Tom's TV picks w/b 31 July

Karl Marx described capitalism as a vampire system, sucking blood from the living. US industrial corporations have done their best to confirm Marx's description. It is nearly 30 years since the Bhopal Disaster in which an explosion at a Union Carbide factory in India killed 4,000 at the time and left a legacy of up to 8,000 deaths in the aftermath. Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson absconded to the US soon after the explosion and has never spent one day in jail for his role in this, the largest massacre of people by a non-nuclear industrial company at a time of peace. Illiterate peasants of Bhopal are now suffering once again at the hands of US multinationals - they have been the innocent subjects of drug testing by US pharmaceutical companies who have given them pills and injected them without their informed consent. DATELINE investigates this scandal on SUNDAY night on SBS1 at 8.30pm.
http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/about/id/601291/n/Experimenting-on-India
Shades of Nazi death camp experiments on Jews or the notorious Tuskagee experiments (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment).

SBS1 is following this with something else that would be well worth seeing - a half hour documentary unpicking the News International empire in the light of the phone hacking scandal: "MURDOCH: BREAKING THE SPELL?" at 9.30pm on SUNDAY.

Four Corners also digs the dirt on another crime of the US establishment on MONDAY night at 8.30pm (ABC1) - "THE GUANTANAMO TRAP": http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2011/07/29/3280442.htm. As the blurb says, Obama promised to shut the place down: 30 months after his inauguration it's still operating.

This, unfortunately, clashes with part 1 of "COLLISION" (ABC2, MONDAY at 8.30pm), described thus by the TV guide: "A five-part British drama that tells the story of a major road accident and a group of people who have never met, but who all share one single defining moment that will change their lives forever". Having seen it, I'd say it's one of the better drama series of recent years and keeps you guessing right to the end, as the lives of the protagonists are intertwined in many unexpected ways. A reviewer on www.imdb.com comments: "What starts as a straight forward car accident quickly turns into a story full of twists and turns as the police start to dig. [Detective] Tolin unravels a number of mysteries which involve murder, smuggling, whistle blowing and a government cover-up". Record one, watch the other, I'd say!

TUESDAY brings the enjoyable "MOTORCYCLE DIARIES" (2004) at 9.30PM on SBS2, based on the journals of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara as he journeys, as a young man, by motorcycle through South America with his best friend, Alberto Granado. It's an interesting tale that traces Guevara's radicalisation as he travels the continent, witnessing crushing poverty that contrasts so strongly with his own relatively privileged upbringing. It is to Guevara's great credit that he renounced the comforts of bourgeois life to pursue a life of revolution, but the tragedy is that his conception of revolution made no space for the self-activity of the working class who were relegated to the role of passive bystander in the course of the Cuban revolution. Cuba of course does not feature in this film but by the end of it Guevara has clearly marked himself out as a man who conceives of the people as objects to be saved rather than masters of their own destiny.

This is followed straight after by Tony Gatlif's "EXILES" (2004) at 11.40PM on SBS2. I'm a big fan of Gatlif's films - I love the way that in his films he blends wonderful music with cultures and peoples who have been marginalised and who sustain this music. Exiles features a rather unlikeable and self-absorbed couple, both born in Algeria, one to Algerian parents, one to French, but who both now live in France. They decide to travel back to Algeria, much to the initial scepticism of the first who can't understand why anyone would want to go back to such a "backward" country, and to the amazement of Algerians who are making the trip in reverse. It's a road trip with the usual disasters, misunderstandings and so forth. What absolutely makes this film for me, though, is the musical interludes, in particular the amazing final quarter of an hour in which the central female character is transported through a trance-like state brought on by rhythmic drumming and the sounds of a deep bass stringed instrument to some connection with the country and culture of her birth.

Another clash on WEDNESDAY night at 10.05pm. I haven't seen either of these, so bear that in mind! "ASSEMBLY" (2007) on SBS1 tells the story of People's Liberation Army Captain Guzidi who leads 46 men on a sniping mission to defend a vital post during the Chinese war of national liberation against Chiang Kaishek's Nationalist forces. All the men under his command are wiped out, something that is portrayed in pretty bloody detail in the first hour. The second hour shows Captain Guzidi in his fight for justice to restore the honour of the men he led in the face of bureaucratic obstruction.

"ALTIPLANO" (2009) (SBS2 at 10.05pm) has got a mixed reception. It's set in the Peruvian Andes in the mining region. The people suspect that they are being poisoned by mercury from the mine and revolt, barricading the mine. The local surgeon is caught up in the riot as the villagers take their vengeance on the mining company. So we're back where we started with this week's TV picks. Beautifully shot, exquisite music but perhaps rather slow?


Finally, Australia's first ever IRANIAN FILM FESTIVAL kicks off in BRISBANE on THURSDAY and runs through to SUNDAY. Other cities to follow. See for more information:
http://www.sbs.com.au/films/article/single/895191/Iranian-Film-Festival-Australia-2011-Armin-Miladi-interview?cid=23223 AND
http://www.iffa.net.au/

Tom's TV picks w/b 24 July

Ronit Elkabetz

Getting in very early this week - something on SUNDAY, and a major editing job on my forthcoming Marxist Left Review article all weekend ...

I'm guessing that most Australians older than about 30 or 40 got their first exposure to the Native Americans through the Westerns directed by John Ford and others. Ford was in some ways a great director but he, like most in the film industry, had shockingly racist attitudes towards the Native Americans. They were either Noble Savages or else just Savages. The white "settlers" and the US Cavalry were essentially carrying out a civilising mission by driving them off the land. Notably, it took an anti-war movement (Vietnam) to see a new "revisionist" approach to film making about Native Americans, starting with Little Big Man (1970) and Soldier Blue (1970). "REEL INJUN" (ABC2 , SUNDAY at 8.30pm), a Canadian documentary in same genre as "Reel Bad Arabs", tracks how Hollywood has depicted Native Americans since the early silent movies.

MONDAY brings a repeat of "NIN'S BROTHER" (SBS2 at 9pm)  about the death of a young Aboriginal man in South Australia in the 1950s, and also "THE INSECT WOMAN" (1963) (SBS2 at 10.30pm) which might sound like a trash sci-fi film but is actually about the struggle of a poor Japanese woman who escapes from rural poverty only to find yet worse in the big city. This is directed by Shohei Imamura, who also directed "Pigs and Battleships" which I recommended a couple of weeks back and which was quite involving. A reviewer on IMDB writes of the heroine in "The Insect Woman": "Tome's struggles are a metaphor for Japan's wartime struggle. Her rural upbringing represents pre-war Japan, mostly rural and agricultural. Her factory work parallels Japan's call to war and subsequent industrialization. Her work in the Japanese-American household could be related to Japan's service to America during the occupation. Finally, her prostitution is a rather harsh analogy to Japan's selling of service to American might." I guess that involves a few spoilers (!) but might help set the woman's story in the wider context.

TUESDAY brings something likely to make your blood boil. SBS1's "INSIGHT" programme at 7.30pm. Theme this week "MIGRATION BOOM". See a whole bunch of "sophisticated" racists pontificating about "cultural cohesion", Australia's "carrying capacity", "human capital" etc. etc. Keep your shoes close to hand. Also on Tuesday, "JAFFA" (2009) on SBS2 at 9.30pm, a film about a "cross-cultural" romance between an Israeli and a Palestinian, set in the Tel Aviv suburb of the same name. Heavy on the family angst and drama, light on on the broader politics of the situation. But featuring the great Ronit Elkabetz who did a really touching performance in "The Band's Visit" two years previously.

Finally, ABC2 brings a new series of the black comedy "THE THICK OF IT" on THURSDAY at 10.30pm. Whitehall politics unvarnished and unexpurgated.

Tom's TV picks w/b 20 June 2011

Two very different movies about Israeli expansionism coming up next week. "Beaufort", one of a flourishing stream of Israeli "war is hell" films, none of which however show any sympathy for the main victims of war, the Palestinians (or Lebanese in this case): SBS1 Tues 11.50pm. And the rather better "Lemon Tree" set on the West Bank with the fantastic Hiam Abbass as lead: SBS2 Weds 9.30pm.

And for something completely different, the classic Max Ophuls romantic melodrama, featuring a completely selfish bastard of an anti-hero, "Letter from an Unknown Woman": ABC2 Saturday (25th) at 10.15pm

Tom's TV picks w/b 27 June 2011

For a slashing indictment of the position of women in Iran, check out "The Circle" (2000): SBS2 at 11.50pm on Weds 29 June. Grim, but necessarily so given the appalling situation facing women in that country. The director, Jafar Panahi was jailed last year for six years for “assembly and colluding with the intention to commit crimes against the country’s national security and propaganda against the Islamic Republic" and there is an international campaign to get him out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jafar_Panahi.

And a double bill next Saturday night (2 July) on ABC2 worth staying in for/ recording. At 8.30pm one of my all-time favourites "Annie Hall" (1977). I know some comrades can't stand Woody Allen and/or Diane Keaton but for me it's very, very funny with endless witty dialogue. Allen gently sends up the obsessions and neuroses of middle class East Coast liberals in what is basically now a time capsule of the mores and manners of the time. Followed by, at 10.05pm, "From Here to Eternity" (1953), a film that is good but could have been great. Set on a military base in Hawaii on the eve of Pearl Harbour it is a romantic melodrama which also comments on the bastardry and sadism of military life. The writer of the original novel, James Jones, disowned the film because McCarthyite pressure forced the film makers to cut out much of the more savage criticism of the US military. But still worth a look if you haven't seen it already.

Tom's TV picks w/b 4 July 2011

Getting in early this week as there's a bunch of stuff on Monday and Tuesday:

First up, on Monday at 8.30pm: ABC 4 Corners: "The Killing Fields". Made by Britain's Channel 4, this is a documentary that tears apart the lies told by the Sri Lankan Government about its massacre of the Tamils in 2009. The 4 Corners website says: "The program contains disturbing descriptions and footage of executions, atrocities and the shelling of civilians. It includes devastating new video evidence of war crimes. Some of this material was shot on video cameras; other scenes are taken from mobile phones used by Sri Lankan soldiers as trophy vision. Put together it creates one of the most confronting stories of war and conflict ever seen on Australian television." Given that the Australian government has given political cover to the Sri Lankan government over years, hopefully it will make Gillard & Co squirm.

Three late-ish moves on SBS2 are the other picks this week:

Monday 10.30pm: "Pigs and Battleships" (1961) part of the Japanese New Wave cinema contemporaneous with the French. Summarised in the TV guide as follows: "This dazzling, unruly portrait of post-war Japan details, with escalating absurdity, the desperate power struggles between small-time gangsters in the port town of Yokosuka." But it's more than that. I haven't seen it myself, but one review adds: "While on first glance, Hogs and Warships might seem to be typical yakuza film fare, it is in fact laced with a strong social commentary on Japan's reliance on America and its "support" of America's further military actions within Asia, especially the Korean War." It's pretty bleak but could be worth viewing.

Tuesday 10.50pm: "The Axe" (2005). Forget "Up in the Air" which I thought was vastly over-rated and trivialised Corporate America's mass sackings, "The Axe" really sticks the knife into big business. It's nominally a comedy - as the long-term unemployed chemist played so well by Jose Garcia decides the only way to land a job is to kill all of his rivals in the job market - but there's a darkness to it that can only lead you to anger against the bastards who force even skilled white collar workers into desperate measures for the sake of a job. And there's no sugar pill at the end of it. Directed by the legendary Costa-Gavras, maker of "Z", "Stage of Siege" and "Missing" amongst other politically charged classics.

Thursday 9.30pm: "The Anarchist's Wife" (2008). Sorry, another punt here, haven't seen it. The TV guide says "A moving drama about the undying love and suffering of a couple affected by the Spanish Civil War over several decades." With the 75th anniversary of General Franco's coup coming up on 17 July, it might repay viewing as a reminder of the savagery of the Franco regime and the impact it had on the families of those who bravely fought him tooth and nail.

Tom's TV picks w/b 11 July 2011

Last week's "Leaky Boat" documentary about the Tampa crisis of 2001 did a great job in highlighting the way in which the Howard government exploited refugees to save its own political skin in the run up to the election of that year. Howard, Ruddock and Reith were willing to see refugees drown and to endanger Navy personnel in order to whip up racist sentiment towards refugees. Good on Able Seaman Bec Lynd who was able through her own dealing with refugees in peril on the high seas to see through the "terrorist scare" that the Government was promoting and who, along with her other comrades in the RAN, helped blow apart the "children overboard" scandal which Howard and Reith had concocted and which was accepted without questioning by Beazley & Co.

So we know what to expect with this week's 4 Corners "The invasion of Lampedusa" on **MONDAY** at 8.30pm (ABC1). Politicians playing political football with refugees' lives. This time, tens of thousands of refugees from Libya and Tunisia wash up on the Italian island of Lampedusa. The islanders are left to cope with the influx on their own and, not surprisingly, get ticked off. Enter Berlusconi, along with Marine Le Pen, both looking to save, in Berlusconi's case, or boost in Le Pen's case, their politicial careers by bashing refugees and calling for tighter "border control". Watch it and get angry:

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2011/s3263523.htm

The hidden story of the "refugee crisis" of the past decade has been how people can resist the racist crap promoted by governments and media and take a stand in support of refugees. Nothing new about this. SBS2 on **WEDNESDAY** at 10.40pm is running "Divided we Fall" the Oscar-nominated 2000 movie about an "ordinary couple" risking their lives in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II to hide a Jewish friend in their home, thereby putting at risk not just themselves but their families and their entire community. Basic humanity and a sense of solidarity trump Government vindictiveness and violence. Great, uplifting movie.

One movie that may not have any particularly obvious politicial "message" this week but which nonetheless should be of interest to those opposing the ongoing War on Terror is "Son of a Lion" (2007) (**WEDNESDAY** 9pm on SBS2, immediately before "Divided we Fall"). This is about a father-son relationship set in a Pashtun village in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, on the Afghanistan border. Australian director (yes, really) Benjamin Gilmour said "Considering all we seem to get in the news is anti-Pashtun, those involved in Son of a Lion saw the making of this film as a way of showing the world a slice of life in the tribal belt. In the midst of intense Pakistani propaganda on one side and Taliban propaganda on the other, the Pashtuns are clutching at opportunities to regain ground for the culture on the verge of its obliteration."

Finally (but not chronologically) on **MONDAY** at 10.30pm on SBS2 there's the Akira Kurosawa classic "Throne of Blood" (1957) - Macbeth done Noh-theatre style. Lots of rolling fog, cobwebs, dark premonitions and bloody ambition. And did I mention spirits? One of Kurosawa's best - may be hard going at first, but stick with it if you think that this might be your cup of tea.

Tom's TV picks w/b 18 July 2011

TONIGHT, Monday, at 8.30pm (ABC1) FOUR CORNERS is running a documentary "Iron and Dust" about the fight by Indigenous people in WA against racist mining billionaire Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest for a fair share of mining royalties in a $280 billion dollar iron ore deposit near Roebourne:

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2011/s3270263.htm

Twiggy was aptly described by an SA comrade in a magazine article in 2008 as "a bigger bastard than James Packer":

http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=6365:a-bigger-bastard-than-james-packer?

And that was even before he put on his double act with the woman who has now succeeded him as the richest person in Australia, Gina Rinehart, as they both cried poor when campaigning off the back of a gold plated ute against the piss-weak mining tax mooted by Kevin Rudd last year. Twiggy needn't have worried: the ALP collapsed in a heap when faced with a "people's revolt" of multi billionaires. But the Yindjibarndi people are made of sterner stuff. They've got to be - they're fighting against not just Forrest and his lawyers who are using every dirty trick to steal the resources, but they're doing so in a situation where rotten native title legislation basically allows the mining companies to ride roughshod over indigenous people. Let's hope that they take Forrest to the cleaners.

Campaigning against Israeli apartheid you still occasionally come up against the old chestnut that "Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East". That was never true. It's even less true today with real democracy blossoming across the region and Israel setting its face squarely against the Arab Spring. "LIVE AND BECOME" (2005), a film screening on TUESDAY at 9pm on SBS2, shows the reality of Israeli "democracy". It's about Salomon, a young Ethiopian Christian boy who is airlifted out of a Sudanese refugee camp by pretending that he is part of the "Falasha" Jewish diaspora. He is taken to Israel and is adopted by a liberal middle class Jewish couple who do their best to help him fit in. But he can't. Because for the Zionist establishment, a black African cannot possibly be a "good Jew". So Salomon has to fight for his rights. An excellent movie that peels back the thin veneer of supposedly cosmopolitan Israeli society to reveal the racist underbelly.

Finally, the PBS documentary series "NEW YORK: THE POWER AND THE PEOPLE" (FRIDAY at 7.30pm on SBS2) could be worth viewing. This week it's looking at the crucial period 1898-1918 and tracks the influx of millions of European immigrants and their struggle against the awful sweatshop conditions that many face when they reach the Promised Land. These migrants brought socialist politics and trade unionism with them and after 146 women and girls were burned to death in 1911 at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory by their bosses, who locked the fire exits "to prevent theft", pressure by the workers movement and its supporters saw the first serious efforts at protective legislation enacted. No doubt the bosses at the time wrung their hands at the onerous imposition on them, just as Twiggy Forrest and his parasitic ilk do today.