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Depot Docs Presents Heir to an Execution
by James O'Barr
In a recent interview, Studs Terkel, the legendary, 95-yearold writer, radio personality, and raconteur, asked "How could it be, at the end of World War II, we were the most honored, powerful nation in the world- honored is the key word. Today we're the most despised and feared. How come?"
Ivy Meeropol doesn't set out to answer that question directly in her powerful, very personal documentary, Heir to an Execution: A Granddaughter's Story. But in seeking to reclaim her grandparents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, from being, in the popular imagination,
The Atom Spies," and in the simplified, ambiguous judgments of history, either traitors or heroes of resistance, and restore them as human beings and as family, she delves deeply into the historical moment in which they lived. Though Ms. Meeropol's own questions and interviews are focused on discovering "who they really were and how this could have happened to our family," the part that may have been played by the legally and politically scandalous prosecution and execution of the Rosenbergs in our country's fall from grace, haunts this remarkable film.
However, Ms. Meeropol says, "before they were immortalized by the strange machinations of history, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg belonged only to their family and friends…," and it is to family and friends that she brings her probing questions. And since she is the daughter of the Rosenberg's eldest son, Michael, it is quite natural that her father would be a principal informant, and a central figure in the film. In fact, one of the most touching elements of Heir to an Execution is the way Michael Meeropol (who will be with Ms. Meeropol at the screening) opens himself to his daughter, sharing his memories, and his feelings, about the events that shattered his young life, and that of his brother Robby. One has the sense that, while affecting the role of the interested informant, Mr. Meeropol is a proud father and loving son, giving affectionate support to his daughter's quest.
In addition to compelling, heart-wrenching interviews with some of the still-living friends, contemporaries, and supporters of the Rosenbergs, Ms. Meeropol's use of archival footage is powerfully evocative of the time and place that shaped her grandparents, and of the forces that eventually destroyed them. In the end, Ms. Meeropol's film takes us with her to the truth that she was looking for: the Rosenberg's were "very ordinary people," according to their co-defendant, Morton Sobell; "neither devils nor saints," according to son Robby Meeropol.
Heir to an Execution, Ivy Meeropol's first film, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004, was shortlisted for an Academy Award, and later aired on HBO. Since then, her six-part documentary, The Hill, about the work of a group of young Congressional aides, premiered on the Sundance Channel in August 2006 to critical acclaim. The Hill was a 2006 International Documentary Association nominee for best series.
Films scheduled for Depot Docs in 2008 include Laura Poitras' My Country, My Country, and Jeanne Jordan and Steve Ascher's Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern. Both films are Oscar-nominees. Also in the works is an evening with legendary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker, and a screening of his classic Dylan film, Don't Look Back.
Heir to an Execution will be shown on Friday, December 14, at 7:30pm, at the Depot Theatre, Garrison's Landing. Ivy Meeropol and her father, Michael Meeropol, will join the audience for a Q&A and a reception following the film. For more information, and to reserve seats, call 424-3900.
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