Art and Literature

A History of Film

Details: Monday, 04 February 2013; Written by Bob Stothard

The last few years have seen a number of Hollywood film companies marking their centenary anniversaries. Marxists see film, as with other art forms, as providing a reflection of class society and its structures. Bob Stothard looks over the long history of film and what it can tell us.

Marxism and the Media – Part Two

Details: Thursday, 20 December 2012; Written by Khawer Khan

As with the sites of production of other commodities, the sites of media production are simultaneously sites of struggle. Journalists and other media workers can and must struggle against the domination of capital over their professions and over humankind.

Marxism and the Media — Part One

Details: Thursday, 25 October 2012; Written by Khawer Khan

Perhaps nothing elicits more disagreement and debate among Marxists and other left activists than a discussion about the media. There is no doubt that the mass media is omnipresent, mediating every aspect of our lives. How one relates to and interprets the world is largely colored by how the media informs us. On the eve of the release of the Leveson report, we publish this Marxist analysis of the media from a correspondent in the USA.

Conserving Culture Under Capitalism

Details: Friday, 28 September 2012; Written by Jack Oliver

The effects of the capitalist crisis are being felt at every level of society. As reported in a Time magazine article in April, this also includes the preservation of historical sites. As the cash-strapped European states race to cut public spending and slash budgets, the historical achievements of mankind crumble under paltry allotments for cultural preservation.

Melancholia: A review

Details: Friday, 25 November 2011; Written by Martin Hall

In Melancholia, Kirsten Dunst takes on the frankly masochistic task of working with Lars Von Trier. The Danish director's work almost exclusively deals with central female characters, who all suffer greatly during the course of the film. Melancholia doesn't degrade it's main character in the same way as Antichrist, or Dogville for that matter; instead the only victim here is the audience

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists - A Two Handed Play, Review

Details: Monday, 17 October 2011; Written by Andy Fenwick, Unite, Worcester CLP

Whilst chatting with students at Worcester University, I was presented with a flyer for a production of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists that night in the university, an opportunity not to miss. However my expectation of a theatrical interpretation of this socialist classic by just two actors was very low but this was blown away as soon as the performance began.

Ginsberg’s Howl against Capitalism – a Film Review

Details: Tuesday, 19 July 2011; Written by Socialist Appeal

In the 1950s, amid prosperity and a booming economy, Allen Ginsberg defied conventions and the mainstream by openly standing forward as a homosexual, a socialist and a sharp critic of the capitalist American society he lived in. For this he was persecuted in a famous obscenity trial, which he ended up winning. This is portrayed in the feature film Howl from 2010, now available here on DVD.