The Weather Underground

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, compelling, yet quaint
Review: Ah, remember when bombers called in and told people to clear out of the building before they bombed it? Them's were the days...what a quaint idea!
Watching this documentary brought back the memories (too surreal to classify as good or bad) of that time, when I felt I had to defend these guys since they were fighting the Amerikan war machine, yet had great trouble rationalizing their methods. It was good to see how intelligent these folks are, how reflective and (somewhat)remorseful. One imagines them as arrogant and strident...which they were...but like all of us from that time, they've aged and mellowed and become, well, smarter and more humane...Without justifying what they did, the film captures the zeitgeist which drove the members of the Weather Underground to the extremes of political protest. The extra material on the DVD is great, too. After viewing it, one has to conclude that this kind of secret cell revolutionary activity is useless in fomenting revolution and destructive of the humanity of it practicioners. And what they did probably at least helped bring on the present reactionary era in American history. Yet, given that millions of people marching around for peace had done nothing to stop the Vietnam War or change anything about the political culture, one can't completely fault these people for what they did. At least they left us a lesson from which we should be able to learn and perhaps create more effective means of protest and social change. Watch it and learn!

Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing
Review: At the end of the 1960's, the various student youth movements took a sharp turn toward the far left. Frustrated by their failures to halt America's involvement in the Vietnam War, a growing minority of student activist leaders whole-heartedly embraced Marxist dogma and began agitating for the overthrow of the United States government. There were a few niggling problems to attend to first, such as taking over the leadership of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), which they accomplished at the 1968 SDS national convention. An interesting thing to remember about extremists regardless of their political leanings is worth mentioning at this point: radicals can't get along with one another. Views and positions take on the rigidity of absolute, immutable truth, and anyone who opposes those views is the enemy--even if they're on your side to begin with. Thus SDS almost immediately disintegrated into squabbling factions of increasing irrelevancy. The most notable group to arise from the ashes of SDS were the Weathermen, an extreme far left organization devoted to bringing about a Marxist revolution in the United States. The name of the group, as you probably know if you're reading this, came from a Bob Dylan song.

The Weathermen, later known as the Weather Underground after the members went into hiding, utterly failed to achieve any of their objectives. Their first big action occurred in Chicago when the group launched their own version of Kristalnacht, called "The Days of Rage." The Weathermen and their associates roamed through the streets of Chicago, breaking windows, fighting with cops, and generally making a huge nuisance of themselves. Surprisingly, this little action failed to rouse the citizenry from their capitalist coma, a realization that seemed to shock this merry bunch of pranksters. Angered by this failure, the Weathermen decided to take up bomb making as a hobby. What followed were years of targeted bombings against such diverse targets as corporations, government institutions, universities, and other structures serving the "enemies of the people." The Weather Underground suffered setbacks, too, like the accidental detonation of a bomb that killed radicals Ted Gold, Diana Oughton, and Terry Robbins in a New York City townhouse on March 6, 1970. Still, the revolution must go on, so over the next several years the bombs continued to explode across the country as the Weather Underground continued to release written or tape recorded "communiqués" justifying their violent actions. By the early 1980s most of the members turned themselves into the authorities, exhausted from their years of living in hiding.

Why two paragraphs of tedious summary about an irrelevant political group long gone from the American landscape? Because this fascinating documentary, "The Weather Underground," covers most of this material in minute detail through a collection of vintage news reports, documents, film footage, recreations, and interviews. Made a couple of years ago and aired widely on PBS, which is where I saw part of it and wanted more, the documentary revisits many of the principal players more than two decades after the group dissolved. We get to see and hear Billy Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, Mark Rudd, Naomi Jaffe, David Gilbert, Brian Flanagan, and Laura Whitehorn reminisce about their days as revolutionary fighters battling for the soul of America. Moreover, interviews with former SDS leader Todd Gitlin, former Black Panther Kathleen Cleaver, and FBI agent Don Strickland provide a different point of view on the activities of the Weather Underground. By listening to these people recount their experiences, we learn more about how angry radicals became over the murder of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, about how the group helped Timothy Leary escape from prison, and learn to marvel in awe at the massive comb over Mark Rudd sported as a young communist revolutionary.

It's not too difficult to see where the filmmakers' loyalties lie regarding the activities of the Weather Underground. Although careful not to make them look too cool, it's fairly obvious the presentation aims to present these characters as admirable figures. They placed a baseball bat in Billy Ayers's hands as he strolled down memory lane remembering the "Days of Rage" fiasco. While we could write off this stunt as sensationalism, it's more problematic to examine the questions put to the various members. Why did Kathy Boudin's name never come up in the film? Probably because Boudin, unlike many members we see here, did kill people in the name of a revolutionary cause. In the early 1980s, she joined the Black Liberation Army and took part in an armored car robbery that resulted in the deaths of two police officers and a security guard. The ghost of Boudin is apparently a problem the filmmakers wished to avoid, although I should credit them for interviewing David Gilbert, a man currently serving a life sentence for his involvement in the same crime. It just seems most of the questions don't dig too deeply into the questionable practices of the Weather revolution. Then again, maybe they don't need to; several of the former members appear as though they're having problems coming to terms with their past behavior. That's a hopeful sign.

Although I've had rough words in the past about these people and their despicable actions, I had a tough time disliking them in the film. A few of them, primarily Mark Rudd and Brian Flanagan, seem like people you could sit down with for a few hours and have an interesting conversation about any topic. The commentary track with Ayers and Dohrn is well worth a listen primarily for the realization that even stolid commies have a self-deprecating sense of humor. But you also discover that several of these people aren't quite ready to repudiate their former positions. I think it was Laura Whitehorn who said she would do it all over again if given the chance, a view that is hardly encouraging. Give this one a watch, though. It's mesmerizing.


Rating:
Summary: If you've never heard of them get ready for a surprise
Review: Before I saw this DVD I had never heard of the weather underground and was quite taken by the film. How the hell did these people not go to jail. I'm sorry but they were terrorists. I think everybody should watch this because it chronicles an interesting time in history. Just compare them to the Black Panthers. The Panthers were murdered and exiled and some still live in seclusion. The Weathermen declared war on the United States and now they have good jobs. I'm not even saying one group was better than the other but you have to admit thats pretty ironic.

Rating:
Summary: A trenchant reminder
Review: Fascinating look into the most radical student group of the 60s, which was responsible for a spate of bombings that stretched from 1970-75, mostly in response to the Vietnam War. Bill Siegel and Sam Green do a good job of piecing together the story and recreating the political climate which the Weathermen fed off. The documentary is told in retrospect, with former Weathermen looking back at their radical student years, when they felt it was necessary to "bring the war home," which became the anthem of the student movements. Siegel and Green also show the reaction to the Weathermen at the time. How they hijacked the SDS and were largely responsible for its demise before taking the movement underground. They attempted to ally themselves with other radical political groups like the Black Panthers, but the Panthers wanted nothing to do with the Weathermen who they regarded as misguided fools. But, the Weathermen were anything but foolish. Their tactics were indeed misguided, but as Mark Rudd later notes the war can do crazy things to you. It can f*ck with your mind. This documentary does more than most to come to terms with that era.

Rating:
Summary: window into the radical mindset and the nature of power
Review: for me, this is not a cautionary tale about "entering unwinnable wars" or a demonstration of how "important" revolutionary/anarchist activities are to our society. this is an amazing document showing the nature of radicalization. it can happen to anyone if they fall into the right mindset. any culture, or any marginalized group of any kind.... these people were college educated, middle/upper class kids. the film gives a real insight into fundamentalist thought of all kinds. when you push a group so far into the margins of society, they either submit, fall off (go crazy), or fight back. the ones that fight back not only wield the power of indiscriminent violence, but also the power of becoming "leaders" for others who feel the same way. they become the people who give "power" to others in the margins.... i would bet that the teenage suicide bombers in the middle east are not much different from these 60's radicals. its just that their socio-economic institutions are not strong enough to thwart it. their culture and religion is too deeply rooted i guess. this is a great and thought provoking film, it came on at midnight on my PBS station, and i stayed up way past my bedtime, absolutely glued to it.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing and Pretentious
Review: Good Documentary, but not a great one. The film leaves you disturbed, but that is it's job. It succeeds on the level of making you think twice about the 1960's. Instead of the romanticized versions of the sixties that we get twisted in our minds; this one tells the truth...the sixties were a very horrifying and disturbing decade.

Rating:
Summary: This Is Necessary
Review: I cannot recommend this movie strongly enough. Whether you are American or whatever other lines used to seperate us, this is necessary. The capitalist mindset is never going to change without Revolutionaries doing this work. The fact that the Weather Underground carried out these attacks without murdering anyone (unlike the past seven [at least] White House administrations) is a testament to their scale of commitment FOR this country. We have the potential to be the greatest country in the history of mankind. Power to the People.

Rating:
Summary: Chilling Account Of Chilling Times
Review: I had some vague information about the Weather Underground, but didn't really know the origins and such. This documentary is another example of missing American history that they don't teach you in schools.

For example, did you know that the Weather Underground did several bombings of major U.S. landmarks? Did you know that they broke Timothy Leary out of prison? Also were you aware that the US intelligence community waged an illegal war against dissident groups in our own back yard? (This I knew)

Well this is a must watch, especially since the late 60s and early 70s mirror our current situation. I though this was a great documentary that chronologically told the story of the radicals. More the most part, the narrative is entirely from former members themselves. I feel overall it was objective but I'm sure some changes were made for whatever reasons. Still this film is very good and I highly recommend.

They interview many members including David Gilbert, who is currently incarcerated for activities after the Weather days. There is a great short film the filmmakers made 5 years earlier that consists of a short interview with Gilbert from prison. That is definitely worth your time.

Skip the Hollywood crap and buy this!

Rating:
Summary: Context explains everything
Review: I knew nothing about the Weather Underground before seeing this film. I found this documentary to be very educational, from a historical point of view. These people acted with violence, feeling as if it was their last resort to stop the evil that the US was perpetrating in South East Asia. Its easy to condemn them as radicals but the truth is uglier than even they knew, If you watch Fog of War and the movie about Henry Kissinger's war crimes, you can clearly see that our government actively lied and committed murder in our name, with our hard earned tax dollars. The movie shows all the other avenues of pressure brought to our government: peaceful protests, angry protests, Nothing got through to our heads of state. So bombs went off within our own country. Its eerily similar to our current day lies about the war on Iraq and the huge marches for peace around our country today. Again, politicians back the money, the corporations, the PACs. As we ask our servicemen and women to re-up for more time in life-threatening war zones, we also tell them that we're not going to provide them with health insurance coverage when they are wounded. The Weathermen were young, idealistic and saw things in black and white, no compromise. See 'Monumental' and see the difference that can be made when one doesn't compromise - David Brower single-handedly preserved millions of acres of nature with Lady Bird Johnson's support, fighting against the money and power of huge corporations who were out for corporate profits. The Weather Underground was one voice of that time and I think it is important to know their motives instead of simply dismissing them as radicals. The US was built by radicals. Is it radical to want to act with integrity, to speak out against racism, to stand up against our government when we are killing other humans? I appreciated the sentiment of this movie and think it explains more fully the complexity of life back in the 60's. We're seeing it happen again... this time around, can we as a country provide options so that protests don't escalate to violence? Or are we again going to reject any informed dissent, leaving the door open for alternate forms of communication like the violent bombs of the Weather Underground?

Rating:
Summary: Counterculture and radicalism
Review: I saw this documentary a few months ago and at the time I didn't know much about the Weathermen except that they were a leftist activist group. But after watching this film I got a lot of insight into this 60's radical group. The thing I liked most about this film was the fact that the weathermen weren't portrayed in a negative light, instead the filmmaker tried to show them in a positive light. Most films would have tried to portray them as "commie scum" or "terrorists" but they weren't either of those things. They were in fact antiracist and antiwar. I haven't purchased the DVD yet so I don't know what kind of extras there are but the film itself is excellent and I think everyone should see it.
PS
The "Weather Underground" was nominated for "Best Documentary" at the Oscars last night, but it lost to "The Fog of War."