Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Classic reruns: Breaking with old ideas

Back in 2006, I came across this YouTube video that looked good. I just looked at a couple segments and it's still good.

It's a 1975 feature film about the Cultural Revolution. "It shows," says the label, "the continuation of class struggle under socialism."

On YouTube, the film is divided into 15 segments so you choose small excerpts for viewing and discussion.

Cultural Revolution film

Answers.com quotes Hal Erickson's All Movie Guide about the film, "Breaking With Old Ideas is thought-provoking fare from the People's Republic of China. Filmed during the twilight of Mao's cultural revolution, the film explores the challenge of "re-educating" a populace ruled by centuries-old tradition. A remote rural community, representing a microcosm of thought and behavior patterns, is scrutinized. Government representatives construct a state-of-the-art college, where the peasants are to be redoctrinated. Obviously slanted in favor of the Red party line, Breaking With Old Ideas is nonetheless a fascinating cultural capsule."

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Labels: change, China, history, ideology, politics