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Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992)
Director: Peter Wintonick, Mark Achbar
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The natural audience for this long but thoroughly engrossing documentary is North America, since it was made to give Chomsky and his radical ideas the kind of profile the US press and broadcast media routinely deny him. None the less, this is useful as an introduction to the man himself (his Depression childhood, his rise in linguistics, his radical activism) and even more valuable as an anthology of his political campaigns and major debating skirmishes. The film-makers avoid a 'voice-of-authority' commentary, allowing cutting and juxtapositions to carry the arguments and dialectics forward. More's the pity, then, that they sometimes fall back on tabloid-style gimmickry to get points across, none of which is necessary to bolster Chomsky's largely incontrovertible arguments. A decent, civilised piece of work.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Peter Wintonick, Mark Achbar
Producer: Peter Wintonick, Mark Achbar, Adam Symansky
Cast: Noam Chomsky, Karl Meyers, William F Buckley, Tom Wolfe full cast
Genre(s): Documentaries
Duration: 165 mins
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