The Revolutionary
| Year | 2012 |
| Director(s) | Don Sellers, Irv Drasnin, Lucy Ostrander |
| Runtime | 92 min |
The Cultural Revolution was among the most catastrophic and least understood events of the 20th century. Mao Zedong’s call to “make revolution” was answered by millions of Chinese and one American, Sidney Rittenberg. Arriving as a GI interpreter at the end of World War II, Rittenberg became an active participant in the Chinese communist revolution. An intimate of the Party’s leadership, he gained unprecedented power in the government. But he was twice betrayed, and served a total of 16 years in solitary confinement.
This film is an uncompromising account of events all but removed from China’s official history and unknown to most Americans, told by an American who was there. Sidney Rittenberg is compelling, interesting, intriguing and starkly honest in his recounting of years in China as an active member of the Communist Party. His story is an insider’s, first-person story of Maoist China, from the early days of revolution through to Mao’s death and the imprisonment of the Gang of Four. This is an account of history rarely told, and little understood—told in clear-eyed honesty by one who lived through its highs and lows, privilege and imprisonment.
Mature themes due to experiences and events in Maoist China as well as mild language.