­al fam­i­ly and heir to the throne. After study­ing in Eng­land, he meets and mar­ries a British woman, Ruth Williams. The South African gov­ern­ment, which is adopt­ing Apartheid, is trou­bled by the inter­ra­cial mar­riage. It press­es the Attlee gov­ern­ment in Britain to exile Khama, which they do. Churchill is not a char­ac­ter in the film, but we are told that he sup­ports Khama and will restore him if Churchill’s par­ty wins the 1951 elec­tion.…

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