The Weather Underground (2002)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Directors:

Sam Green
Bill Siegel

Release Date:

13 November 2003 (Australia)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

The remarkable story of The Weather Underground, radical activists of the 1970s, and of radical politics at its best and most disastrous.

Plot Keywords:

Underground | Government | 1970s | Interview | Black Panthers

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Billy Ayers	...	Himself (also archive footage) (as Bill Ayers)
Kathleen Cleaver	...	Herself (also archive footage)
Bernadine Dohrn	...	Herself (also archive footage) (as Bernardine Dohrn)
Brian Flanagan	...	Himself (also archive footage)
David Gilbert	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Todd Gitlin	...	Himself
Fred Hampton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Abbie Hoffman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Naomi Jaffe	...	Herself (also archive footage)
Martin Luther King	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jim Lange	...	Additional voice-over (voice)
Timothy Leary	...	Himself (archive footage)
Charles Manson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Walter Mondale	...	Himself (archive footage)
James Robison	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mark Rudd	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Don Strickland	...	Himself
Lili Taylor	...	Narrator (voice)
Evan White	...	Additional voice-over (voice)
Laura Whitehorn	...	Herself (also archive footage)
Pamela Z	...	Narrator (voice)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | New Zealand:R13 | Singapore:PG | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Berkeley, California, USA

Company:

The Free History Project

Movie Connections:

Features Dont Look Back (1967)

Soundtrack:

CD #1, track #1

Great Film - Important Message Against the War Machine

The Weather Underground presents a well-balanced view of the militant faction of the 1960s anti-war group that orchestrated a series of direct actions (including bombings) in protest of the Vietnam War and American imperialism.

To its credit, the film is not overly sympathetic to the members of the group. Rather, it portrays them in a direct and logical manner that tends to explain their more violent activities as the desperate attempts of extremely dedicated activists to engender dynamic change in lieu of those "publicly-sanctioned" methods which they felt were not sufficiently powerful to stop the war machine (i.e., non-violent demonstrations). It should be mentioned that none of the group's bombings resulted in injuries to people, with the notable exception of 3 WU members who were killed accidentally while making a bomb that was destined for an ill-advised attack on military personnel - a seminal moment the the organization's history that "opened their eyes" to the darkness they were headed towards. One cannot help but wonder what would have transpired had that attack been carried out - this is the chilling central lesson of the film, poignantly described by one former member who plainly stated that "the violence didn't work."

At the screening I attended the audience had the good fortune of listening to two of the Weather Underground's key members in person: Bernadette Dohrn and Bill Ayers. This proved particularly interesting, as both individuals, while still espousing their anti-militarism/anti-imperialism views to strong effect, did not express the need for radical tactics as one would imagine they may (given the current climate gripping the nation). Instead, they talked of engaging the issue through learning, organized activism, personal growth and social consciousness/responsibility.

It is this dialectic that makes this film so important right now, and I think that the directors have made an important step towards educating Americans in the subject of social awareness. My only complaint is that this lesson needs a counterpoint, something to break the ultimately sad feeling that one is left with when the screen flickers off at the end. Perhaps if viewed in tandem with a film that explores the victories that have been made through non-violent protest "The Weather Underground" can achieve its best potential.