by Brendan Foley
Two Cents
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
We’ll be honest, we had little to no idea what Chuck Norris vs. Communism was actually about and mostly chose it because, well, it’s a movie called Chuck Norris vs. Communism, of course we’re going to watch it.
Turns out, Chuck Norris vs. Communism is a documentary written and directed by Ilinca Calugareanu, depicting the underground VHS movie culture that sprung up during the oppressive Communist regime of Romania in the 1980s.
Food was in short supply, the secret police turned neighbor against neighbor, and always the threat of chaos and devastation was a palpable companion in everyday life. But through the illegal trade of Western, capitalist films, the people found inspiration and hope, planting seeds that grew into a full-blown revolution.
Chuck Norris vs. Communism features interviews with the ringleaders and major players in the movie-smuggling groups, as well as many citizens who remembered finding the faintest embers of hope in the flickering faces of heroes like Rocky Balboa, Conan the Barbarian… and of course, Chuck Norris.
– Brendan
Did you get a chance to watch along with us this week? Want to recommend a great (or not so great) film for the whole gang to cover? Comment below or post on our Facebook or hit us up on Twitter!
Next Week’s Pick:
We’re sad but also invigorated to turn our attention to 1978 Best Picture winner The Deer Hunter in honor of director Michael Cimino, who passed away last Saturday. The Deer Hunter won the filmmaker tremendous accolades, while follow-up Heaven’s Gate, an infamous bomb often cited as a textbook scenario of directorial hubris, put a stranglehold on his career at the very height of his prowess. Interestingly, Heaven’s Gate has recently experienced a reexamination and revival, finding new fans and even being welcomed into the Criterion Collection. Please join us as we celebrate a complex and confusing artist with his most revered film, which he not only directed, but co-wrote and produced.
– Austin
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co!
Our Guests
Ivo Tomas:About a day or two after Christmas 1989, when I was 8 years old, I remember vividly watching World News Tonight with Peter Jennings in my living room with my father. I saw two dead bodies on the screen — a man and a woman. They were riddled with bullets and a cloud of dust hovered over them. My father said something about some bad man being killed in Romania. The bodies belonged to Romanian Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena. The oppressive government had just been overthrown only days early and after a hasty trial, the two were executed. What could topple a regime that had ruled so absolutely with an iron fist for over 20 years? Well, they say there is nothing stronger than an idea whose time has come. But, how did those ideas, powerful enough to bring down a regime, creep into Romania? Chuck Norris vs Communism tries to provide at least one answer.
CNvsC explores how 80’s American films were smuggled illegally into the country and how everyone from the youth, groups of housewives, neighbors and even the upper echelon of the Party itself helped feed the black market of VHS tapes. The movie explores, through well-directed re-enactments, the viewing parties people would have so they could watch films like Lone Wolf McQuade, Last Tango in Paris, and Rocky. If you owned a VCR, which cost about the price of one of those shitty little Soviet-era cars with which you might be familiar, you could charge a roomful of people to come over and watch what was often a worn out or poor copy of an American film. In one night, these parties could make the host more than an average month’s salary. This was the Romanians’ gateway to Western culture and, as the film argues, helped plant the seeds for eventual rebellion and reform. While at times the film can be redundant, it explores an interesting time in history and perfectly conveys the sense of paranoia the citizens felt watching these films under the specter of being caught by the Secret Police. They were watching these banned films and, although being caught could be costly (upwards of 2 years in jail), the exhilaration felt by the viewers trumped everything. This is how the West lived and they now wanted it, too. My only real complaint of the film is it doesn’t tie into the actual political climate as much as it might want to, but it did not derail me from staying interested. I’m glad I watched this. (@IvoEmpire)
Trey Lawson:I really wanted to like this movie a lot more than I do. This isn’t to say that Chuck Norris vs Communism is a bad movie. For one thing, its story of Romanians rebelling against an authoritarian regime through the consumption of American pop culture is pretty damn cool. The interviews with people who actually lived and experienced it are fascinating and, at times, poignant. Much of the film focuses on the charismatic and entertaining Irina Nistor, who dubbed many of the bootleg VHS tapes smuggled into Romania. One of the film’s funniest moments are the various examples of films from which she creatively excised profanity. Where the film falters, for me at least, is its over reliance on dramatic reenactments. The idea, I think, is to illustrate the stories and recollections of the film’s subjects or perhaps even evoke the kind of distancing effect experienced by the original viewers of those dubbed bootleg tapes. However, it pulls the film a bit further out of the realm of documentary realism than I like to see. It doesn’t need to be cinéma vérité, but Chuck Norris vs Communism comes closer than I would like to the line dividing documentary from narrative film. This is a really compelling, fascinating story (and it warms the heart of this old humanities student to see popular culture wielded as a weapon of resistance against oppression). I just wish that story was better served by the film’s structure. (@T_Lawson)
The Team
Justin:Chuck Norris doesn’t wear a watch, he decides what time it is… and so many times while watching this movie, I wanted him to decide it was time for it to be over.
Chuck Norris is so fast, he can run around the Earth and punch himself in the back of the head. Sadly, this film is as slow as he is quick. And makes me want the punch in the back of my head.
This movie is quite dull, which I am hard pressed to say about anything Chuck related due to my love of his over the top films and my fear he’ll overhear me with his bionic ears. As much as I am the target demographic of many of his bombastic action flicks, watching a documentary where the main interviewees speak another language is just too much for me (unless it’s Jodorowsky, of course). I’ll be honest and admit I nodded off on more than one occasion with this film.
A story of oppression and the power of film, I wish I was able to get into it. The parts of the film dominated by movie clips are probably the best part, but I’d rather just watch those movies. So, while it may be true that Chuck Norris can make apple juice with oranges, it’s also true that I’ll very likely never watch this film again. (@thepaintedman)
Brendan: The subject matter is incredible, the film is so-so. When the documentary is focused on the people of Romania recalling their mesmerizing experiences with Hollywood films, or features the major figures of the VHS underground explaining how and why they pulled off such an incredible enterprise, it’s a harrowing and moving document of human drives to art, connection, and empathy.
But Calugareanu leans way too hard on historical recreations, so much so that I almost wonder if the intent was to create a narrative film that didn’t pan out, resulting in this strange half-and-half creation. And Calugareanu struggles to actually shape a story out of these recollections, making the film feel much longer and shapeless than its 80 minute running time.
Still, Chuck Norris vs. Communism succeeds on the strength of its subject matter and subjects, offering a deeply felt reminder of the ways we humans seek connection despite ourselves. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
Austin:If we as enthusiasts — and particularly as commentators — of film are to believe that we aren’t wasting our time in a meaningless pursuit, then we must believe that film has value. That film has power. We believe this, because we experience it personally, but what about on a larger scale? Chuck Norris vs. Communism may be playfully titled (almost to the point of undermining itself), but it’s dead serious about the power of film to enrich, empower, and radically change lives.
This battle that we see re-enacted on the screen? It’s still being fought. In Korea, truth is waging war against tyranny. The tools of that fight aren’t guns and bombs, but literature, Bibles, and black market DVDs. North of the DMZ, this is similarly a land of intimidation and oppression, and just as we’ve seen in Romania and other similar political climates, the hunger is there. To learn. To think. To see the outside world. And yes, to be entertained.
As I think about the North Korean regime that oppresses its people — my people, as alien as that may sound — I’m encouraged that Chuck Norris Vs. Communism shows us a real example of how this has played out before. (@VforVashaw)
A Clip From This Week’s Film:
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