Politics & cinema.
Forsyth, Scott
This issue was organized around the relationship between politics
and cinema. Politics and cinema was a foundational focus for film
studies, from the theoretical/political manifesto of
"Cinema/Ideology/Criticism" by Cahiers du Cinema, almost 50
years ago. All films are political, we learned. While that focus has
shifted and diversified through many permutations and trends over the
intervening decades, this magazine has been open to a range of emphases
and perspectives, across filmmakers, genres, nations and historical
periods. Political and ideological critique of Hollywood remains
important and CineAction has a venerable history of political
interpretation of the globally dominant industry. As we watch the remake
of Red Dawn or another Die Hard, is Reaganite cinema, so memorably
dissected by Andrew Britton, returning? Did it ever go away? Or consider
the 'Washington' films, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln with
their intimate connections to the American state and party politics.
Obamite cinema? Robin Wood sharply categorized Hollywood's Dominant
Tendencies in the first issue of CineAction--exploring the dominant
tendencies of contemporary Global Hollywood remains essential. The
representational politics of gender, race and--the usually
neglected--class are still crucial to politically minded critics and
scholars. Of course, political militant filmmaking has been central to
film history, from the Soviets to the historical avant-gardes to the
Popular Front in France or Hollywood, to Third Cinema to political
documentaries now. This history remains relevant and informs us still.
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These broad interests attracted a large number of interesting
submissions, ranging through film history and around the globe. Not all
could be included but this issue features a range of perspectives and
subjects that should interest and challenge new and old readers of
CineAction.
Tanner Mirrlees gives us an incisive reading of Iron Man within the
political economy of contemporary cultural industries and the American
empire. William Repass closely examines space, style, ideology and
gender politics in one of the most celebrated of political films, The
Battle of Algiers. Marc Saint-Cyr explores Aki Kaurismaki's
empathetic commitment to the representation of the working class and the
marginal throughout his career. Greg Burris dissects the contradictions
of contemporary liberalism and "post-racial" ideology in Blind
Side. Catherine Ann Collins and Patricia Varas consider El dia que me
quieras and its exploration of the famed final photographs of that most
iconic of revolutionaries, Che. Michael Lipiner looks at contemporary
superhero films and changing representation of minorities in Hollywood.
Anne Cremieux casts back in Hollywood history at scandal, censorship and
marketing. Ajay Gehlawat explains possibly historic changes in the
representation of love and romance in contemporary Bollywood. Robert K.
Lightning carefully compares two films on North American shooting
massacres, Polytechnique and Elephant. Finally, David Christopher
analyzes the quiet Canadian apocalypse of Last Night.
2013 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Each year, we feature reviews of notable films at the Toronto
International Film Festival. Editors Florence Jacobowitz, Richard Lippe
and Susan Morrison present close interpretation of films that impressed
them this year.
BOB WILCOX
As our designer, Bob Wilcox has been an integral part of CineAction
for more than two decades. He has kept us going through all those years
with patience, wisdom, new ideas and new looks. We bid him thanks and
farewell on his retirement and welcome Debi De Santis to CineAction.
With this issue, Debi has introduced a re-design of the magazine. We
hope you like it.
