Noam Chomsky: Rebel Without a Pause

Documentaries are the in thing these days it seems and I rented this film just based on the fact I wanted to hear what Noam Chomsky was up to these days given events of the last couple of years and the film did not disappoint. Chomsky's ability to look at a subject like the war in Iraq and explore the various causes and reasons our brave troops are over there is quite powerful. The film actually made me question a lot of what I hear and see on TV. I had no idea how devestating the UN Sanctions were on the actual people of Iraq, while the government was more or less unaffected because of the corruption there. I had no idea that National Public Radio was forced by Washington to cancel Chomsky's appearance on the radio for fear of what he might say and how controversial it would be. Chomsky tells this story in an amusing and insightful way which is what I really appreciated from this film. "Rebel Without A Pause" shows Chomsky as the bright, well-read intellectual we all know him to be, but it also gives us a sense of the charm, wit, and sarcasm that he holds back from the public (I guess because he's always talking about horrible things like war and poverty and globalization). If you want an interesting look "behind the man" this film will give it to you but will also give you tons of Chomsky post-911 so you can read his books or watch this film and get a good synthesis of the last few books he has written. The DVD extras are interesting as well.

Watch this documentary after watching "Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media" (1992 documentary)

After watching Manufacturing Consent "Noam Chomsky: Rebel Without a Pause" (2003 documentary), is a more up-to-date extension. It includes a few more items that you may not have heard of or only saw through a filter.

His description of the Government and a few others reminds me of a magic show; watch this hand and not the other.

The downside of the documentary is it is a handful of mixed soundbites with a focus problem. Just once it would be nice to see a Chomsky speech where the only interruption may be a heckler or two, instead of a bunch of verbalized editing.

This is a really interesting perspective on Noam Chomsky that I haven't seen before. Chomsky is one of the most out-spoken critics of the US and it's government and this film really showcases him in his element. The film is broken into chapters on various issues with Chomsky discussing the issues with students and other intellectuals. This I thought was a really interesting because I have never really seen Chomsky engaged in debate with other people. It's funny how he challenges people on their views and is patient enough to listen to others try and attack his in return. Even at his age, his mind is as sharp as a knife and you can see him formulating in his mind his rebuttal to others comments. And when he unleashes his response it's often to the point and accurate (and right). I read somewhere that "Rebel Without A Pause" is the title Bono from U2 gave Chomsky and it's very appropriate. Having not seen any one else with the encyclopedic knowledge of Chomsky, it's easy to see why his is one of the great minds of the 20th century. It's sad that more people don't hear his views these days as they are really on the mark. And with what looks like an Iraq war made on false pretenses (of which Chomsky already suggests in this film which was made BEFORE the war happened) you can see how he's still ahead of the game. This is a great film and if you can find it in a indy theatre or on tv you should check it out because you'll be learning a bit more about the world you live in in the process.

I have been a reader of Chomsky for years and own several of his books. I also own a couple of his CDs and have other audio on my computer. My point: Chomsky is by no means a stranger to me.

This familiarity made the video bittersweet. The bitter part was that the vast majority of the information was not new to me and I have heard Chomsky say these things in other places before. So as a learning tool, it was more refresher than anything shocking or ground-breaking.

But this sin't to say it was without value. All the stuff he should have been talking about in 2003, he was. He speaks of Saddam Hussein who was our ally, of media controlled by corporations, by the control of the people being by fear (which is, although he never says it, Machiavellian policy).

But this video was also sad, because it showed how truly old and frail Chomsky has become. Still energetic, but he seems to be demanding more interesting sweaters. And at one point it looks like he's addressing the Sun Room of a nursing home (he's not). He is so old, in fact, his wife has grown to look just like him - I would have assumed she was his sister. But the sad reality for me was that someday not long in the future, this man - the most intelligent man alive - will be dead.

A documentarist, like any filmmaker, must convey a compelling story. Will Pascoe fails utterly in this effort, cobbling together uninspired snippets of Chomsky's wisdom from a visit to McMaster University in Hamilton. The footage is shot amateurishly and in video. Pascoe's only effort at cohering the fragments into a whole is by periodically throwing a vague title on the screen: "9-11," "Activism," "Truth."

Lame.

Compare this with documentaries like "The Corporation" or "The Fog of War" which create a narrative drawing material from interviews, stock footage, and filmed footage. In the end each delivers a poignant and insightful message deftly and intelligently.

The only saving graces of the film are Chomsky's nonchalantly delivered upendings of historical dogma, and the fact that the running time is only 74 minutes.

One of the more interesting passages was Chomsky's recounting of his experience with National Public Radio. He describes the conservative media as more accommodating to dissenting views, while NPR's liberal dogma strait-jackets its interviewees and dramatically limits its permitted messages. Yet another media outlet to be skeptical of.

This documentary is for Noam Chomsky completists only.