Best known as the author of best-seller A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn passed away on January 27th, 2010 at the age of 87. That the activist author participated in the 2009 documentary The People Speak at such an advanced age says much of his dedication and drive. However, The People Speak is not intended to act as a memorial piece for the late Zinn, but a distillation of the book into what is essentially a performance piece. The documentary takes a simple concept and sticks to it: a cast of actors and musicians either read from documents taken from regular people living during critical times in American history or perform songs popular at the time.
Zinn presides over the entire performance, lively and in touch with an appreciative audience and providing narration that strings together a fascinating history, the bare bones account of which we had learned long ago in middle school or earlier. The cast is strong, with some well-respected names in acting making appearances - Josh Brolin, Rosario Dawson, Viggo Mortensen, Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, and Sean Penn give impassioned performances, instilling fresh life into journal entries and political writings while seasoned performers like Eddie Vedder, Randy Newman, Bruce Springsteen, and the ageless Bob Dylan sing specific selections indicative of the times.
Whether you find this impactful or entertaining depends entirely on your political stance or lack thereof. In this day and age of mass information, it is possible to formulate an opinion contrary to what you learned in school, with such a wealth of information and discussion forums available for all to partake in. The People Speak approaches its subject with a clear liberal lean, but it is consistent in an effort to show the history gleaned from everyday people, not one shaped by the upper class.
Early on, Zinn puts forward the suggestion that the founding fathers drafted the Constitution in order to avoid losing power in case of rioting by the native populace. It is not an entirely absurd claim, but if you tend to scoff at a representation of the United States’ history growing out of an empowered government in constant struggle with the hungry masses earning to breathe free, you may well find this documentary a bit revealing.
For film aficionados who do not subscribe to a political affiliation, this is essentially an ensemble piece, a very well-acted one with performances unfortunately lasting no more than a few minutes at most. The cast and musicians approach this like a passion project and their dedication rises above the level of simple workmanship. Viggo Mortensen, whose piercing voice makes for several standout pieces, especially impressed me. It is interesting to watch each actor rise to the challenge of delivering a monologue, valued character actors like Sandra Oh and Don Cheadle standing shoulder to shoulder with legends like Morgan Freeman.
Clocking in at 112 minutes and change, The People Speak may invoke a variety of provocative thoughts and feelings or feel like an endurance contest. It is definitely an unusual take on the historical documentary, with a format better suited to a Def Jam session than a theatrical performance. Archival footage and a variety of photographs and paintings bridge gaps as Zinn’s assured narration guides you along. This is all professionally done and with the actors in tow, a very effective piece of work that will hopefully guide more people toward Zinn’s books, allowing them to make up their own minds when presented with more thorough information. If you’re looking for a place to get started though, The People Speak is well worth a look.
DVD Bonus Features
Although I’m not sure what kind of special features you could package with this documentary that wouldn’t reiterate the same message, the DVD features a 12-minute "Behind the Scenes" look that explains the origin of the project and how the cast got involved. The other extra, titled "Celebrity Interviews", is not quite what you would think. It is more of a promotional message, 3 minutes of cutting between various actors explaining why they got involved. This is an interesting approach but tells us little about the motivations for many of the cast outside of very broad terms.
"The People Speak" is on sale February 23, 2010 and is rated NR. Documentary. Directed by Chris Moore. Written by Anthony Arnove, Howard Zinn. Starring Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, Don Cheadle, Josh Brolin, Kerry Washington, Marisa Tomei, Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman, Rosario Dawson, Sandra Oh, Sean Penn, Viggo Mortensen.
