You are here:
Communists

Communists

2014

Director

Jean-Marie Straub

Runtime

70 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

Synopsis

Jean-Marie Straub pushes this musicality of blocks to a paroxysmal extreme, mixing blocks of time (40 years separate the various extracts that are going to be used, and what is to be filmed), blocks of text (Malraux, Fortini, Vittorini, Hölderlin) and blocks of language (French, Italian, German), and from this ruckus emerges the history of the world, yes, History with a capital H, and from the same movement, the political hope of its being overtaken. So this is an adventure film, about the Human adventure, still one that is always, in the end, overtaken by Nature.

Where to Watch

Diversity & Representation

Overall Score

6.0/10

Good


Category Breakdown

LGBTQ+ Representation

Fair

The film utilizes linguistic abstraction and text blocks rather than character-driven romantic arcs. It avoids traditional heteronormative tropes but lacks explicit depictions of queer identity or intimacy.

Gender Representation

Good

By prioritizing philosophical texts over individual character development, the film avoids reinforcing traditional masculine leadership or domestic archetypes. It shifts focus from gendered agency to systemic, collective movements.

Racial & Ethnic Diversity

Fair

The work functions as a transnational intellectual exercise using French, Italian, and German. While it moves toward a non-Anglo-centric perspective, specific racial casting remains difficult to verify.

Religious & Cultural Diversity

Excellent

The narrative prioritizes anti-capitalist and materialist frameworks through the works of Malraux and Fortini. It critiques Western institutional hegemony and the concept of traditional progress.

Disability Representation

Fair

The abstraction of the human experience into temporal fragments provides little evidence regarding physical or neurodivergent identities. The focus on text moves away from specific bodily experiences.

Strengths

  • Challenges Western institutional hegemony through a materialist and anti-capitalist lens.
  • Employs a transnational, multi-linguistic approach that avoids Anglo-centric perspectives.
  • Disrupts traditional gender hierarchies by eschewing the standard male-centric protagonist model.

Areas for Improvement

  • Lacks explicit representation or agency for LGBTQ+ identities and queer intimacy.
  • Provides little to no visible portrayal of physical or neurodivergent identities.
  • The abstract structure makes it difficult to verify specific racial or intersectional depth.

AI Analysis

Jean-Marie Straub’s *Kommunisten* is a formalist experiment that replaces individual character agency with linguistic and ideological structures. It succeeds in deconstructing Western hegemony by utilizing a multi-linguistic, transnational framework that challenges conventional historical narratives. However, the film's extreme abstraction creates a vacuum for demographic representation. Because the work prioritizes 'blocks of text' over human characters, it fails to provide visible agency for specific identities, including those related to disability, race, or gendered intimacy. Ultimately, the film is a systemic critique rather than a human drama. It excels in cultural and political deconstruction but lacks the character-driven depth necessary to score highly in traditional diversity metrics.

How are these scores produced? →

Rate this Movie

No rating selected
Use arrow keys to select a rating from 1 to 5 stars
Optional text review, maximum 2000 characters
Tip: Wrap spoilers with ||double pipes|| to hide them
0/2000 characters
You must be signed in to submit a rating

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts on this movie!

Use the rating form above to leave a star rating and optional review.