Politically Incorrect Movies

I’m noticing a few of these that go against the conventional grain.

A while back I saw an Indian movie that celebrated resistance to British colonialism. What made it different was an explicit emphasis on nationalism and anti-British violence. I have no problem with anti-colonial violence in general. Obviously the specific circumstances would matter. What was different about this film was the nationalist thread, absent even a nod to Gandhi. It looked like something the new Islamophobic Indian ruling regime would like. I’ve forgotten the name. There are evidently a bunch of these now, in keeping with the proliferation of “Hindutva” propaganda.

A similar slant was visible in another film I am just remembering, The Forgotten Army, about Indian resistance to the Brits during World War II. The army in question took up with the Japanese. The good imperialists. I’m sure it dawned on some of the stalwarts in question that an Axis victory in the war would present Indian nationalism with new challenges.

The same theme played out in another I saw a few days ago about the Stern Gang’s terrorist assaults on the Brits, again during World War II. The logic had some weight: Jews were being prevented from escaping the Holocaust by going to Palestine. It was certainly difficult, if not impossible, for them to go anywhere. The Allies were focused on defeating the Nazis, not rescuing people of whom they were not particularly fond in the first place.

As Wikipedia notes, “The credits at the beginning of the film mention that with the outbreak of war, the main Jewish military organizations, the Haganah and the Irgun, ceased their anti-British underground activities and joined the British war effort against Germany.”

A Stern gang member, Yitzhak Shamir, eventually came to be prime minister of Israel, well before Bibi and his gang of murderers, which gives you an idea of the devolution of Israeli Zionism.

Then there was a Chinese movie about a plucky band of special operators who rescue innocents from filthy Arab (as portrayed) terrorists. On view here was a very shiny Chinese naval ship, virtually a warning from the PRC — we are well-equipped, don’t fuck with us. (It happens that the Chinese navy presently has more ships than the U.S. Navy, though not more of the biggest numbers.) What is interesting is how closely the movie apes standard U.S.-based stories in which all the heroes are Americans.

Finally I saw a movie entitled “Tourist,” about a heroic band of Russian military trainers (sic) in the Central African Republic, there to support the regime’s purported defense of democratic elections against rebels who enjoy the shadowy support of a mysterious Frenchman. It begins with an odd disclaimer assuring viewers the trainers adhered religiously to all United Nations rules about operating in a conflict zone. Sure.

I’m not going to sink into arguments for and against the messages in these films, just note their political novelty. In the past one, could find the most ridiculous U.S. conspiracy and MAGA films on Netflix. Now the rest of the world is making its own contribution.