This Revolution (2005)

In this politically charged homage to Medium Cool, a photographer covers the urban guerrilla war on New York streets during the RNC.

Director:

Stephen Marshall

Writer:

Stephen Marshall

Stars:

Rosario Dawson, Nathan Crooker, Amy Redford

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rosario Dawson	...	Tina Santiago
Nathan Crooker	...	Jake Cassavetes
Amy Redford	...	Chloe Harden
Brett DelBuono	...	Richie Santiago
Brendan Sexton III	...	Daniel Symptom
Immortal Technique	...	Himself
Robert Bella	...	Bob Kramer
Cynthia Garrett	...	BCN News Anchor
Ned Silverman	...	Dexter
Brett Berg	...	Cody
Jermaine Chambers	...	Max
Gavin Bellour	...	Dante
Vija Zvers	...	Mousy (as Vija Brigita Grosgalvis)
Jim Titus	...	Music Producer (as James T. Williams II)
Juan Carlos Hernández	...	Cruz Santiago (as Juan Hernandez)

Storyline

Jake Cassevetes is a world renowned shooter just back from being embedded during the U.S. invasion of Iraq. As a well-paid stringer for the networks, Jake does not buy into the currently vogue, left-wing conspiracy theory of a corporate-controlled press. But, after discovering much of his best footage in Iraq was censored by the network, Jake is growing disillusioned with his corporate masters. When he gets an assignment to shoot on the streets of the Republican National Convention protests, he meets Seven, one of the young leaders of the masked anarchist Black Bloc. Jake quickly wins the trust of the group and is allowed to shadow them as they move through the demo. Later that night, after shooting Seven with her mask down describing the Bloc's militant objectives, the videotape is mistakenly returned to the network with the rest of his footage. When he goes to retrieve the tape, he is told the network made a deal with Homeland Security to review all footage to look for potential ...

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Plot Keywords:

1st amendment | protest | mask | activist | government | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

January 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Revolução

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Revolution Theory, Artists / Media Cooperation, Guerrilla News Network

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

During filming of a scene August 29, 2004 a block away from the Republican National Convention, Rosario Dawson, Vija Zvers and director Stephen Marshall were arrested. Dawson and Zvers allegedly refused to yield to police and were wearing bandannas as masks, in violation of local law regarding public demonstrations. When Marshall protested the arrests and showed police the film's permits, he also was arrested. The last 15 minutes of the film were changed to incorporate the incident into the movie including using actual footage of the arrests. All charges were dropped in March 2005 after video showed that the filming did not cause any obstruction and that Dawson and company obeyed all police directives.

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Connections

Version of Medium Cool (1969)

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Soundtracks

Me Tarzan You Jane
Written by Fil Eisler
performed by Fil Eisler
Courtesy of Own Brand Records

User Reviews

Not pleasant, radical and somewhat biased, but important

The movie starts with what appears to be documentary footage of protests at the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston.

Later we learn Jake filmed the footage and is showing it to Chloe, who works at BCN and is also his romantic interest. They don't have a perfect relationship, though, since Chloe cares about getting ahead and Jake cares about the truth.

The Republican Convention is coming up in New York City, and BCN wants Jake to cover the "war" taking place in the streets. Jake has experience with war, having been the first "embedded" journalist in Iraq.

Before the convention, though, Jake and his sound man Dexter film some opinions of people in general, including a wacko who thinks Bush caused 9-11, and rapper Immortal Technique, who is angry about the way black people and other minorities are disrespected by cops and others.

Jake meets Richie, who raises homing pigeons with his father Cruz, who is serving in Iraq. They become friends, and Jake also develops a relationship with Richie's mother Tina, who explains that her husband was killed but Richie doesn't know it.

Soon Jake is learning about the protests and those who are participating, including one group that wears masks so its members will be anonymous. While Jake believes he is doing good, BCN and its president of programming Bob Kramer, who was once a journalist but now considers himself a businessman interested in his company's success, want to help Homeland Security keep track of potential terrorists.

The ending is pretty amazing if disturbing.

If you are a Bush-Cheney supporter who believes in conservative values, this movie may not be for you. The conservative point of view is presented but mostly to be ridiculed or criticized. Those who served in the military are respected and praised, but why they were serving is another matter.

Of course the protesters are more than just lazy people looking for an excuse to make trouble as some of the conservatives think. But they are working hard to take a stand and drive change. If they were lazy they'd just back down from all the adversity.

Rosario Dawson does a great job as a mother who is trying to cope and seems reasonably happy considering her circumstances. And she is pushing her son to be more than she is.

Nathan Crooker does a good job as an idealistic journalist.

The real stars of the movie are the ordinary people. Most appear to be merely actors but they come across as more. And there is a lot of what appears to be real footage.

And of course the convention itself was real. According to this movie, though, Bush didn't speak at night, but I guess that's a minor criticism. Maybe it wasn't safe to film that part of the powerful climactic scene during the day.

There is some violence, but it's not too bad. I'm so glad I saw this movie cleaned up for TV, because the sound went out a lot.

It's not what we would like to see, and it's not necessarily the truth, but it's what we need to see. If only to make us think.