The Illinois Parables

Deborah Stratman's experimental film considers the wide scope of the American experience through the narrow prism of 11 chapters from Illinois history. The film looks at the eerie near-erasure of the land's ancient inhabitants, although the Cahokia Mounds are shown with scant explanation of their relevance and Native American culture is viewed in the tacky stagnation of a museum diorama, while the expulsion of the Cherokees is encapsulated in a street sign called “Trail of Tears Road.” The rise and fall of outsider communities is explored through the relatively brief period of the Icarian utopian commune of French immigrants and the rise of Joseph Smith's nascent Mormon movement (as well as Smith's death and the burning of the Mormon temple in Nauvoo). Stratman employs archival footage of the devastating 1925 Tri-State Tornado and stages a re-enactment of the murder of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton by law enforcement. Throughout, Stratman uses offbeat sound design and music selections—the Parisian punk band Les Porte-Mentaux can be heard during the Icarian segment—and the film is shot in grainy 16mm that feels like a faded educational film. The Illinois Parables certainly takes an idiosyncratic approach to history and social commentary, although those with little patience for avant-garde cinema may balk at this artsy production with its heavy-handed framing of historical intolerance. Optional. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)