Children of the Revolution (1996)

The Age of Commercialism

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Perhaps you're like me. You'd just seen Reds and you want to wash the hopelessness out with some - any - evidence that there is a historical and moral conscience somewhere in the film industry with regard to Stalinism and Soviet Communism. You come across a little-known Australian production called Children of the Revolution which bills itself as a satire of the the western true-believers valorized in Reds; a comedy about a 'useful idiot' so starstruck by Uncle Joe, she flocks to Stalin as a groupie would and ends up pregnant and raising his love child.Now, I, and I'm sure anyone, could imagine about a dozen ways this premise could be developed into a narrative coherent enough to be both cutting and entertaining. What instead ends up on screen is ... hard to explain. It seems like a pre-freshman effort, as if there were some producers with some money to make some movie and they selected the writer-director by opening the window and shouting down to the street, "Hey you! You wanna write and direct a feature film production?" and someone at the bus stop shouted back up, "Sure! I've seen at least a dozen movies!"The movie starts out with the stated premise as a satire, but not very strongly. Then it changes form a half-dozen times as it slogs toward it's conclusion, becoming a romance, then a thriller, then a drama, then a tragedy then a thriller again and so forth. One thing follows the other in sequence only. Characters who have no natural reason to be in the same room with one another develop personal connections and weep together. There's a "race against the clock" thing in there which comes from nowhere and resolves to no consequence. If there's some significant historical event connecting Australia to the Cold War, Children of the Revolution fails to make note of it. The movie is nonetheless set entirely in Australia and has an A-list cast of Australian actors. Taking this into consideration, an explanation for this cinematic abomination reveals itself. Children of the Revolution is the product of public grant money. The actors are fulfilling an obligation to whatever the Australian version of SAG is. We may assume that there was at some point a contest put on by the Australian Film Council, or something like that, and the 'auteur' who wrote and directed this thing was awarded a production grant and given carte blanc to make some kind of movie on the strength of his submission of a ten-minute short.

As many of the other reviews suggest, if you have ever been a lefty or if your parents were lefties you will enjoy this film. You really do need to have some familiarity with the vocabulary of socialism in the 1930s and 40s to fully appreciate how good this film is. The German film "Goodbye Lenin!" (2003) touches the same sort of themes.So, anyway, the script well written, literate and just a bit edgy, the way Australian films often are. The back story is wonderful and is ably developed by Sam Neil, Judy Davis and F. Murray Abraham. To my eye the cast has given a back story a wonderful 1940s or 50s feel. Sam Neil is good, as always, and remind me of James Mason. Judy Davis is good the way she is always good and reminded me of Betty Davis. F. Murray Abraham's performance actually reminded me of Claude Raines.This film works on many levels and Richard Roxborough and Rachel Griffiths are very good but I as am more familiar with Russian communist dogma and American films from the 40s and 50s, I am sure I missed a lot when the film turned its attention to contemporary Australian politics and the civil service.I loved the way the "International" was used in the sound tack. Of course it had to be there but I really liked the way it was used here.

Some Australian movies are crap, but some are actually quite clever. This is one movie that I think is quite clever. It is about a fanatical communist woman who goes on a trip to Russia, sleeps with Stalin, and then returns to Australia and has his baby. It is not a drama but a comedy. This baby, Joseph, grows up to become the splitting image of his father and almost takes over Australia.The thing I find interesting is how Joseph takes over Australia. He is in prison for draft dodging and rescues some people from a fire. For his bravery he is given a full pardon, and with that he makes a speech in favour of giving prison guards better working conditions. With the support of the guards and the police, he is elected head of the police union and uses his control of the police to increase his power.The ending seems to be conclusive, but I think that there is more to it than not. Basically, fearing that her son may be killed, the Joseph's mother tells everybody that he is the son of Stalin. She is then assassinated by somebody that Joseph knew in prison. The connection is made and he is arrested. The problem with that is that with the newspapers printing that he is the son of Stalin is grounds for defamation, and in his position, he can manipulate the DNA tests and make it seem that he is not Stalin's son. Then there is the murder. The link is tenuous, and a guy that is as intelligent and as devious as Joseph will be able to beat the charge and return to his job, all the while eliminating his enemies.This movie is a comedy, and it starts off as one, but as the end nears the pace becomes much less comical and much more serious. The idea about how Joseph takes over Australia is a very plausible one. The creator of the movie obviously put a lot of thought into how it might be done.It is interesting to note how his life is very similar to that of Stalin's. He has a last name that should be changed (Hitler and Stalin), he is in prison for a short time as a political prisoner, and he works his way to the top through bureaucratic manipulation. Hitler and Stalin were both like that, though that is probably not the route of most dictators.Still, I thought that this was a great movie and like some of the ideas that are raised in it.

Don't get me wrong, I thought this was a great movie. When I saw previews for it, it seemed like it would be a funny comedy. However, upon watching it, I found that it's not much of a comedy. There are some comedic moments in it, true, but I would classify this film as a drama more than a comedy. Three Kings had comedic moments, as did Fight Club, but I wouldn't classify either of those as comedies. And I wouldn't classify Children of the Revolution as one, either. I feel that Miramax dropped the ball by advertising this film as a comedy.