Strange Culture
by Lynn Hershman Leeson
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Josh Kornbluth, Peter Coyote, Steve Kurtz, Thomas Jay Ryan, Tilda SwintonDirector: Lynn Hershman Leeson
Brand: NEW VIDEO GROUP INC
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 75 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-03-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: DOCURAMA
Movie Reviews of Strange Culture
Movie Review: Must see film...especially now
Summary: 5 Stars
At a time when the country stands at a crossroads, the more information
we have, the better. When I watched this movie, I took notes with the hopes
of doing a piece about it as a freelance writer. Editors thought the story had been sufficiently told. Ironically, I pitched it the week that CIA tapes mysteriously disappeared. One of the quotes from the movie is
"Freedom is knowledge." If we don't educate ourselves about
what is happening in our country, we are doomed. Luckily, we have courageous documentary film makers that are willing to put themselves on the line to
make sure that the rest of us know what is going on.
Summary of Strange Culture
Though Lynn Hershman Leeson's third feature tackles weighty issues like national security and privacy rights, love plays an equal part in the picture. Three years after 9/11, Buffalo-based artist Hope Kurtz (played by Oscar winner Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton), dies from a heart attack. Her husband of 27 years, Steve (Henry Fool's Thomas Jay Ryan), yearns to mourn, but authorities notice bacteria-filled Petri dishes around their house and take him in for questioning (the Kurtz's subject was genetically modified food). Next, the FBI confiscates his computers, his cat--even his wife's body--before charging him and colleague Robert Ferrell (Peter Coyote) with bioterrorist intentions, culminating in indictments for mail and wire fraud. As in Hershman Leeson's previous projects with Swinton, Conceiving Ada and Teknolust, science and art co-mingle. This time, though, she merges interviews, dramatic recreations, and Kurtz himself, which initially proves distracting--he looks nothing like Ryan--but his first-person testimony adds weight to the actor's believable performance. Though the director grapples with big ideas, she never loses sight of the people behind them. Her intentionally one-sided portrait of an insular art world flirts with pretension, but for those truly concerned about the issues at hand--and the humans affected by them--Strange Culture will surely break a few hearts. At the time of filming, Kurtz's case remained unresolved, but the opening title conveys both optimism and respect: "This film is dedicated to Hope." Extras include an interview with the subject and a comprehensive profile of the filmmaker. --Kathleen C. FennessyIn this moving and wildly innovative film director Lynn Hershman Leeson tells the terrifying story of how one man's personal tragedy turns into persecution by a paranoid and overzealous government.Art professor Steve Kurtz's nightmare began on May 11 2004 when he awoke to find his wife Hope dead of a heart attack. Paramedics responding to his 911 call suspicious of petri dishes and scientific paraphenalia in his house (materials for an art project on genetically modified food) contacted the FBI and soon his world was turned upside down. Only hours after his wife s tragic death he was suddenly a murder suspect an accused bioterrorist and a pariah to all but his closest friends.Told through a unique blend of interviews documentary footage and reconstructed scenes starring Tilda Swinton Thomas Jay Ryan and Peter Coyote Hershman s critically-acclaimed film is a sophisticated look at how the traumatic events of 9/11 altered American society and undermined its long-held values.System Requirements:Running Time: 75 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/BIOGRAPHY Rating: NR UPC: 767685108796 Manufacturer No: NNVG108791
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