The Conspirator

[aud19]

Fantastic movie :T

Great movie with some fine acting regarding the story of the Lincoln assassination and Mary Surratt's trial. There's too many good actors to name them all and there's lot's of night/dim lighting for great ambience (a challenge to lesser LCD's) that will look great on a display that does shadows and inky blacks well.

As it takes place in 1865 and is a largely dialogue driven drama, there's understandably not a ton of "whiz-bang" sound effects but the few there are (fireworks, breaking glass, horse hooves etc) and the dialogue are all clear and sound great.

Sadly it reminded me of how little has changed with regards to war, justice, governments et al. Very poignant film in those regards given the current climate.

[George Bellefontaine]

I liked this one , too, Jason.

[Ovation]

I plan to use this film at the end of the survey of US history course I'm currently teaching. I don't use feature films of historical subjects as a substitute for more traditional resources but rather as a supplement. Such films influence public perceptions of historical events--regardless of how "accurate" they might be and it has been a long-standing professional research interest of mine to explore the way such films attempt to make historical arguments. I also do my best to inculcate critical viewing skills (akin to critical reasoning skills) in my students, given the ever increasing amount of visual material about history and the accompanying decline in reading about history.

One of the things I try to get my students to understand is that each generation asks questions about the past the reflect current concerns--this is what keeps history a fresh discipline. Historical feature films frequently offer a snapshot of "current concerns" draped in the fabric of the past. Not all such films offer profound insights into our understanding of the past, but that is not their purpose (one feature film that is quite effective in that regard is Le Retour de Martin Guerre, starring Gerard Depardieu). They do offer an interesting way to initiate discussions of various themes and ideas, both about the past and the present.

All that to say The Conspirator should not be viewed as a definitive account of the trial of Mary Surratt but it is a fine springboard for further exploration of that topic.

[George Bellefontaine]

I wish I had had a teacher like you, Paul. Your approach to teaching History is both intriguing and interesting.

[Ovation]

Thanks for the kind words. Now, if only I can get the students to write that into their end of term evaluations.