Let Fury Have the Hour – La Lutta NMC

“Portrays artists as world citizens creating works that transcend borders and have the ability to alter perspectives and inspire change…. It’s good to be reminded now and again that art matters, and to dare to think that artists can and often do join forces and change the world” -NPR/KQED

“Antonino D’Ambrosio’s new film, Let Fury Have the Hour begins in the 1980s, quickly outlining how the “insane individualism” that Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher worked so hard to normalize transformed citizens — with rights and responsibilities — into consumers whose only purpose was to shop. This ideology came to its fullest expression with the recent financial meltdown, the rise of the Tea Party, ongoing arguments over debt ceilings and fiscal cliffs and in much of the rhetoric Mitt Romney used during his failed 2012 bid for the presidency.

Let Fury Have the Hour is a reaction to struggle that thankfully locates art and artistic expression at the center of the melee. After all, the Reagan revolution coincided with the huge expansion of the art market, which created the impression that art was a luxury good produced for and only available to the elite. By the logic of the art market, the thought that art can change the world is folly. D’Ambrosio’s film rebuts this idea by showing how profound change can be inspired by cultural production. His main idea, which he calls “creative response,” is “just as an artist has to be able to look at things and see them slightly differently — see how the sun and the shadows fall — we have to approach everyday problems creatively.” The film portrays artists as world citizens creating works that transcend borders and have the ability to alter perspectives and inspire change.” More from the KQED review…