Moving Minutes
A bimonthly e-mail containing inspirational moments in film.
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V for Vendetta - "The Power of Ideas" V for Vendetta, a dystopian film based on the graphic novel of the same name, is set in a future England ruled by a cold-blooded dictatorship. The character V is inspired by the life of the historical Guy Fawkes, who attempted to blow up the House of Lords in Renaissance England to end the brutal repression of Roman Catholics. Through his struggles as a lone rebel determined to overthrow his own oppressors, V demonstrates the power an individual can wield when he fights for deeply held principles. This provocative Moving Minute reminds us that ideas have consequences, as it explores the humanity of historical agents. In the film, one man's passionate belief in liberty and personal responsibility ignite a people to defeat the tyranny of unchecked government power.
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The Aviator - "Airplane Guff" In this scene from Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, the mentality of inheritors and the mentality of earners clash at the dinner table of a New England estate. The Hepburns—supporters of Roosevelt's expansionist policies—reveal the aristocratic socialism that is sometimes promoted by those comfortably born into money. Although he was himself born into wealth, the entrepreneur Howard Hughes multiplied his fortune by dint of hard work. Here, he displays a deep appreciation for the challenges and rewards of making one’s way in the world, and memorably defends the creation of wealth.
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The Shawshank Redemption - "Mr. Mozart" In this scene from The Shawshank Redemption," Andy Dufresne, a prisoner serving a life sentence after being wrongly convicted of murder, explains that there is a limit to how deeply the state can penetrate the mind and the heart. Hope, he explains, can never be taken away from us. We control our sense of hope, dignity, and purpose—because our minds are sovereign, free, and impervious to the intrusion of others.
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Tired and weary after a long march across France in the autumn of 1415, King Henry V and his troops prepare for the Battle of Agincourt while the enemy awaits, warm and well-fed, behind fortress walls. Ready to fight side by side with his men, King Henry's impassioned address to his vastly outnumbered troops evokes the power of individuals united for a common cause—and reaffirms principled convictions that transcend the struggle before them. Immortalized by William Shakespeare and brought to life in Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 Henry V, King Henry’s speech is a favorite for its inspirational qualities. Branagh’s direction and performance earned Academy Award nominations for Best Actor and Best Director.
"Make Mine Freedom" delivers a vitally important message. Produced in 1948, at the beginning of the Cold War, it underscores how utopian fantasies can lead to extreme forms of statism. Exposing the poisonous effects of collectivism and its appealing philosophy, this animated short film explains why American free enterprise is the antidote to the tyranny of the government-issued "-ism."
On this day, the bicentenary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, MPI brings you a poignant moment in Acton Media’s documentary, The Birth of Freedom. In this clip, Princeton professor Robert P. George explains that the enemies of Lincoln’s legacy are those who promote moral relativism—and reminds us why the future of freedom depends upon preserving clear moral standards.
Director Steven Soderbergh's two-part Che, released this month, is the film industry's latest attempt to glorify Argentine guerilla leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara. The film's running time of 4.5 hours provides ample opportunity to reflect on Hollywood's unsettling habit of rewriting history—and on Soderbergh's epic attempt to glorify Guevara's bloodthirsty role in Cuba's violent revolution.
MPI is pleased to offer an alternative account of Che's place in Cuba's troubled history, in the form of a Moving Minutes clip from Cuban-born actor and director Andy Garcia. Garcia lived through the Cuban Revolution—and in "Saxophones!", a segment from his 2005 film The Lost City, he movingly evokes the betrayal of liberty committed by a dictatorship that, fifty years on, still has Cuba in a violent and repressive stranglehold.
Why would anyone believe that all men are created equal? That all should be free? Why would any nation consider this a self-evident truth? For the millions around the world who have never tasted liberty, the question cries for an answer.
How is freedom born?
Acton Media’s documentary, The Birth of Freedom, takes us on a journey illustrating how the idea of freedom emerged not in Babylon, Greece, or Rome, but in a small Middle Eastern tribe known in those days as the Israelites.
“Don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something.” Chris Gardner’s advice to his son epitomizes the spirit of individualism. Every individual is ultimately responsible for his or her own success or failure.
“We’re just looking out for your interests,” the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission tells Rocky Balboa upon denying his request to reenter the boxing ring. Rocky responds that it is up to the individual—not the government—to determine one’s own best course of action.
Free people must always stand against tyrants, even if they are outnumbered–for history shows that it only takes a determined few to preserve and promote freedom. In “Age of Freedom,” King Leonidas leads his small army of men against Xerxes, the brutal Persian king who seeks global domination.
What happens when a terrorist group advocates the violent overthrow of the United States government, declares war against the U.S., and spearheads a six-year bombing campaign resulting in over thirty explosions? Answer: its leaders go on to educate your children. William Ayers, Mark Rudd, and Bernardine Dohrn, the Weather Underground leaders responsible for a series of atrocious attacks in the late sixties, all became college professors.
Fueled by raw emotion and armed with razor-sharp intellect, John Adams proclaims to a colonial assembly that liberty is not just reserved for aristocrats. Even the “meanest and lowest” of the people, Adams argues, are as entitled "to the air to breathe, light to see, food to eat, and clothes to wear as the nobles or the king."
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