Icarus Films once more stays true to its mission of distributing innovative and provocative documentaries in releasing a 2-Disc set of "No Gods, No Masters: A History of Anarachism in Three Parts" on November 21, 2017. This immersive history of those malcontents ranges from Pierre-Joseph Proudhon founding this movement in 1840 up to the state of anarchism in 1945.
As filmmaker Tancrede Ramonet states in the essay at the beginning of the booklet in "Gods," the Occupy movement and numerous other modern organized protests demonstrate (pun intended) that anarchy is alive and well in the 21st century. Ramonet goes on to note that that relevancy has not prevented academic institutions and popular culture from largely ignoring the role of the many variations of anarchism in our past and our present. He then states his hope that "Gods" contributes to filling that gap.
The text on the back cover of the DVD for this three-part film PERFECTLY describes the common impression of anarchists and just as masterfully states how "Gods" shows that this is inaccurate. This paragraph declares that "anarachy is often used as a synonym for chaos and destruction, with anarchists seen as black-clad nihilists fomenting violence at peaceful protests. But No Gods, No Masters reveals the far more complex history of a revolutionary political current of the past 150 years, and of the men and women who devoted themselves to it."
"Part One: The Passion for Destruction (1840 - 1906)" devotes its 50 minutes to addressing the conditions in France that prompts Proudhon and his peers to found the titular movement. This includes discussing the objective of toppling the specific powers-that-be in the form of capitalism, a centralized government, and organized religion with a system that achieves the tough goal of achieving a proper balance between equality and freedom.
Another theme of this introduction to anarchism (and the other two parts) is the discord among anarchists regarding what constitutes the ideal and how to achieve it. We further learn how the response of the establishment to these malcontents prompts forming the forerunner of a powerful modern organization.
The scope of this presentation includes a group that believes that nudity is a central element of a more just and equitable society. At the least, this facilitates seeing whether all men truly are created equal.
"Part Two: Land and Freedom (1907 - 1921)" begins with the spread of anarchy to United States; much of the focus of this is on the labor movement and the related issues of strikes and the brutality inflicted on striking workers.
We later move onto Russia and the role of anarchists in the revolution in that country. The conflicts among the factions of anarchists there provide a good context for understanding the different views among those revolutionaries; much of the debate concerns whether violence or intellectual persuasion is the better means for furthering the cause.
"Part Three: The Memory of the Vanquished (1922 - 1945) documents the rise of communism in the post Great War era. It opens with a truism about any activist movement in that such "secondary needs" only are addressed when basic ones are met. This relates to the aforementioned conflict making daily survival such a challenge that ideologies are not a priority. Another aspect of this is that many of the workers who support greater equality and freedom are dying in combat.
We next learn that the post-war '20s are the apparent hey day of stereotypical bomb-throwing anarchist activity; the discussion of this period includes the tale of two anarchists who become folk heroes to the extent of posthumously gaining the support of Joan Baez; the story of these men is in the context of the propaganda movement (including a Walt Disney cartoon) that the establishment launches.
Much of the rest of "Vanquished" focuses on the early 20th century conflicts between anarchists, fascists, and communists (oh my). A guiding principle seems to be that the enemy of my enemy is a tolerable temporary ally. An amusing aspect of this is the scandal related to a rumor of an anarchist past by Mussolini.
Ramonet devotes a substantial portion of this coverage to the Spanish Civil War. Keeping in mind that all propaganda is propaganda, it seems that the anarchists do a pretty good job during their tenure in power. Word is that everyone is well fed and cared for and that reasonable equality is achieved. Any student of history knows that does not last very long.
The DVD special feature is a half hour of additional footage that includes an interview with Noam Chomsky.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Gods" is encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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