Home Media Magazine - February 10-16, 2008 - (Page 24) REVIEWS I LAKE OF FIRE Prebook 2/14; Street 3/11 ThinkFilm, Documentary, B.O. $0.03 million, $27.98 DVD, NR. www.homemediamagazine.com who moved in next door to the abortion clinic where she was working. Often overlooked in the hyperbole and political rhetoric are the people who don’t approve of abortion but are still pro-choice. Anti-abortion sentiment is not the sole province of the pious, but politicos on both sides use it to polarize opinions and rally their base. We see some of the political strategies that go into abortion protests and, tellingly, how the anti-abortion movement shifted from the purview of true believers to a machine of paid activists (not coincidentally left unemployed when the Equal Rights Amendment went down to defeat). The extremists help demonstrate the incongruities of the disagreement: Abortion clinic murderers have pride rather than remorse at their acts; their fundamentalist followers say they would execute those who have or perform abortions. Often graphic but equally thoughtful, this film is not for the young or squeamish. It’s a serious consideration of religion and politics and the issues on which they converge, and the stakes are often life or death. – Holly J. Wagner A bortion is perhaps the most divisive issue of our time, enduring beyond even wars. In Lake of Fire, filmmaker Tony Kaye gives us a long and exhaustive look at the American political battle over abortion. The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision was decided on arguments surrounding a woman’s right to privacy. Kaye eschews the privacy argument and looks at abortion as a debate fundamentally about when life begins, and therefore the ultimate battle over the separation of church and state (a position never tested at the Supreme Court level). There is no zealot like a convert, so the film can’t avoid talking with Norma McCorvey – known to the nation as Jane Roe – about her experience challenging abortion bans on privacy grounds, and her later religious conversion and activism on behalf of Operation Rescue. She tells how she found happiness among the happy people I TERROR’S ADVOCATE Street 2/19 Magnolia, Documentary, B.O. $0.05 million, $26.98 DVD, NR. In French with English subtitles. T error’s Advocate serves as a portrait of Jacques Vergès, highprofile attorney of notorious international figures such as Carlos the Jackal, Slobodan Milosevic and Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie. Director Barbet Schroeder combines archival footage with interviews with those who know Vergès, and tops it off with an interview with Vergès himself who, with cigar in hand, very methodically and with a touch of pride reflects on his long career. He first gained exposure defending Djamila Bouhired during the Algerian revolution against France. Vergès was noted for instructing his clients not to cooperate with the court, which he claimed did not have the authority to The DVD includes extended interlegitimately prosecute the case anyway. views and deleted scenes. At one point, Vergès disappeared for – John Latchem nearly a decade, only to resurface by defending a number of politically unpopular people. Schroeder takes his time using the interviews to set up each chapter in Vergès’ life on which he centers the movie. Vergès seems inspired by the challenge of taking on the establishment. His hatred of colonialism also is touched on in the film. His defense of Barbie consists primarily of arguing that Nazi Gestapo tactics were little different that how French agents treated various colonials. Terror’s Advocate is a fascinating glimpse into history. However, at 137 minutes, many viewers might find it too long for their liking, especially as it references a number of events with which they may not be familiar. I FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO Street 2/19 First Run, Documentary, B.O. $0.3 million, $24.95 DVD, NR. A n effort to dissect homophobia as an extension of Christian fundamentalism, For the Bible Tells Me So opens on Anita Bryant in 1977 doing an interview about how evangelists could have stamped out gays but didn’t, then getting hit in the face with a pie. She prays through the pie “to be delivered from this deviant lifestyle.” It aptly sets the tone for what is to follow, which is a fairly strong case that churches, particularly evangelical churches, fuel hatred of homosexuals as well as others. There’s no shortage of self-caricatured televangelist clips to support the point. A series of interviews with devout families with gay children tells more about their family experiences than it does about any orchestrated church effort to bash homosexuality. Probably the most heartbreaking accounts are those from people who married straight before coming out, or coming out of denial. It’s an intimate glimpse of a special kind of social pressure, im- posed against perceived flaws that can be changed. But even most of those have happy endings. An animated film about homosexuality called “Is It A Choice?” offers homosexuals George and Martha refuting arguments to a homophobe named Christian. Interviews with Biblical scholars addressing literalism and putting the oft-cited Bible verses against homosexuality in context also push back at Bible-thumpers who rail against homosexuality. The film culminates with most of the interview subjects taking part in a march on James Dobson’s Focus on the Family headquarters and personal statements about their journey. The real question with a film like this is, will it reach the target audience? It could help some people understand they are not the only ones feeling pressure from church and family. It may lead some to the Bible to research some of the verses or context cited here. But even the family members who came around did it because of personal experience. Will the churches and family members who rail against homosexuality even watch? – Holly J. Wagner 24 Home Media Magazine February 10–16, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
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