Let’s talk about cinema
- This topic has 8 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 3 weeks, 2 days ago by
.
-
Posts
-
My favourite film this year is Sinners, a tribute to blues music. Some of you might think “What does this have to do with socialism? This is off-topic!”
However capitalism sometimes
gives us music or film that we can love due to its joy and subversive nature. I could write an essay but that would be ridiculous, let’s enjoy the vampire folk’s last dance. I think this film nails it on the head – death to the British navy and all who sailed in it.It may seem off-topic at first, but culture has always been one of the places where contradictions within society become visible. Films and music produced under capitalism are commodities, yet they can still carry meanings that go beyond profit — expressions of resistance, memory, and collective feeling that audiences interpret in their own way. Blues itself emerged from hardship, exploitation, and survival, transforming suffering into creativity and shared humanity.
That is why a film like Sinners can resonate politically without being a political manifesto. Art often reveals truths indirectly: joy existing alongside oppression, rebellion hidden inside entertainment, and history echoing through rhythm and storytelling. Even when created within a commercial industry, cultural works can challenge authority, question tradition, or give voice to those usually unheard.
Enjoying such films does not distract from social awareness; it reminds us that people are not only workers or consumers but creators of meaning. The “last dance” you mention captures something important — the idea that celebration itself can be defiant. Sometimes the most subversive act is not a speech or a theory, but reclaiming emotion, memory, and imagination from a system that tries to package everything as a product.
So perhaps it is not off-topic at all. Culture shows that even within existing social limits, humans continue to create spaces of freedom, however temporary — and those moments help us imagine a world where creativity is no longer constrained by profit.If anyone wants to see what films have been reviewed in the Standard down the years, they should click on the following link:
https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/p/film-reviews.html
That’s a terrific collection, Darren. Thanks very much. A pity there’ve been no film reviews in the most recent times. But then, like all voluntary activity, it needs someone to want to do them.
I’ve just been to see ‘The Secret Agent’ – in a cinema near you now hopefully. You must see it. Like all films it’s not perfect, but it amazed me because of how immersive it is. I had to go to the toilet at one point (it’s quite long) and wondered why I wasn’t in 1977 Brazil. Why did I know nothing about Brazil until now? The film is billed as a political thriller, and it is. Don’t let the title put you off. This is the best film I’ve seen this year. The soundtrack is so good too.
Ps Going back to Howard’s point – do we need to go through the palaver of a written article submitted to the Editorial Committee, or should the Editorial Committee just accept online items for publication.https://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi746571801?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
Small town cinemas used to project better movies, but most of them are gone because they can not afford the price of digital movies and the new equipment needed. The traditional projectionists have lost their jobs . The movie producers are just filming movies that can produce a lot of profits, and the movie topics are empty
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.