Howard Zinn: A People's History of the US (2016)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Howard Zinn: A People’s History of the United States is a documentary film which premiered in 2016.

 

It is based on or inspired by the book A People’s History of the United States written by Howard Zinn (first published in 1980) (updated version 2003).

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Directors: Olivier Azam and Daniel Mermet

** Run time: 90 minutes

 

The film is marked:

 

Part One – Bread and Roses

 

Why? Because the directors Olivier Azam and Daniel Mermet planned to make one or two more films based on Zinn’s book about American history. But so far, part two or part three have not yet appeared.

 

Apparently, the directors are still trying to find time and money to continue the project or perhaps there was some other reason why the project was never completed.

 

Part One focuses on three cases from the first part of Zinn’s book:

 

** The Haymarket Affair – 1886

 

** The Lawrence strike – 1912

 

** The Ludlow Massacre – 1914

 

What do reviewers say about this film?

 

On IMDb it has a rating of 67 percent, which corresponds to 3.4 stars on Amazon.

 

On Amazon there are at the moment 69 global ratings, 24 with reviews. The average rating is 4.5 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 90 percent.

 

Here are the details:

 

5 stars = 76 percent

4 stars = 11 percent

3 stars = 3 percent

2 stars = 4 percent

1 star = 6 percent

 

As you can see, many reviewers like this film. 87 percent offer four or five stars.

 

A small group of reviewers hate this film. 10 percent offer only one or two stars.

 

What do I think? In my opinion, it is a great idea to make a film based on Howard Zinn’s famous book.

 

But it is a shame the two directors could only complete the first part of the project. Part two and part three are still missing!

 

As it stands now, it feels somewhat incomplete. It would be nice to have the whole story and not just one half or one third of the whole story.

 

In my opinion, the rating on IMDb is too low. On the other hand, the rating on Amazon is too high. I want to find a position in the middle. I think this film deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).

 

PS. Howard Zinn was born in 1922. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College and a political science professor at Boston University.

 

Howard Zinn wrote more than twenty books, including his bestseller A People’s History of the United States. He lived to be 87 years old. He died in 2010.

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Regarding the Haymarket Affair

The Haymarket Tragedy by Paul Avrich (1984)

 

# 2. Regarding the Lawrence Strike

Lawrence and the 1912 Bread and Roses Strike by Robert Forrant and Susan Grabski (2013)

 

# 3. Regarding the Ludlow Massacre

Blood passion: The Ludlow Massacre and Class War in the American West by Scott Martelle (2008)

 

# 4. Regarding American History

Revolts, Protests, Demonstrations, and Rebellions in American History: An Encyclopedia edited by Steven L. Danver (3 volumes) (1,138 pages) (2010)

 

# 5. Film and Video

Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train

Run time: 1 hour 18 minutes

(2004)

 

Theory and Practice: Conversations with Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn

Run time: 1 hour 45 minutes

(2010)

 

Plutocracy: Political Repression in the US

Part 1 = Divide et Impera (2015)

Part 2 = Solidarity Forever (2016)

Part 3 = Class War (2017)

Part 4 = Gangsters of Capitalism (2018)

Part 5 = Subterranean Fire (2019)

 

The War at Home

Part 1 = Rebellion (2020)

Part 2 = Blacklist (2021)

 

*****

 

A People's History of the United States

by Howard Zinn

(First edition 1980)

(Updated version 2003)

 

*****

Howard Zinn

(1922-2010)

*****