Theater Of War (2008)

In the summer of 2006, a production of Bertolt Brecht's 1939 anti war play MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN with a new translation by playwright Tony Kushner (ANGELS IN AMERICA) was performed in New York's Central Park. This documentary by John Walter documents the creative process of putting on the play interspersed with a look at Brecht's life, Karl Marx and the nature of war. The film is fragmented and is at its best when staying with the staging of the play, Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline star, and the life of Brecht. When it strays into the political nature of war and Marxian theory, it bogs down into a dull college classroom lecture. It's wonderful to hear and see Streep in the process of creation and for that alone, it's a must for anyone interested in the art of acting from one of America's greatest. But we want more of that so when we get diverted to the other stuff, we're irritated and if you're watching at home, you have to resist hitting the fast forward button. What we see of the stage production, directed by George C. Wolfe, is so good that one wishes they had made the completed production available and not just its back story.