Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000

How was this film ever made? It presents many aspects of the left wing of politics genuinely, as they see themselves; not as reinterpreted through a capitalist middle-class filter or stereotype. Film has been such a capital intensive medium that it seems none ever get made without the approval of some millionaire or corporate backer, and that all structure themselves, and the worldviews they express, to win this approval; consequently people on the left get used to caricature or demonization as their only screen presence. Not so in "Jonas...". In a way the characters are archetypes, representing: sexual freedom, generosity and social consideration, intellectual expansiveness instead of reductionism, atheism, naturalistic identification, communality in spirit, stoicism etc; but I find identification with the characters easy. But it is not Utopian; the consequences for generosity of spirit in a greedy context are dramatized in the story of imprisonment and persecution. As with all good politics, the underlying message is not a mere power squabble; but a reflection on cosmic order, what the right tends to call "spiritual" concerns. The inflowing of people into the energy of the birth of Jonas and the disintegration of that unity after the event has transpired makes "Jonas..." a profoundly philosophic and satisfying story. After 30 years this is still one of my favourite movies.