The Weather Underground (2002)

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

Directors:

Sam Green, Bill Siegel (co-director)

Stars:

Lili Taylor, Pamela Z, Jim Lange

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Lili Taylor	...	Narrator (voice)
Pamela Z	...	Narrator (voice)
Jim Lange	...	Additional Narrator (voice)
Evan White	...	Additional Narrator (voice)
Bernardine Dohrn	...	Herself
Mark Rudd	...	Himself
Brian Flanagan	...	Himself
David Gilbert	...	Himself
Bill Ayers	...	Himself (as Bill Ayers)
Naomi Jaffe	...	Herself
Todd Gitlin	...	Himself
Laura Whitehorn	...	Herself
Don Strickland	...	Himself
Kathleen Cleaver	...	Herself

Storyline

In the late 1960s and early 1970s polarization of American political situation was becoming acute, with the Vietnam War abroad and civil rights at home being the most pressing issues. For the youth political movement, seemingly ineffectual methods of peaceful protest and resistance led to the rise of a faction that wanted a more extreme approach that the government could not ignore. One particular group, the Weather Underground, attempted to team up with the Black Panthers to violently confront the US government. They began with participation in street riots, and escalated their efforts to include the bombing of specific targets associated with the government or local power structures. Through archival footage and interviews of participants on both sides of this conflict, this film covers the Weather Underground's campaign of violence through this period, the FBI's strategies and tactics to apprehend them (including some deemed unethical or illegal), until changing times and ...

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Plot Keywords:

weather underground | underground | government | radical | 1970s | 

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Genres:

Documentary | History | War

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France] PBS

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 November 2003 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Tempo de Protesto

Filming Locations:

Berkeley, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,984, 8 June 2003, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$560,199, 23 May 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Free History Project

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the segment about the accidental explosion of the Greenwich Village townhouse at 18 West 11th Street, Dustin Hoffman can be seen standing next to a fire truck observing the scene. He was living in the townhouse next door with his wife at the time, Anne Byrne.

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Quotes

Mark Rudd: I cherished my hate as a badge of moral superiority.

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Connections

Features Underground (1976)

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Soundtracks

For Carl Sagan
Performed by Tarentel
Courtesy of Temporary Residence

User Reviews

Shows the complexity behind political violence

It's incredibly rare to see media depict the real root causes behind acts of "terrorism" during today's War On Terror. While Weather Underground does not glorify its subjects behavior, it does create empathy on the part of the viewer... and that alone is revolutionary at this historical point in time. The Weather Underground portrays a time in America's past when the populace was activated in a way that makes today's peace movement look like armchair intellectuals. Is it really just a draft that determines how aggressive our anti-war stance will be? That is pretty sad, since, if that is true, the anti-war movement isn't actually anti-war at all, it's just anti having to fight in a war. This is a documentary about a group of activists who made a true sacrifice, giving up their own freedom to try and stop a war.