Reds

John Reed (1887−1920)

John Reed was an American journalist, poet and socialist activist. He was remembered for his first-hand testimony about the October Revolution, the part of the Ten Days that shook the world. Being from a rich family and educated at Hrvard, John Reed had the opportunity to open his horizons and very early became socialist-sanctified.

He took part in social struggles in Mexico, during the First World War he reported from the most advanced fronts, crossed Albania with the Serbian army, gave anti-war speeches in America and started the socialist magazine Masa, which was banned.

He considered the introduction of workers' rights and socialism in America to be his main mission, for which he was persecuted. John Reed was buried on Red Square under the walls of the Kremlin among proletarian fighters.

Reds is an American epic film written, produced and directed by Warren Beatty. The plot of the film revolves around the life and career of John Reed, a journalist and writer who dealt with the chronicles of the Russian Revolution in his book,, Ten Days That Shook the World."

The film is about the lives of John Reed and Louise Bryant from the moment they first met, all in Reed's last days of life, in 1920 in Russia.

The year is 1912, and married high society member Louise Bryant meets radical journalist Reed during a lecture in Portland, Oregon. She is intrigued by his idealism. After the two arrange for a joint interview on international politics that lasts almost all night, she realizes that writing was the only escape from her frustrated life in high society. Inspired to leave her then-husband, Bryant joins Reed in Greenwich Village, New York, and meets a local community of activists and artists including anarchist and author Emma Goldman and writer Eugene O’Neill. They later moved to Provincetown (Massachusetts) to concentrate on their writing and become involved in the local theater scene.

Through her writing, Bryant becomes a feminist and radical worker. Reed joined the workers 'strike alongside the "Reds" who represent the American Communist Workers' Party. Obsessed with the idea of ​​changing the world, he becomes restless and goes to St. Louis to follow the 1916 Democratic Convention. During Reed’s absence, Bryant engages in a complicated love affair with O’Neill. Upon his return, Reed discovers the truth about their affair and realizes that he still loves Louise nonetheless. The two secretly marry and move together to Croton-on-Hudson, north of New York City although both still have different life desires. When Reed admits his own infidelities, Bryant sails to Europe to find work as a war correspondent. After suffering from kidney disease, the doctor advises Reed to avoid excessive travel and stress, but he does not give up on his plan. Reed and Louise soon meet again and discover that the mutual passion has not disappeared; at the time they are in Russia where the tsarist regime is just falling, all under the auspices of the 1917 Russian Revolution.

The plot of the second part of the film takes place shortly after the book ,,Ten Days that Shook the World" was published. Inspired by the idealism brought about by the Revolution, Reed tries to bring the spirit of Communism to the United States because he is disappointed with the policies imposed by Grigory Zinoviev and the Bolsheviks in communist Russia. In an attempt to leave Europe, he ends up in a prison in Finland where he is interrogated. He soon returns to Russia where he meets Louise again at the Moscow train station after they have been separated for a long time. By that time, Reed was already extremely weakened due to his kidney problems. Although Bryant takes care of him, he eventually dies

Starring Warren Beatty- John Silas "Jack" Reed

Diane Keaton-Louise Bryant.The film won three Oscars!

Fascinated by John Reed, I watched this romantic political drama several times!