Reds (1981)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Warren Beatty

Writers:

Warren Beatty (written by) &
Trevor Griffiths (written by)

Release Date:

4 December 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Not since Gone With The Wind has there been a great romantic epic like it!

Plot:

A radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.

Plot Keywords:

Russia | Playwright | Political | Interview | Speech

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

Warren Beatty	...	John Reed
Diane Keaton	...	Louise Bryant
Edward Herrmann	...	Max Eastman
Jerzy Kosinski	...	Grigory Zinoviev
Jack Nicholson	...	Eugene O'Neill
Paul Sorvino	...	Louis Fraina
Maureen Stapleton	...	Emma Goldman
Nicolas Coster	...	Paul Trullinger
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Speaker - Liberal Club
Ian Wolfe	...	Mr. Partlow
Bessie Love	...	Mrs. Partlow
MacIntyre Dixon	...	Carl Walters
Pat Starr	...	Helen Walters
Eleanor D. Wilson	...	Mrs. Reed
Max Wright	...	Floyd Dell

Runtime:

194 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian | German | French | Finnish

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #26524) (re-rating after appeal) | USA:R (original rating) | Australia:M | UK:15 (cut) | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:K-16 | Norway:12 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

1 Great George Street, Westminster, London, England, UK

Company:

Barclays Mercantile Industrial Finance

Trivia:

To date, this is the last movie to receive Oscar nominations in each of the four acting categories. No film in the ceremonies since 1982 has achieved this feat.

Goofs:

Factual errors: During the tram ride in Petrograd there is a modern traffic sign visible (a yellow line on red background: forbidden driving direction).

Quotes:

John Reed: Look, what does a capitalist do? Let me ask you that, Mike. Huh? Tell me. I mean, what does he make, besides money? I don't know what he makes. The workers do all the work, don't they? Well, what if they got organized?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Shrieker (1998)

Soundtrack:

Rattlesnake Rag

Great piece of political discussion and drama

Warren Beatty makes himself the only director to get Oscar nominations in Best Producer (picture), director, actor and writer twice (Heaven Can Wait is the other one), and he won his only Oscar (besides his honorary Thalberg award in 2000) for direction here. And it is well deserved. Mainly because this is the best film about communism and other political issues ever made.

Here, Beatty portrays journalist and idealist John Reed to maximum potential. He also comes of great with Diane Keaton as his love. Long, yet immensly entertaining and interesting, which was one of the few political films (besides maybe South Park) that got me thinking about communism. By the way, this film also won best conematography (Vittoro Storatto) and Best Supporting Actress (Maureen Stapleton as Emma Goldman), though I think it should've also won Oscars for Nicholson and Beatty. One of the better films (top 20) of the decade. A+