This movie was directed, written in part, produced, and starred in by Warren Beatty (not neccessarily in that order) in 1981. It is about the life of John Reed, author of Ten Days That Shook the World. His book reports the events of the Russian Revolution.
Idealistic, communist journalist, Reed (Warren Beatty), meets Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton), also a writer, and they begin an exhausting affair that spans the length of this 3 hour film. Reed gets involved with the American Communist Party and labor strikes putting a strain on his relationship with Louise. She then begins an affair with playwright Eugene O'Neil (Jack Nicholson). When Reed returns and discovers the competition, he proposes marriage.
The couple end up in Europe as war correspondents despite his health problems. He then writes his famous book. He soon becomes disillusioned with the new government in Russia and when he tries to leave Europe, is imprisoned. When he is allowed to return to Russia, he is reunited with Louise but his health has deteriorated and he can not go back to the US for better medical treatment so he dies in his early thirties.
This movie was waaaaaayyyy too long! I'm not exaggerating when I say it was over three hours long!! Of course, it felt more like ten hours the way this thing dragged on..
I was very disappointed with the quality of the acting even though this film was full of big name actors and actresses! The neat parts about this movie were the interviews with people who lived in that time period that were injected throughout. This film gets thumbs down.
Loving your movie mondays! :)
ReplyDelete