Synopsis | The Political Economy Of Asian Transition From Communism
THE SYNOPSIS OF YOUR FAVORITE BOOK =--- Where to buy this book? ISBN: 9780754647355 Book Synopsis of The Political Economy of Asian Transition from Communism by Sujian Guo ...
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Synopsis | The Political Economy Of Asian Transition From Communism - Video
Synopsis | The Rise And Fall Of Communism
THE SYNOPSIS OF YOUR FAVORITE BOOK =--- Where to buy this book? ISBN: 9780061138799 Book Synopsis of The Rise and Fall of Communism by Director Russian and East European Centre...
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Synopsis | The Rise And Fall Of Communism - Video
Synopsis | Trotsky: Terrorism And Communism By Slavoj Zizek
THE SYNOPSIS OF YOUR FAVORITE BOOK =--- Where to buy this book? ISBN: 9781844671786 Book Synopsis of Trotsky: Terrorism and Communism by Slavoj Zizek If you want to add where...
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Synopsis | Trotsky: Terrorism And Communism By Slavoj Zizek - Video
A detail from the poster for Chuck Norris vs Communism. PR Photograph: PR
Chuck Norris battled Communists in his none-too-sophisticated action films of the 1980s, but documentarian Ilinca Calugareanu makes the argument that black market VHS tapes of Hollywood films helped lead to the eventual overthrow of the Romanian Ceausescu regime. She makes a compelling case and the behind-the-scenes look at how these tapes were made and distributed is interesting for a while. Unfortunately Chuck Norris vs Communism says everything it needs to say in its first 15 minutes, and then just keeps rewinding the tape.
Western films were heavily edited if not outright banned in Iron Curtain Romania. But the advent of VHS players offered a new avenue of entertainment beside the one state-run television channel. Ironically enough, it was from within the censorship board itself that the small, illegal and highly profitable industry of smuggled cinema began. A connected man named Zamfir hired a state translator named Irina to come in and dub her voice on every tape he could bring into the country. Those who were able to afford VCRs would host surreptitious film parties in which multiple families would cram into small apartments and watch movies until the sun came up. A generation of Romanians got their only glimpse of American life through worn copies of copies with the mysterious, unseen Irina acting out all the parts. Zamfir became one of the richest men in the country, and protected by the secret police due to their own interest in screening his latest releases.
Calugareanus film mixes talking head interviews from people reminiscing (Irina would never swear; f-bombs were replaced with Get lost!) with some crafty reenactments. These well-directed scenes suggest that there is a great narrative film yet to be made about life in Romania during the 80s, one that perhaps touches on families in apartment blocks that held illegal screenings, either for money or to rouse the populace toward reform. While Im sure the dissemination of black market tapes truly did have huge social repercussions, theres a surprising so what? effect after the 15th recollection of what it was like to watch Rambo. For an action star like Chuck Norris, I suspect he may have a thing or two to say about having his name attached to a film thats this dull.
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Sundance 2015 review: Chuck Norris vs Communism the real battle is against boredom
LISLE, Ill., Jan. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Susan Mikula, Ph.D., was 6 years old when she escaped from the former Czechoslovakia in the middle of the night with her mother and sister. She remembers in vivid and at times emotional detail what she and her family and others endured at the height of communism during the post-World War II era in Eastern Europe.
With the recent release of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report affirming aggressive post-911 CIA interrogations that many critics liken to torture, Mikula, a professor of Eastern European History and acting dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Benedictine University, has been reliving her harrowing childhood experiences in the dual context of an expatriate and American citizen.
She finds it ironic today that the same agency which helped her family escape communism is accused of using some of the same harsh interrogation tactics as the totalitarian regime.
"The idea that you would torture people who you didn't know were enemies or not that you would torture (innocent) people in order to identify suspects it makes me think of all we went through to get away from that," Mikula said.
Mikula's mother, Edith Martonik, was tortured by the Czechoslovakian police, who were seeking information about Mikula's father, Jozef Mikula, an outspoken critic of communism who helped formed an anti-communism group in the country.
Learning of the controversial interrogation techniques some U.S. government officials have employed since 9/11 has been a bitter pill for Mikula to swallow.
"My mother's story is an example of why torture doesn't work," Mikula said. "So maybe you torture a dozen people and one gives you good information. But how do you know which one tells you good information? And is this what we want to be? The kind of America we want to be?"
Mikula, like many native Slovakians, is Catholic and was drawn to Benedictine University because of its Catholic heritage and values-based education, which she uses as a platform for teaching new generations of students about Eastern European history. Her story also tells the unique value of a liberal arts education.
Read more at ben.edu/mikula.
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Benedictine University professor who escaped communism implores USA to adhere to basic values