American University associate history professor Peter Kuznick often used director Oliver Stone’s films to jump start conversations in his classrooms.
So in the fall of 1996 Kuznick decided to make it official, building an official class around the Oscar winner’s oeuvre.
Kuznick’s curriculum touches on movies like “Nixon,” “Platoon” and “JFK” to help students get a handle on both history and the various interpretations thereof.
It’s an added benefit that Stone himself often drops in via phone – or even in person – to expound on his own films.
Stone visited the D.C. university just before the holidays, sharing several hours with Kuznick’s students despite a wearying schedule on the set of “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.”
“He was physically exhausted. He hadn’t slept for a couple of days,” Kuznick says. “Then he came to life … I knew he would.”
Students asked the director a variety of questions, including if he felt he was too “soft” on former Presidents Richard Nixon and George W. Bush in “Nixon” and “W.,” respectively.
The professor’s class covers Stone’s films chronologically, ranging from ‘60s films like “The Doors” and “Platoon” to later features like “Wall Street.”
Kuznick then compares Stone’s version of history with his own and that of several historians assigned for the class. To supplement Stone’s controversial film “JFK,” Kuznick brought in Max Holland, a contributing editor to The Nation and a leading critic of Stone’s take on the Kennedy assassination.
“They know I have strong views on some of the things we talk about, but they don‘t really know where I stand on it,” he says. “I get them to think critically on their own.”
He says using Stone’s films – vibrant, arresting features even to those who disagree with his points – grabs the students’ attention in a way the traditional classroom format sometimes can’t.
Tomorrow: Kuznick describes his upcoming project with Stone, the Showtime series “Secret History of America” as well as the fallout from some of Stone’s comments concerning the show’s treatmentof Adolf Hitler.
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