Corporate malfeasance in the 1920s: Lydia Dean Pilcher/Ginny Mohler's RADIUM GIRLS

Likely to put you in mind of one of 2019's best films, Dark Waters, thanks to its scrupulous detailing of yet another of corporate America's egregious deeds, RADIUM GIRLS -- a narrative movie detailing the knowingly murderous behavior of the United States Radium Corporation toward its own workers, the young women who painted those glow-in-the-dark dials on the wrist watches of the day -- proves yet another worthy addition to the ever-growing list of Capitalism's horrendous crimes against the workers of the world.

As directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher and Ginny Mohler (shown above, left and right respectively), with a screenplay by Ms Mohler and Brittany Shaw, this 2018 movie is only now being released  either theatrically or digitally (for more on this, cut to the final paragraph). The movie is almost impossible not to recommend, thanks to the riveting and infuriating story it tells (and tells generally quite well, even given its too many digressions into documentary footage nostalgia).

The radium girls of the title (shown above in a photo from that time, below in the movie version) were young woman, often only in their teens, hired to work at this factory in Orange, New Jersey, where they were encouraged -- in order to produce more product more quickly -- to moisten their paintbrushes by placing these in their mouth, even as the ownership knew all too well that the girls were poisoning themselves irrevocably.

Much of the movie's strength comes from its astute casting of roles large and small by excellent actors who, if not "unknowns," are still a long way from household names. The only actors TrustMovies was familiar with in this large cast were Veanne Cox (of Henry Fool, and who played a glorious Flora in the off-Broadway revival of Flora, the Red Menace), John Bedford Lloyd and Joe Grifasi.)

Radium Girls is not merely a very progressive movie, it's also quite feminist, given that these women are taken such advantage of mostly by powerful men: When they began to grow ill, they were deliberately lied to about their condition and instead told that they had syphilis! The film's leading roles --  sisters, both of whom work for the radium company where their older sibling worked and subsequently died several years before -- are taken by Joey King (above, second from right, who could hardly look more "period" were she a reincarnated 1920s flapper) and Abby Quinn (below, right), who provides the soul of the film, as the sister who has ingested enough radium to end her life within a year or two.

Generally, the film works well enough, even as it adheres to fairly standard genre practices. The villains are drawn as uncaring and utterly venal, doing whatever it takes to win the day. Only in one unnecessary scene, in which bad-guy underlings in a car try to run our pedestrian heroine off the road, does the film seem unduly "movie-ish." In addition, the would-be love story -- between the younger sister and her American-Communist-party photographer beau -- could use a bit more oomph.

Otherwise, Radium Girls proves a decent enough example of Davida and Goliath/"us vs them" movie-making. Released via Juno Films and running 103 minutes, the film was to open theatrically this Friday, April 3, but what with the Corona-induced nationwide theater closings, who knows? When I can learn more about a possible digital streaming or VOD release, I'll post that info here. Or, you can click here and watch for further updates from the film's web site.

A movie to make socialist New Yorkers proud: Tom Boothe's wondrous doc, FOOD COOP

There a scene in Tancrède Ramonet's fine French TV documentary, No Gods, No Masters, in which a woman during the Spanish Civil War explains to us how the factory where she worked, now taken over by the workers themselves, was able to prosper without obeisance to hierarchy, religion or government control but by simply working together toward a common goal.

It's an inspiring moment, and watching the 2016 documentary FOOD COOP -- written and co-directed (with Maellanne Bonnicel) by Tom Boothe -- finally making its way to a U.S. release via DVD, you may realize that something very like this has been existing quite successfully in Brooklyn, New York, since 1973.

Mr. Boothe, shown at right, seems to have had a double purpose in making his terrific little film: He wanted to document the history, success and workings of this Brooklyn food coop, as well as helping to use this model for a similar food coop in his adopted city of Paris, France.

That French coop, La Louve, opened its doors in November of 2017 and this month celebrates the beginning of its third successful year of offering first-class food at affordable price -- which is pretty much exactly what the earlier Brooklyn coop has been doing for nigh unto 47 years.

This busy, bustling place (above) may be located in what is now uber-wealthy and gentrified Park Slope, but back in 1973 when it began, things in Brooklyn were a lot different. Now, according to one of the folk interviewed in this eye-opening documentary, "The Food Coop is one of the only racially and economically diverse places left in Park Slope." The filmmakers give us some of the history of the coop, as well a whole lot about not only how it works but why it works as well as it does.

This is fascinating stuff, and it's not hard to understand why Boothe wanted to use Park Slope as somewhat of a model for Paris. The coop is owned by its members, you must be a member to shop there, and members must work at the coop 2-3/4 hours per month to maintain their membership. According to the founders, it is members' time -- and not their money -- that assures their loyalty and devotion.

We hear from a huge and varied number of coop members as they work, and every one of them seems both intelligent and well-spoken. One woman (above), having done a thorough comparison between the coop and Whole Foods, found the coop's prices (for much better food, by the way) around 40 per cent below that of Whole Foods for a savings of around $3,000 per year.

We learn how and why the coop is able to secure first-class food in all areas (except maybe chocolate: that section is fascinating in itself), with cheeses among the most interesting discussions. (One thing to which the movie might have devoted more time: the coop's "joining" fee, as well as its "investment" fee.)

We even get a section on discipline in the coop: What happens when there is theft of either time or food. What the filmmakers have decided to show us could hardly have been chosen any better or edited any more wisely or concisely.

In just 97 minutes we're treated to the best lesson possible in socialism vs capitalism. Nothing I've seen in the five years since having to leave New York for Florida (for economic reasons) has made me miss the city any more than this wonderful and important film. Long may this food coop survive and prosper!

From Bullfrog Films and distributed via Icarus Home Video, Food Coop hits the street this coming Tuesday, November 4 -- for purchase and (I hope) rental. On the DVD extras is a nice interview with Joe Holtz, co-founder of the coop, and a terrific one with filmmaker Boothe.

With A GERMAN YOUTH, Jean-Gabriel Périot explores the divide in 1960s-70s Germany between the Capitalist establishment and young progressives

Listening to the intelligent and thoughtful words of journalist Ulrike Meinhof  (yes, later to become co-leader of the infamous Baader-Meinhoff group) during a German television interview in the late 1960s is eye-opening.

Meinhof made such good sense then -- truthful, pointed and highly progressive --  just as her words continue to resonate in our current times that one cannot help but wonder from where and when a more current American version of Baader-Meinhof will finally appear. Her words will also make you ask how Ms Meinhof progressed (or depending on your viewpoint, devolved) into what Baader-Meinhof eventually became.

One of the greats gifts of Jean-Gabriel Périot's 2015 documentary, A GERMAN YOUTH (Une jeunesse allemande) -- finally getting a well-deserved theatrical release via Big World Pictures -- is that we here in the USA can at last get a look at Ms Meinhof's life and beliefs in more than the standard, cookie-cut approach (oh, she was one of those crazy, Commie, ultra-left-wing terrorists!) we've heretofore seen and heard.

The other, perhaps not quite so positive, gift is that M. Périot has created his documentary entirely by editing preexisting visual and sound archives. Nothing here is original to his film (except of course the film itself): no present-day interviews with those ever-present talking heads, no narration to connect it all together -- just the archival material.

This is double-edged. Initially it works quite well, pulling us in and making think and re-think. But as the documentary rolls along, particularly toward its end, it begins to spin a bit out of control, with some if not much of what we see and hear making less connectible sense. (This was the experience had by TrustMovies; you may fare better if you have more acquaintance with and understanding of German and European history.)

In addition to what we see and hear of Meinhof, we also see snipitts of students/revolutionaries Andreas Baader (above, right) and Gudrun Ensslin (below), filmmaker Holger Meins, and the lawyer for the group, Horst Mahler. Filmmaker Périot is also able to give us some understanding of the period 20 years after the Nazis, by which time West Germany had becomes a kind of arm of the USA and its brand of Capitalism, an era in which the German youth of the title grew further estranged from its parents' generation out of guilt, anger, shame -- and perhaps some hope of making real change. As we have now seen and experienced here in the USA, as in most western "democracies," after more than a half century, good luck with that change, kids.

The film makes fine reference to the collusion of church and state, of state and media, and to the difficulty of tying politics to art (or vice versa) -- particularly back in 1960s/70s Germany. We see bits and pieces of the Baader-Meinhof 's "terrorism," its capture, imprisonment, and supposed suicides ("inconvenient" prisoners such as the recent Jeffrey Epstein may pop into your mind at this point). The movie should act, for some of us anyway, as a salutary, necessary reminder of the ways in which history is always written by the victors.

And if the documentary does spins a bit out of control, it comes together very nicely at the finale, which features Rainer Werner Fassbinder doing what he always did best. Running just 93 minutes, in German, French and English, with English subtitles as needed, A German Youth opens this Friday, October 11, in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills, expanding on October 14 to Laemmle's Royal, Playhouse 7, Town Center 5 and Claremont 5 theaters. Click here and then scroll down to check if other cities and theaters have been added of late.

Roger Paradiso's THE LOST VILLAGE indicts NYU/Capitalism for the decline of the Village

In 2012, Roger Paradiso explains to us in his new documentary, THE LOST VILLAGE, the New York City Council approved what was referred to as New York University's "Sexton Plan," named after the then-NYU President, John Sexton. During the course of this film, we hear the words/promises of Mr. Sexton pitted against the words and needs of various NYU students and faculty members.

TrustMovies well recalls the outcry heard around New York City and especially in Greenwich Village (the geographical home of the university) against this plan. But corporate power, as ever, trumped equality and reason, while tuition costs shot significantly upward, resulting in a huge rise in student prostitution (to pay that tuition), enormous student debt (NYU's is far above the national average) and student suicide.

I absolutely agree with Mr. Paradiso (who is shown at right) and many of his interviewees who bemoan the untoward growth of NYU as some sort of real estate baron while using that increased tuition to feed its President and corporate board instead of putting the money to use in better classroom facilities. I am also, as it would seem is the filmmaker himself, philosophically and in practice against Capitalism and its increasingly rotten results for us 99 per cent. That said, The Lost Village is an unconvincing, poorly reasoned, repetitive mess which grows worse and ever more tiresome as it lumbers along.

It focus is wobbly at best, and it tries to incorporate way too much into its 88-minute running time. The subject of student prostitution alone (NYU would seem to have more than its fair share) could easily provide fodder to a full-length documentary. On that subject Paradiso gives us everything from a strong speech by a masked student activist (shown below) bemoaning her stint as a prostitute (to which she must return from time to time to pay the bills) to a kind of recruitment video in which a pretty young woman explains the wonders of the sugar daddy/sugar baby relationship and why you might want to consider embarking on one of these. Really: Some honest-to-god investigative reporting on all of this could fill a whole film.

Instead, Paradiso treats us to a entirely other matter: how small businesses are increasingly being forced out of the Village so that what made the place special is being lost. But this is true all over New York City and its boroughs. Further, the two or three examples of the threatened small businessman we are shown do not have that much original to say and grow repetitive after a visit or two (the filmmaker give us several too many). We also hear from a dedicated economist and a real estate broker with enough skin in the game to seem more like an apologist for the unrestricted Capitalism that is destroying New York City.

By the time Paradiso has begun indicting national politics, he is telling most of us stuff we've long known -- and doing it in a less than compelling manner. This is a shame because, clearly, the filmmaker's heart and mind are in the right place. You may not disagree with what's shown here. But you will probably wish it were better focused and had been conceived and executed in a much stronger and disciplined fashion.

From First Run Features, the documentary opens today, Friday, October 19, in New York City at the Cinema Village (certainly an appropriate venue). I don't find any other cities or playdates available, but as the film is from FRF, it will probably see a DVD or streaming release eventually. During its one-week Cinema Village run, there will be various personal appearances and specific subjects discussed during the Q&A's following the film's screening. You can find these listed by clicking here and scrolling down.

All about anarchism in Tancrède Ramonet's fine French TV doc, NO GODS, NO MASTERS

As good an overview of and introduction to the ideas, philosophy and history of anarchism throughout much of our world over the century-plus that spanned 1840 until 1945, NO GODS, NO MASTERS (Ni dieu, ni maître, une histoire de l'anarchisme) is a thorough and eye-opening 160-minute documentary made for French and Swiss television that is now available in a two-disc, dubbed-for-English-speaking-audiences version from Icarus Films Home Video. This very necessary documentary is a singular treat, important in a number of ways.

The work of writer/ director Tancrède Ramonet, shown at left, the three-episode series tracks the history of anarchism throughout the world, western and eastern, via its various philosophies and the actions stemming from those ideas.

Many of us grew up with the idea planted in our collective head that anarchism stood only for violence and chaos and thus could never be allowed to take the upper hand. One of the great strengths of this documentary is how it demolishes that idea. Yes, violence was sometimes part of the anarchist plan but this was never, ever toward chaos. Instead, it was always with the idea of bringing the working class into the sphere of power and influence commensurate with justice.

This series may very well leave you feeling that Communism has utterly betrayed the very ideas and philosophy of the betterment of the working class that it constantly espoused and then undercut at almost every opportunity via its insistence on hierarchy coupled to abuse of power.

From Pierre Joseph Proudhon (above) -- said to be the only 19th Century revolutionary theorist to actually come from the working class -- to Prince Peter Kropotkin (the Libertarian Communist whose books on revolution and anarchy were translation into many languages) to Sacco and Vanzetti (below), the series covers the well-known to the not-so-known figures who carried anarchist ideas into the mainstream.

And, yes, these ideas were indeed mainstream during the 19th and even into the 20th centuries, which will probably come as much of a shock to some viewers, as it did to TrustMovies. Those ideas were then too-often co-opted by the Communists, and not only during and after the Russian revolution but especially during the revolution in Mexico and later in during the Spanish Civil War.

How all this happened is made clear by No Gods, No Masters in a forthright and entertaining manner. The documentary is so full of information that you will occasionally want or need to rewind a bit to hear something again. My biggest complaint about this English "translation" is that the original language has been "overlayed" or maybe over-dubbed in such a way that you can still hear the French, Spanish or Italian language being spoken underneath the English translation. This is unwieldy at best and actually makes it more difficult to fully understand the English, which should be louder on the soundtrack and the original language either much softer or maybe blotted out entirely. (I don't understand why English SDH subtitles were not provided, which would have solved both this problem, as well as making the series accessible to the non-hearing population.)

In any case, No Gods No Masters proves to be a combination of narration divided between a number of talking heads (historians and philosophers, one of whom is shown below) and archival photos and film (much of which I had not previously seen). The content of both narration and film is what keeps the series not merely afloat but deeply and consistently interesting, allowing us to see and understand how, as just about always since the Industrial Revolution, the proletariat has been kept in its place via Capitalism, assisted by government and either (or often both) the police or the military.

The manner in which anarchism insisted upon dispensing with religion and hierarchical power structure is at the core of the doc, and this is brought home time and again, in differing ways throughout. Anyone viewing this series can only think about, remember and despair at the constant struggle of the world's masses to share in the well-being that the rich and powerful continue to hoard.

Part One: The Passion for Destruction (1840-1906) details the history of the movement in the face of the Industrial Revolution, along with the various attitudes of anarchists that range from focusing on labor and the working man to violence and assassination, as capitalism grows ever more intent on destroying anything that stands in its way.

Part Two: Land and Freedom (1907-1921) focuses on the revolutions in Mexico and Russia, with a multitude of wonderful archival footage, and how Communism tried to supplant and finally destroy anarchism.

In Part Three: In Memory of the Vanquished (1922-1945) we watch this supplanting and destruction continue, as anarchism seems come apart, even while Communist movements around the world grow stronger. The Spanish Civil War, with its struggle between anarchists and Communists, is of particular note here.

M. Ramonet does not whitewash anarchism's tendency toward violence, but he offers a wealth of other information that gives a broader, deeper and more realistic picture of the movement, its goals, and its accomplishments. Nowhere are these accomplishments clearer than during the Spanish Civil war, when whole communities demonstrated that they could work and prosper without obeisance to hierarchy, religion or government control.

Overall, the documentary is hugely informative, and ought to provoke much thought and discussion from those who view it. It's a wonderful contribution to history, philosophy and, we hope, progress. It may also make you wonder if the very term anarchism, with all this word would seem to represent, was not the best choice for a progressive movement. Ah, well: water under the bridge at this point.

From Icarus Films Home Video, running two and one half hours, and complete with a set of Bonus Features that anyone who sees the documentary will want to additionally view, this two-disc set is available now for purchase (and, I hope somewhere, for rental). It is certainly a don't-miss video.

HEATHER BOOTH: CHANGING THE WORLD completes Lilly Rivlin's women activists trilogy

First she gave us a terrific documentary about the life and times of activist/writer Grace Paley, then followed this with a shorter but fascinating film on Esther Bronner, the woman who brought us the first feminist seder. Now, Lilly Rivlin offers up her hour-long documentary, HEATHER BOOTH: CHANGING THE WORLD, which will introduce many (if not most) of us to, as Ms Rivlin puts it, "the most important person you've never heard of." This film's a winner, too.

Rivlin, shown at left, has a way of fishing out the facts of a life and stringing them together in a fashion that draws you in, makes you think and then connect the dots that lead from personal life to politics to change. All three women she has so far memorialized are good examples, and while Paley was certainly the best known, Bronner and now Booth make fine follow-ups. And this time, Rivlin is taking on a living woman -- which seems to bring even more energy and vitality to her film. (Of course, Booth herself could hardly be more vital and alive!)

So who is Heather Booth? (That's she, above, in both her younger and more recent days.) Well, the woman is an "organizer," and if that might seem at first a bit mundane, we soon learn how important this job is, along with how it most effectively can be done. We also learn about the forces that drive her -- love people, hate injustice -- and how her status as an "outsider" probably fueled the fire.

From her first task -- handing out anti-capital-punishment flyers in Times Square -- through the Mississippi terror and the Civil Right demonstrations during the 1960s, we follow her career with interest and often surprise. She worked with Fannie Lou Hamer -- above, center -- in the south, where her sense of the need for social justice was strengthened by living with a black family. From there her skill for organizing seemed to bloom and flourish.

From racial justice to abortion rights and the creation of "Jane" (at a time when abortion was still illegal), we follow her career, professional and personal (there is a lovely section here devoted to "When Heather Met Paul," the man who became her husband and co-worker, though in a very different venue).

We discover the ACDC (Action Committee for Decent Child Care), and The Midwest Academy where, against all conventional wisdom, Heather proves that "organization" can indeed be taught. The movie does skip around a lot, even, it seems, in terms of time frames, yet there is not an uninteresting minute in all of the 60.

We watch as, with Booth's help, Harold Washington is elected mayor of Chicago, and eventually Elizabeth Warren's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is formed (and has by now returned almost twelve billion dollars to consumers!). Accolades to Booth from both Warren and Julian Bond are included in the documentary. The movie's a call to action, as it demonstrates just what a wonder Heather Booth really is. Watching and listening to her will give you much needed courage. The film ends with the election of Donald Trump, a declaration of concern and -- of course -- the need for organization.

Distributed by Women Make Movies, Heather Booth: Changing the World will make its debut in Sarasota, Florida, beginning next week at the Through Women's Eyes Film Festival on Saturday, April 1, at 3:15pm (click here for the complete film schedule); and again during the Sarasota Film Festival on Monday, April 3, at 4:15pm. Click here for this festival's complete schedule.