The University of Wisconsin consistently brings a multitude of speakers, events, concerts and screenings to campus. Nevertheless, it's easy to get caught up in the minutiae of busy student life and let it all pass you by, especially a film series about ’50s propaganda. But save that flyer someone shoved in your hands, because these humble movies make history immediate and relevant to all.
Sunday afternoon, the UW Cinematheque showed the second film in a series touring across the United States, titled "Selling Democracy, Films of the Marshall Plan: 1948-1953." The Marshall Plan, which sought to rebuild the allied countries of Europe, is for most a point checked off on a high school history assignment. But for the people of that era, history was in the making. A myriad of films were funded, mostly with European money, and produced in Paris in conjunction with 17 other countries.
Ironically, although these films originated from one of America's most successful public relations efforts, they were banned in the United States. According to Sandra Schulberg, the brain behind this incredible project, The Marshall Plan films are the State Department's "own greatest public relations legacy." Still, they were never shown in the United States for fear that Americans would perceive their tax dollars as being used for propaganda.
Schulberg is an independent producer, director and also curator of this film retrospective. As the daughter of the great documentarian Stuart Schulberg, chief of the Marshall Plan Motion Picture Section, she has a personal connection to this project. She decided to look for funding for a tour, after collecting the scattered films from Berlin and the National Archives and Record Administration in Washington, D.C. Schulberg's search was rooted in her personal connection, but it was also about becoming more civically active. With the heat of the Iraq war looming overhead, she felt that now was "the first time since the Vietnam War where [she] couldn't just sit back" — it was time to expose positive political public relations.
In the second round of this series, five short films were screened including "Aquila," "The Story of Koula," "The Smiths and The Robinsons," "Without Fear," and "Do Not Disturb: Meeting in Progress." This program focused on films created after the invasion of Korea, communist threats and all of the strong sentiments linked with these subjects.
According to Schulberg, "Aquila" is an example of an "Italian neo-realist masterpiece." No dialogue or narration is used in this film, rather its "symphonic sounds of the city" lead a journey through the eyes of an unemployed man who is desperate to bring his family some happiness. He attempts to steal chocolate for his two children and wife, but is caught by the police. He is then given a chance from the unemployment office to work on the ship Aquila. The exposition of the American paternalist narrative reminds the audience that the Marshall Plan is behind this effort to aid the war-torn country and provide opportunities for work, and therefore, revive a national economy.
"The Story of Koola" then follows. This film is a short about a small-town Italian boy whose dream of owning his own donkey is fulfilled when the Americans arrive to assist the Greek Agricultural Aid program. A dialogue of European sentiment being expressed to the Americans is intricately woven into the narrative through various shots. One humorous example is a close up of "USA" branded on the donkey's ass.
The stunning animated short "Without Fear" uses contrasts of light and dark color schemes infused with red, to exemplify the effects of war-torn Europe five years after the war. With repetitious themes, the message being projected is obvious: With democracy comes responsibility. The film is filled with obvious propaganda, and as modern viewers, it might seem ridiculous. Nevertheless, the colorful, innocuous imagery call into question stereotypical views of propaganda.
With a satiric kaleidoscope that visually stimulated the miscommunication which existed between West and East Berlin, "Do Not Disturb* Meeting in Progress" gave light to censorship, corruption and communism in a complex, fragmented Berlin. A group of East Berlin citizens watch a film about the "progress" developing in the censored German Democratic Republic (East Berlin) and are "enlightened" by the great developments of their backward society as paralleled to West Berlin. Director Hans Herbert uses German comic Walter Gross to lead the exaggerated version of the truth being fed to the East citizens. Gross leads his audience in an uproarious illustration of how censorship blinded the East German citizens for years as he compares the novelties of the West to the depressed East.
This program was not only a delight to the eyes and ears, but also to the eternally questioning mind. Yes, this is a week full of exams and papers, but "Selling Democracy" is a film worthy of a break.
Thise ""Selling "Democracy"" series isn divided into four different screenings. Yesterday afternoon was the second presentation. Programs three and four will occur take place this Tuesday and Wednesday at the Wisconsin Historical Society Auditoriumm, both at 7:30 p.m.
