The Illinois Parables

Name: The Illinois Parables
Genre: Documentary, History
Released: 2016-01-22
Rating: 6.7

DocumentaryHistory1h

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Tomatometer

6.7

TMDB

Storyline

From dreamy aerial opening shots, we are sent on an expedition through the storied land of our fifth most populous state, Illinois, often called a miniature version of America. Deborah Stratman’s experimental documentary explores how physical landscapes and human politics can each re-interpret historical events. Eleven parables relay histories of settlement, removal, technological breakthrough, violence, messianism, and resistance. Who gets to write history—physical monuments, official news accounts, or personal spoken-word memories?

Details

DirectorDeborah Stratman

ReleasedJan 22, 2016

StatusReleased

Original language

Reviews

6 reviews · 5 critics

5 fresh · 0 rotten

J. R. Jones

RTChicago ReaderApr 27, 2017

This accomplished essay film may focus on our state, but Stratman's real concern is state power in the larger sense...Connecting all this are sweeping aerial shots that capture the beauty of the plains without obscuring the blood spilled to claim them.

Jordan Mintzer

RTThe Hollywood ReporterNov 30, 2016

An absorbing celluloid meditation on geography and history.

Melissa Anderson

RTVillage VoiceNov 17, 2016

Stratman often juxtaposes static, serene landscape footage with an increasingly agitated soundtrack, arriving at an odd consonance amid so much dissonance.

Vadim Rizov

RTFilmmaker MagazineJan 5, 2023

I think this DCP merges the best of two different mediums while encouraging us to think harder about the properties of both.