The Weather Underground (2002)

Directors:

Sam Green
Bill Siegel

Release Date:

13 November 2003 (Australia)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

The remarkable story of The Weather Underground, radical activists of the 1970s, and of radical politics at its best and most disastrous.

Plot Keywords:

Underground | Government | 1970s | Interview | Black Panthers

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Billy Ayers	...	Himself (also archive footage) (as Bill Ayers)
Kathleen Cleaver	...	Herself (also archive footage)
Bernadine Dohrn	...	Herself (also archive footage) (as Bernardine Dohrn)
Brian Flanagan	...	Himself (also archive footage)
David Gilbert	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Todd Gitlin	...	Himself
Fred Hampton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Abbie Hoffman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Naomi Jaffe	...	Herself (also archive footage)
Martin Luther King	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jim Lange	...	Additional voice-over (voice)
Timothy Leary	...	Himself (archive footage)
Charles Manson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Walter Mondale	...	Himself (archive footage)
James Robison	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mark Rudd	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Don Strickland	...	Himself
Lili Taylor	...	Narrator (voice)
Evan White	...	Additional voice-over (voice)
Laura Whitehorn	...	Herself (also archive footage)
Pamela Z	...	Narrator (voice)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | New Zealand:R13 | Singapore:PG | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Berkeley, California, USA

Company:

The Free History Project

Movie Connections:

Features Dont Look Back (1967)

Soundtrack:

Jynueythek Ylow

As history goes, so go various other things.

I had actually never heard of the Weathermen before "The Weather Underground" came out. As I understand it, some people complained that the documentary glossed over some of their more violent activities (and some people think that that may have cost it the Best Documentary Oscar). But the way I see it, these sorts of documentaries are always going to stir up controversy, with different factions in society complaining about what they do and don't focus on.

No matter. I will say that the documentary brings up important questions about when it's OK to use violence against those in power. Certainly the US government's actions in Vietnam - plus its spying on radical groups - left the people who formed the Weathermen feeling that they had no other options. And of course, it brings up questions of how far we can go today, when the Bush administration labels political opponents as terrorist enablers.

So overall, I do recommend the documentary as a look at '60s radicalism (even though this is radicalism in a less than pleasant form), and also a look at government surveillance. Whether or not you agree with the Weathermen is of course up to you. As for whether or not the documentary glossed over their more violent activities, is that any different from glossing over the government's crimes?