Chuck Norris vs Communism (2015)

Information

Siskoid
Chuck Norris vs. Communism is a Romanian documentary about how underground video tapes of American movies in the 80s might have helped bring down Ceaușescu's isolationist regime. Through commentary by both the people who watched these forbidden movies and those who dubbed and distributed them, we've privy to a completely different experience than our own. There's a sweet naiveté to the way these people experienced even schlock cinema, and I had a big smile on my face through most of the first act at discovering or rediscovering something I take for granted today. There's an element of the spy thriller in all this, with some close shaves for those closer to the source, but mostly, these are happy memories for the people interviewed... and for us. The point that watching Rambo or Pretty Woman might have helped a revolution along isn't hammered on - you can give it the weight you think it deserves - and sometimes you wish there were more investigative meat to it, but for film lovers, this is an obscure, but quite lovely chapter in the way film has been experienced, and changed lives. 5 years 9 months ago
demagogo
Cool story. Now I'd like HBO to make a documentary about fascist dictatorships in Latin America (absolutely not backed by the US) shoving Freedom Flics down our throats in the 70's and 80's. 7 years 12 months ago