DCist’s highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.
The common knock against Frank Capra is that his films are sappy, sentimental pieces in which the American Dream always prevails. The good guys and bad guys are always clearly defined, and the iron-clad morality of the former always trumps the latter. But who can really blame the guy? That’s the way things panned out for Capra, who pretty much lived out the clichés his critics claimed were unrealistic propaganda. To be fair, despite their happy endings, his heroes never had an easy road to get there. And the evil and ugly forces that stood in the way were just as much a part of Capra’s America as his idyllic view that any adversity could be overcome with hard work and good intentions.
And nowhere is that dual view of the shortcomings and possibilities of this country put more explicitly on display than in 1939’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which earned the filmmaker yet another Best Director nomination (Mr. Smith had the misfortune of going up against Gone With the Wind that year, so he wasn’t able to add to the three he’d already won). The film also served as the star-making vehicle for Jimmy Stewart, who plays a young scout leader chosen by a corrupt governor to fill out the term of a deceased Senator. The political machine back in his state figure they’re installing a pushover, but when he tries to actually do some good, they attempt to steamroll him, leading up to a filibuster on the Senate floor that is as inspiring as it is fantastical. But since cynicism about the ability of Congress to actually work for the public good is never in short supply, the film’s wildly optimistic take on the potential of government has never grown dated or stale. And while the film is screening as part of the AFI’s excellent program of films celebrating Jimmy Stewart’s centennial (the actor was born 100 years ago this past Tuesday), it’s always a good film to watch when the tiring rhetoric of election season is getting you down.
View the trailer.
At the AFI on Saturday and Monday at 1 p.m. Be sure to also check out The Philadephia Story, The Shop Around the Corner, and Destry Rides Again, three other great Stewart films playing this week.
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The verbal worth of pictures was defined by a popular saying long ago, and the latest film from the highest profile documentarian short of Michael Moore seeks to squeeze every one of those thousand words from the infamous pictures that came out of Abu Ghraib. Errol Morris’ forte has long been the interview, using unusual procedures and devices to coax the facts out of his subjects. In this case, he talks extensively with many of the soldiers in front of and behind the cameras (including Lynndie England) in an attempt to drill down into the situations, intentions, and policies that led to the images that shocked and angered so many. Morris’ films are relentless in their search for deeper truths and explanations for sometimes inexplicable behavior, and often raise more questions than they answer. But his journeys are more interesting than most others’ destinations, and we’re curious to see just where he goes with this subject matter.
View the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at E Street, Bethesda Row, and Shirlington.
