To the Editor:

I wasn’t smart enough to get a PhD and become a professor, but I’ve always thought it’d be cool to teach a film class. Here’s a possible list of movies I’d assign: 

Birth of a Nation (1915) — silent film, super racist, but historically important. Ever wondered why so many bozos call the Civil War the “war between the states” or the “war of Northern aggression” and say it was about states’ rights? It’s because of the myth of the Lost Cause, if not invented at least made popular by this movie, which also inspired a spike in Klan membership. 

Django Unchained (2012) — a contrast to Birth of a Nation and an honest look at the Antebellum South’s vile evil. 

Casablanca (1942) — I watched this in my senior year history seminar Age of FDR at Saint Michael’s College. For World War II, I’d also consider Inglourious Basterds, but I think it’d be too much to have two Tarantino films in one class. 

The Battle of Algiers (1966) — French language film. An unvarnished look at both the French occupying army and the Algerian rebels fighting back which doesn’t hide the atrocities committed on both sides. You could easily picture Israel and Gaza or European powers colonizing the Americas. Plus the score is by spaghetti western music icon Ennio Morricone. 

The Godfather (1972) — ultimate American film; immigration, crime, religion, the mythology of the American dream. The baptism scene interspersed with the execution of the rival family heads is fantastic filmmaking. 

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1980) — fun film, a great encapsulation of the summer blockbuster. Plus, it’s good to see heroes punching Nazis. 

The Mission (1986) — Jesuit missionaries in 1700’s South America. Religion and colonialism, but the priests aren’t the bad guys, the Portuguese slave traders are. Stars Robert DeNiro and Jeremy Irons, with a young Liam Neeson. Score also by Ennio Morricone. 

Before Sunrise (1995) — Richard Linklater is my favorite director. A young American (Ethan Hawke) meeting a French lady on a European backpacking trip and having a one day fling in Vienna. A good look at young love and the youthful idealism we should never lose. 

No Country for Old Men (2007) — The best Coen Brothers movie, and the best adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy novel. Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh might be the greatest movie villain, and his coin flip before deciding to kill someone echoes the randomness of life.

Sean Pidgeon
Morristown