directed by Warren Beatty
This is the story of Jack Reed and Louis Bryant but mostly it is his story. He started as a journalist but towards the end of his short life, he died a few days before his 33rd birthday, at the time of the Russian Revolution and in its immediate aftermath he became an advocate for the communist cause. He traveled to Russia twice. He grew increasingly frustrated with the Bolsheviks and their way of getting things done. He died in Russia and is buried in the Kremlin.
Louise Bryant was married to Jack Reed for the last 4 years of his life but he wasn't her first husband. She was a writer. She wanted him to accept her on her merits and grew tired of the way he treated her. She had an affair with playwright Eugene O'Neill (Jack Nicholson).
Jack left Louise to go to Russia in December of 1919, less than a year before he died. He had to sneak into Russia which was blockaded at the time. She came looking for him when she heard nothing from him and he didn't return as promised. They met again before he passed and she was in the hospital when he passed away.
Thoughts
This is not a short film. It is over 3 hrs long.
The story of Reed and Bryant is shown on screen and is also talked about by a dozen or more individuals who are named in the credits but not during the movie when they appear on screen. They are all people who knew Reed and Bryant. One of them was my grandfather. He died several months before the movie was released. He is mentioned by name once and shows up on screen very briefly.
- 1 hour 58 minutes in the name Levine comes up. Someone was supposed to meet Levine but he missed him because he was late.
- around 2:18 IDL shows up on the screen briefly, his voice is heard continuing to talk as Reed was sneaking into Russia through Finland
- around 2:27 IDL shows up on screen talking about the "noose" that surrounded Russia, while Reed is imprisoned in Finland after attempting to get back to the United States
This movie is on a list that the American Film Institute (AFI) assembled several years ago of the 10 best epic films. It has the feel of an epic but I wasn't terribly impressed or moved by it.
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