|
 
|
 |
Reds
(1981)
  
Review
Although Warren Beatty
intended for Reds to become his magnum opus, and the majority of
leading critics considered it to be just that, both when it was
first released and today, there is no escaping the lifelessness in which this
daunting epic is soaked. The story is about Jack Reed, arguably the
United States' most famous communist activist, who spent large parts of
his short and stormy life in Russia during the October Revolution, and
subsequently worked to agitate the same rebellion in American socialist
circles. As a historical document, Reds is important and
daring. And speaking of daring, Beatty's most impressive feat with
Reds arguably is to at all get it made – at the height of the cold
war in a far from communist-friendly USA. And not only did he get it
made, but he also got his studio (Paramount) to invest $33 million in it
– with very little artistic control. This is a testament to two
circumstances: a) The disproportionate amount of power Warren Beatty
enjoyed (or charmed his way into) in the film business towards the end
of the 1970s, and b) The lack of studio control in the wake of the
auteur-driven 1970s filmmaking. Unfortunately, Reds does not
justify either of these circumstances.
As an effort, Reds
is semi-noble and highly ambitious, but at 194 minutes, Beatty's
ambition proved to be too much for him to handle. His infinite
amount of takes and inability to focus the script ultimately resulted in
a formless, massive blob of a film with a repetitive narrative mode and
a flat dramatic curve. It's amazing how, despite over three hours of
leeway, Beatty still isn't able to conjure any real narrative climaxes
(perhaps with the exception of the one created by Jack Nicholson).
The film is not just
about Reed as a political figure, but it also aspires to be a romance of
epic proportions. In fact, Beatty is more than happy to push his
political subject matter in the background to show off his and
girlfriend Keaton's mirror image portrayal of their own relationship. If
only they could make their love feel as significant as they seemed to
think it was.
The soul and backbone of
Reds are the interviews of the "witnesses" – a number of elderly
individuals who were there during the time of Jack Reed and Louise
Bryant, and who have various observations about them and the
contemporary political and social air. Beatty began filming these
interviews in the early 1970s, and he obviously did a good job with
them, because many of them show vivacious, passionate people with a
glowing interest for the things they comment on and talk about. It's a
clever move utilizing these clips the way Beatty does; they give the
film an effective authenticity and take us back to the time and spirit
in question. But they also elucidate how the film itself doesn't succeed at
this, and expose the bland acting by the two leads and the insipid
romance they are meant to embody. For a film as ostensibly deep and
all-embracing as Reds, it remains a strangely jejune work.
|
|
