 |
 |
 |
|
Two documentaries that offer perspectives on two unrelated but high-profile criminal cases. On June 19, 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the so-called "atomic spies" of the 1950s, were executed at Sing Sing Prison. Their death only fostered the belief of many Americans that the Rosenbergs were innocent, victims of the anti-Communist paranoia of the 50s, rather than spies who had stolen atomic secrets for the Russians. In the landmark documentary The Unquiet Death of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (The Rosenberg-Sobell Case Revisited, USA, 1974, 83 mins.), Alvin Goldstein looks at the facts and procedures of the Rosenberg case, as well as the climate of the times, interviewing jurors, FBI agents, lawyers for both sides, and the two sons of the Rosenbergs. Using documentary and newsreel footage, Goldstein creates a moving human drama, a "thoroughly researched, solidly developed...superb recreation of history, painting with bold strokes the temper of the times" (Boston Globe). This is joined by Whoever Says the Truth Shall Die (Netherlands, 1981, 60 mins.), a remarkable film on Pier Paolo Pasolini, the poet, political personality, aesthetician, and director of such important and controversial films as Gospel According to St. Matthew and Oedipus Rex. Director Philo Bregstein explores whether Pasolini's murder at age 53 in 1975 was by Pino the Frog, a 17-year-old male prostitute, or an assassination by a group of right-wing fascists. In English and Italian with English subtitles.
Alvin Goldstein/Philo Bregstein---USA/Netherlands---1974/1981---141 mins.
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|