Friday

I don't like political films. This doesn't mean I don't like films that involve politics - quite the opposite, sometimes they're brilliant. I have nothing wrong with politics. It's extremely entertaining - All the President's Men is exceptional, as are many other movies I can't think of, and The West Wing TV series. Here, it is the characters who are involved in politics, hold certain views and struggle with them. What annoys me is when it is the film itself that is political, beyond the scope of the characters, or when the characters become puppets for a political message. This is what aggravated me so much about Days of Glory - it was art for the purpose of achieving a political end (better compensation for Algerian WWII soldiers). Of course, you might tell me that all art is political, whether indirectly or not. Every artist makes a statement by his commitment to art, by his choice of form, and the choice of story he decides to tell. But there are degrees of political involvement, and for some reason I am averse to films that make direct, explicit statements. Perhaps this reveals more about me than the movies themselves, but sometimes it's helpful to know your critic before you read what he's criticising.