AMY GOODMAN: A little-noticed story surfaced a couple of weeks ago in the Army Times newspaper about the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team. “Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months,” reported Army Times staff writer Gina Cavallaro, “the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.” Disturbingly, she writes that “they may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control” as well. The force will be called the chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive Consequence Management Response Force. Its acronym, CCMRF, is pronounced “sea-smurf.” These “sea-smurfs,” Cavallaro reports, have “spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle,” in a combat zone, and now will spend their 20-month “dwell time” — time troops are required to spend to “reset and regenerate after a deployment” — armed and ready to hit the U.S. streets....
FOR THE FULL STORY, CLICK HERE.
It gets worse:
NAOMI WOLF: On October 1, 2008, President Bush deployed a brigade — which means three to four thousand warriors — somewhere in America. We do not know where they are deployed though citizens have informally reported to me having seen military vehicles and troops in Georgia and Alabama. We do know that their official mandate according to the first report is “crowd control” as well as action in the event of a mass civilian catastrophe. Initial reports described their technology “module package” as involving Tasers and rubber bullets.... The First Brigade is Bush’s force: they are not answerable to Congress or to the Governors of states: they are answerable to the Commander in Chief. In an Alternet posting, I interviewed Air Force Colonel (retired) David Antoon who noted that the troops must obey the president, even if he asks them to arrest Congress or fire on civilians or attack media outlets. If they do not obey orders, he notes, they face five years in prison.... Antoon himself calls the deployment “ominous.” Troops on our streets makes us something less than a democracy: one definition of a police state is when a leader sends his own military units into civilian streets. Meanwhile the civilian policing of citizens is becoming more brutal. Hundreds of preemptive arrests took place in St Paul, dozens of journalists were arrested.... In St. Paul, funds were sent in advance to pay off the lawsuits against police forces that were guaranteed to arise from the planned abuse of citizens. This sort of thing is happening across the country. The tactic has established a closed circle that has turned citizens’ law enforcement agencies into contractors of a state that is directing acts of increasing severity against US citizens. Now a military brigade is being deployed....
FOR THE FULL STORY, CLICK HERE.
Click here to see an interview with Naomi Wolf conducted in early October 2008.
For the past five years or so I hve been hearing rumors that Halliburton has been building (and has now finished building) 800 prisons throughout the USA, not yet functioning, but just waiting for the right crisis. I have not found reliable evidence for the specific quantity, readiness, functionality, locations, or details, but you might be interested in taking a look at page 5 of this Halliburton press release dated 26 January 2006: KBR has been awarded a contract announced by the Department of Homeland Security’s United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) component. The Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contingency contract is to support ICE facilities and has a maximum total value of $385 million over a five-year term. The contract provides for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the United States, or to support the rapid development of new programs.... Now, really, what are the chances of “an emergency influx of immigrants into the United States”? And what are the “new programs” that could come under “rapid development”?
FOR THE FULL PRESS RELEASE, CLICK HERE.
| Chi lavora è perduto—in capo al mondo (Whoever Works Is Lost—To the Ends of the Earth) |
Imago (Image) |
| Il tempo lavorativo / Il tempo libero (Work Time / Free Time) | |
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| Lorenzo Nistri’s poster design (Reproduced courtesy of the Painted Cinema) |
FORTHCOMING FROM CULT EPICS, AVAILABLE ONLY AS PART OF A BOX SET. MORE DETAILS TO COME.
While working on Il Generale della Rovere, Brass approached producer Moris Ergas about making a documentary on twentieth-century revolutions, utilizing footage in the Cinémathèque Française collection. Ergas agreed, and Brass sifted through an overwhelming amount of filmed material, much of which was nearly unknown, and then hired the well-known Giancarlo Fusco to write the commentary. They finished the film, Ça ira, il fiume della rivolta (Ça ira, the River of Revolt) in 1962, but bureaucratic complications kept it on the shelf for years. While Ça ira was collecting dust, Brass convinced Ergas to let him make a new film. This became In capo al mondo (a.k.a. Chi lavora è perduto). After this and several other films, the way was cleared to screen Ça ira, and it premièred at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday, 6 September 1964, where it got a mixed but mostly positive reception. The film was then scheduled for a 26 September 1964 screening New York Film Festival, where it was to be put up for bids. Now, the Film Index International and therefore IMDb both supply Tell It Like It Is as an alternative title. Considering that in the early 1960s it would not have been at all acceptable to subtitle a documentary, but only to dub it, and considering that at an international film/trade festival held in the US, it would only be the dubbed international version that would be offered, I presume that Tell It Like It Is referred to an English-language international version, and that at the New York Film Festival it was this version that was to be screened. We may never know for sure, since the articles on the festival in The New York Times referred to the movie only as “Ça ira.” In any case, before it could be shown the Italian authorities banned the film and would not allow its export. It seems finally to have been released in Italy in 1965, but with severe censor cuts. Nowadays Ça ira is occasionally broadcast on Italian television, but with 16 minutes, including all references to Mussolini, deleted. Next time it airs, please record it for me and I’ll buy it from you! Thanks!
As far as I have been able to determine, Tell It Like It Is has never been screened anywhere, and I fear that it may no longer exist. If you know the fate of this version of the film, please contact me! Thanks!
The
story gets even more interesting in 1971,
when independent New York-based film distributor Altura released a heavily modified version,
retitled Thermidor, with new English narration.
This was prepared by Altura’s revolutionary-minded founder,
Clem Perry, who had been enamored of Brass’s film.
Perry himself was an interesting character,
who had released numerous foreign films, notably those of Luis Buñuel,
but only after modifying them for American tastes.
A friend of his emailed me and said that what many critics praised
as Buñuel’s distinctive artistry was actually the work of Perry.
In any case, Thermidor was possibly the only one of Brass’s films
that the Catholic Church ever praised,
calling it
“a powerful message on the side of peace”
(Catholic Film Newsletter 36, no. 17, 15 September 1971, p. 86).
It premièred on 24 August 1971 at the 5th Avenue Cinema in Manhattan,
and the advertisement was never more detailed than the one seen on the left.
It played for only one week and I know of no other commerical venues that presented this version.
It’s amazing that Thermidor was so instantly forgotten,
as it was narrated by no less than Ben Gazzara, Michael Tolan, Irene Worth, and Al Freeman Jr!
Altura has long been defunct, but its associated company, Fleetwood Films, which took presentation credit, was owned by Crowell Collier and Macmillan, and hence the license for Thermidor went to Macmillan/Audio-Brandon. When that outfit closed shop, its library went to Films Incorporated (5547 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago IL 60640; defunct URL: http://www.publicmedia.com/fientertainment/index.html). In 1997 Films Inc got out of the film business and switched exclusively to video, and all of its film materials went to Kit Parker, but by that time Films Inc no longer retained its license to Thermidor. (Kit Parker shortly afterwards likewise abandoned film in favor of video.)
What must have happened is that once the US license expired, all the materials were packed up back to Italy. But where in Italy?
We are offering a bounty for a good video of Tell It Like It Is and/or Thermidor. If you know where we can get one, write to us. Thanks!
Incidentally, clips from Ça ira are included in several subsequent Brass films: NEROSUBIANCO, L’urlo, and Salon Kitty.
GIANCARLO FUSCO, the noted author, wrote the commentary for the film. He and Brass would team up five more times over the next 17 years. Once their collaborations ended, Brass’s films would never be the same again.
 Once upon a time, a site called Il pacifico, located at http://www.memoriale.com/1974mem.htm, posted this photo of Giancarlo Fusco, who looks rather like a certain American president, yes? But I don’t think this is our Giancarlo Fusco. (If you know who this really is, and/or if you know who owns the rights to this photo, please contact me. Thanks!) |
 On the other hand, I think this is truly the Giancarlo Fusco in question. |
WELL, IT’S DEAD, BUT ONCE UPON A TIME IT WAS WORTH A LOOK:
http://www.icast.com/movies/1,1524,606-141716,00.html
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The unreleased soundtrack LP, RCA SP 8004. It seems that only a few were pressed for a select few VIPs. Nonetheless, tracks from this LP reappeared on other LPs, as we can see from this interesting web site: http://masasaruyoppitako.web.infoseek.co.jp/RCA_SP10000.html. |
IF YOU WANT TO LEARN THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY HYMN “ÇA IRA”
(SUNG BY EDITH PIAF, NO LESS!), TUNE IN TO:
Modern History Sourcebook
Variety, Wednesday, 23 September 1963: Well made, often fascinating, frequently brutal montage, telling in pictures the essentials of the revolutions of this century. It uses film clips, stock footage, newsreel material, culled from what must be one of the largest pools of material on the subject extant. Its commercial values are spotty, indicating specialized handling in most areas. Impact could, however, be strong in certain key situations. Beginning with the Russian Revolution, Tinto Bras’ effort uses bits from w.k. pix (Eisenstein classics are frequently excerpted), rarely seen newsreel or library shots to illustrate the brutality of revolutionary movements that followed. There are frequent shots of violence, executions, mutilated bodies, etc., which are not for the queasy (and which preclude television exposure) but which graphically underline and justify the revolts which followed. Ideologically, the pic tries to be fair in giving both sides of the situations, but the accent is nevertheless one in favor of the oppressed or underdogs. A greater balance could have resulted in a stronger film and would have removed all hints of bias. For example, the Spanish Revolution is seen solely from the side of the harassed and succumbing Reds, never showing (existing) footage of tortured priests and nuns and ravaged churches, indicating leftist brutality as well. In short, the director seems more intent in justifying the revolts than in keying the point that revolution is perhaps the bloodiest, cruelest of all types of war. Significant also is the brevity of footage dedicated to the Hungarian revolt, versus the lengthy rendering—albeit the most interesting because of rarity of material — of the Japanese invasion of China and others. Film is brilliantly edited, material is vividly chosen, comment (with above reservations) is to the point, the pic is technically okay. — Hawk. |
“Venice 1964,” Films in Review, October 1964, p 462: September 6. This was supposed to be a “day of rest” — there are no official screenings — but by eleven this morning an enormous crowd had queued in front of one of the Lido’s shoddier cinemas to see a feature-length documentary by the would-be Italian avantgardist, Tinto Bras, called Ca ira—il Fiume della Rivolta (River of Revolt). It is a skillful assemblage of newsreel and other stock footage, and clips from fiction films (e.g., Eisenstein’s), about the revolutions of the last 250 years. Some of the footage has not often been seen, and some of it is quite interesting. But the end result is spoiled by pro-Communist bias, excessive length, and a facetious commentary. |
DVD probably not forthcoming from
.
The announcement was quietly made at
Forum
Raro Video — Tinto Brass “d’Epoca”
| Directed and edited by | Tinto Brass |
| Commentary by | Giancarlo Fusco |
| Produced by | Moris Ergas for Debora Film and Zebra Film |
| Music | Romolo Grano |
| Research | Carla Cipriani |
| Assistant director | Franco [“Kim”] Arcalli |
| Assistant editor | Nadia Bonifazi |
| Narrators | Sandra Milo, Tino Buazzelli, Enrico Maria Salerno |
| Poems read by | Paul Eluard |
| Archival recordings of | Edith Piaf, Edmonda Aldini |
| English adaptation and postproduction | Clem Perry and Fleetwood Films |
| English translation | Ursule Molinaro |
| Text contributors | Letizia Brod, William Packard, Jean-Paul Renoir, Harold Salemson, Bernard Sznycer |
| Poems | The Warsaw Ghetto by William Packard In Distrust of Merits by Marianne Moore |
| Editor | Lou Burdi |
| Narrators | Ben Gazzara, Michael Tolan, Irene Worth, Al Freeman, Jr. |
The New York Times, Friday, 28 August 1964, p 19:
The New York Times, Sunday, 20 September 1964, p X11:
The New York Times, Tuesday, 22 September 1964, p 45:
Now, there are several reference sources that provide an English-language title for this movie.
Like an idiot, I did not copy any of these, except for the below, which is from the electronic version of Film Index International,
available to libraries:
The above filmography was copied from another similar filmography, which in turn was copied from another which was copied from another.
If Tell It Like It Is still exists, we MUST locate it and preserve it.
Please contact me if you have any information at all regarding its creation or whereabouts.
Many thanks!
The New York Times, Monday, 15 July 1968, p 45
Merger of Macmillan and Fleetwood Films:
Film Facts 1971, p 515:
The New York Times, Wednesday, 25 August 1971, p 45
A photocopy of a page from an undated Macmillan/Audio-Brandon 16mm Film Catalogue:
A page from the 1978/1979 Audio-Brandon 16mm Film Catalogue:
This is one of those invaluable resources that would bore the skin off your teeth:
James L Limbacher, compiler, Feature Films:
A Directory of Feature Films on 16mm and Videotape Available for Rental, Sale, and Lease, 8th ed
(New York &: London: R R Bowker Company, 1985):
