Political corruption in Illinois not funny,
but filmmakers try
Documentary filmmakers Brian Kallies and John Davies offer an entertaining take on the state’s history of systemic political corruption with their latest work, “Lincoln Is Crying: The Grifters, Grafters and Governors of Illinois.”
The film makes its television premiere at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 22, on WTTW. “Lincoln Is Crying” was screened for audiences before the pandemic shut down movie theaters earlier this year.
“I normally don’t want to pay too much attention to politics and this film made me want to do that,” a woman said in an audience-reaction trailer for the film.
That’s precisely the kind of reaction the filmmakers wanted.
“If we were to make a heavy-duty political film that goes through the corruption at a granular level, A, you would be bored to tears I think, and B, you would have to be a political junkie to understand and appreciate it,” said Kallies, a former Mount Greenwood resident who moved to the Los Angeles area six years ago.
Viewers might consider the film a simplified, layman’s guide to political shenanigans. If it was based on a book from a popular series with yellow and black covers, the title might be, “Political Corruption for Dummies.”
Clips of interviews with journalists, politicians, attorneys, analysts and comedians are sprinkled throughout the 86-minute film. Fictional characters, such as an imaginary descendant of President Abraham Lincoln, help advance the narrative.
Political corruption is so pervasive in Illinois that the topic could be downright depressing with a more serious approach.
“I think if we were to make a serious film about corruption and dug into it brick by brick, that’s for someone else,” Kallies said Monday by phone. “Perhaps that movie will be made someday, but honestly I don’t know what good that would do.”
Kallies and Davies have worked together on four previous documentaries. Their works have included
“We wanted to do something political that could possibly effect change,” Kallies said. “We’re not journalists, we’re almost entertainers. We thought the best approach to doing a political documentary would be the comedic route.”
The fresh approach may appeal to those who feel mystified or overwhelmed by the complexities of politics and government. A large segment of the audience tunes out corruption, possibly because it can be difficult to understand.
“Lincoln Is Crying” tries to reach an audience that exists where politics meets entertainment. The overlap is apparent in situations like “The Apprentice” reality TV show, which cast Donald Trump as a successful business owner when in fact his enterprises had declared bankruptcy six times between 1991 and 2009. Trump rode the successful tycoon myth to the Oval Office.
The film describes how four former Illinois governors, including Democrat Rod Blagojevich and Republican George Ryan, went to prison for their roles in bribery and corruption schemes.
“Lincoln Is Crying” gives Blagojevich a prominent role. The film includes a clip of the impeached former governor’s appearance on “Celebrity Apprentice,” and a representative of The Second City discusses the comedy club’s production of ”Rod Blagojevich Superstar!”
“He got drunk on power,” Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell says of Blagojevich in the documentary.
Colorful subjects include the late Paul Powell, a secretary of state who stashed ill-gotten cash from bribes in shoe boxes that were discovered after his death, and Rita Crundwell, a former Dixon comptroller who was sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison for embezzling a staggering $53.7 million in public funds over two decades.
Perhaps more importantly, though, is the film’s treatment of such figures as House Speaker Michael Madigan and Joe Berrios, former Cook County assessor. Neither faced criminal charges or explicit accusations of wrongdoing. Rather, they leveraged the power of their positions and used patronage to preside over systems where “pay to play” was the norm, the film states.
“We wanted to put all these major offenses, like Paul ‘Shoebox’ Powell, together under one roof,” Kallies said. “But we poke fun at it all, so at the end you’re going, ‘My God, this is a terrible situation, how do we change this?’”
Kallies and Davies present their story as a struggle between machine politicians and reformers. They offer a couple of simple solutions to the problem.
“No. 1, get out and vote, but also be aware of who you’re voting for,” Kallies said. “If you keep putting the same person on the ballot and they’ve been alderman for 30 years in your ward, maybe it’s time for someone else.”
In other words, citizens have a responsibility to vote, and voters need to educate themselves about candidates. In Illinois, it’s more difficult to distinguish crooks from reformers because of the sheer volume of candidates who crowd ballots.
“There are something like 7,000 units of government in Illinois,” Kallies said. “When you have more government, you have more seduction, you have more temptation to do something with those funds that are being doled out.”
Davies is billed as writer, director and producers of “Lincoln Is Crying.” Kallies is credited as executive producer, editor and director of photography and said they essentially shared in all aspects of the production.
Philanthropist Dave Truitt funded “Lincoln Is Crying” and two previous films by Davies and Kallies, Kallies said.
Kallies also has worked with Tom Desch on a documentary about the long-running battle over a proposed third Chicago area airport near Peotone. The two
“Lincoln Is Crying” points out that the late newspaper columnist Mike Royko once suggested that the culture of corruption in Chicago was so entrenched the city’s motto should be changed to “Ubi est mea,” Latin for, “Where’s mine?”
Illinois residents seem to have become numbed to a cycle of corruption. Citizens seem to accept as normal that taxpayer-funded jobs are routinely doled out to relatives, or that government contracts are awarded to campaign supporters.
Davies and Kallies use humor in their documentary to try to shake people out of complacency. Tuesday’s broadcast television premiere on WTTW should introduce the piece to a larger audience.
“The film we made, we want to get as many people as we can to watch this, and then to somehow get involved,” Kallies said.
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