Details
Movie Description
While the rich are funding Mussolini's war efforts by purchasing ill-gotten masterpieces from fascist Margherita Sarfatti (Susan Sarandon), the poor, like Olive Stanton (Emily Watson), are singing on the street for a nickel. In an unlikely partnership, Nelson Rockefeller (John Cusack) commissions anti-capitalism artist Diego Rivera (Ruben Blades) to paint a mural. Meanwhile, Mark Blitzstein (Hank Azaria) is inspired to write a pro-union musical that is closed before it opens when Congress begins to investigate the Federal Theater Project. Based on actual events in the 1930s, writer-director Tim Robbins boldly tackles politics, the arts, and a cultural revolution.
Synopsis
Writer-director Tim Robbins weaves together historical and fictional characters dealing with the relationship between politics and the arts and the fear of communism so prevalent in the first half of the 20th century. Set in New York City in the 1930s, the action is based around a pro-union musical, CRADLE WILL ROCK, written by Mark Blitzstein (Hank Azaria). A young Orson Welles (Angus MacFadyen), as part of the Federal Theater Project, is directing Blitzstein's musical. This branch of the Works Progress Administration, established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and intended to provide jobs for unemployed Americans following the depression, and its director, Hallie Flanagan (Cherry Jones), come under fire in congressional hearings when communist influence is suspected. Politics, wealth, and the arts make strange bedfellows as fascist Margherita Sarfatti (Susan Sarandon) sells masterpieces to millionaires to fund Mussolini's war effort, Nelson Rockefeller (John Cusack) commissions anti-capitalist artist Diego Rivera (Ruben Blades) to paint a mural, and Countess LaGrange (Vanessa Redgrave) becomes involved in the theater company's hijinks. Ultimately, Robbins's star-studded tour de force is a tribute to the courageous individuals who refused to be silenced by censorship.
Film Notes
Theatrical release: December 10, 1999.
Filmed in New York City.
The dialogue in the Dies Committee Hearings scenes was taken directly from congressional records.
Industry Reviews
"...Smart and pleasingly ambition....Jones' controlled energy and charisma simultaneously drive the film and ground it in a reality..."
Los Angeles Times - Kenneth Turan (12/08/1999)
"...Sweeping, ambitious....There is a lot of material to cover here, and Robbins covers it in a way that will be fascinating to people who know the period..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (12/24/1999)
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