REDS (1981)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Drama / Epic / Romance

Director: Warren Beatty

Cast: Warren Beatty / Diane Keaton / Jack Nicholson

Plot

Leftist journalists Jack Reed and Louise Bryant live out a tumultuous romance while documenting and participating in the political turmoil surrounding World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the rise of the U.S.S.R.

What I Liked

*spoiler alert*

The history of motion pictures reflects a fascination with the Russian Revolution, and certainly obsession with the subjects of communism, patriotism, and capitalism.  Since the development of the movies as an art form and industry happened in the same years as the Revolution and the consequent decades of socialist vs. capitalist struggle, it’s not surprising that motion pictures are drawn to these issues.  Some of these films are quality, some are shit, but nearly all make a clear and definitive stand on one side of the argument or the other.  From “Battleship Potemkin”  to “Animal Farm” to “Red Dawn,” filmmakers have used the same political struggle to create rallying cries for their chosen side and one-sided indictments of the opposition.  Warren Beatty’s “Reds” is likely the best movie I’ve seen to take on these themes simply for showing the failures of both systems.

Of course the title and the fact that its main characters are leftists would have one who has never seen the film think that it is yet another one-sided piece of propaganda, idealizing communism and making martyrs out of radicals.  Certainly the film is sympathetic to its heroes and their cause.  However, “Reds” also has plenty of criticism for the Soviets and their government.  Some might be surprised to see that John Reed’s transformation from journalist to politician to propagandist is portrayed not as ideal but as tragedy, as his hopes for the burgeoning U.S.S.R. are dashed and his passion for change betrays him.  Ultimately, the film is about two staunch individualists trying to get along not only with one another but with a world that despises individualism.

The politics of the film aside, “Reds” is really magnificent storytelling and engaging entertainment at its best.  Some of the finest and most charismatic actors ever to grace a movie screen work together here to bring us likeable, interesting, and believable characters.  They are brilliant and romantic but never idealized, never above selfishness, hypocrisy, and hurting one another.  They are beautifully blemished souls populating a huge and fascinating historical backdrop.  Peppering this tale are real life interviews with the men and women who knew Reed and Bryant.  These interviews are woven seamlessly into the story, sometimes anecdotal, other times charming, and always thought-provoking in their assessment of the real people as well as of the subjectivity of human memory.  Epic in scale, energized with passion, and honest in vision, “Reds” is as satisfying as the movies get.

What I Didn’t Like

Truly, I can’t find a flaw with this movie.  I suppose it isn’t exactly revolutionary in execution, breaking no new ground in technique or art, but it is nonetheless impeccably executed.  Some may find its more than three hours in length daunting, but not me.  The time flew by.  Indeed I never felt like I was a viewer of a movie, but rather a witness to fascinating people and events.

Most Memorable Scene

*spoiler alert*

Interestingly, no one moment sticks out above the others for me.  They were all intriguing and entertaining.  However, in the interest of continuing to pick a scene, I’ll go with the moment capture in the film’s poster, the reunion of Jack and Louise after spending years questing after one another and being forbidden each other’s company because of the paranoia and bureaucracy of competing nations.  Betrayed by the world around them and ignoring the constant threats to their lives, they refuse to abandon each other and, when they do eventually find each other again, all of the film’s emotions culminate in an exhausted but adoring embrace.  You'll either be fighting back tears or outright bawling.

My Rating: 5 out of 5