By Harrison Ferger
Alex Garland has had a fascinating career. Starting as a screenwriter, he made big waves with films like ‘28 Days Later’ and the “cult classic” ‘Dredd’ remake. But few could have predicted the power of 2015’s ‘Ex Machina’; a terrifying tale of AI and the “tech bros” that would eventually create it. It has only become more and more terrifying as the decade proceeds into the new “AI era” and has come to represent a major victory for the A24 production company. Since then, my relationship to his following films has drifted significantly, from the ‘Stalker’ inspired ‘Annihilation’ and the laughably bad ‘Men.’ These films masquerade themselves in the visuals of interesting filmmakers, particularly the work of soviet films of the 70’s and 80’s. Unfortunately, the trend continues here in ‘Civil War,’ a film where the cinematic language feels in complete disconnect.
When the trailers for ’Civil War’ dropped, like many, I was completely confused by the premise of the story. A world where the states of California and Texas have seceded from the union in order to overthrow a “fascist” Nick Offerman; who is quickly becoming the go-to image of conservative America. So going in I was already starting off on the wrong foot, but to my surprise this film is not concerned at all with the sociopolitical issues that have led to this ‘Civil War.’ The film instead is strangely about the ethics of photojournalism.
We follow legendary photojournalist Lee Smith (not that Lee Smith,) played by acting heavyweight Kirsten Dunst. She and her journalist partners Joel and Sammy travel through the war torn Atlantic region of America to interview the president before his eventual fall. Before leaving however we meet Jessie, played by rising star Cailee Spaeny, who plays the young and overly-confident photojournalist hoping to glean from her idol Lee. The film follows the structure of a road trip movie as we follow our characters as they move from one action set piece to another. Clearly inspired by films like Apocalypse Now and Come and See, Garland tries to recreate the feeling of descent into a hellscape but he is unable to match the poetic and visceral feeling of those films. Only in moments do we reach great tension like a sequence involving a sniper and two men discussing the reason in which they are firing at each other or the haunting performance from Jesse Plemons as a soldier. The sound design is brutal and loud, especially in the IMAX format that it is being presented in. Gunshots are horrifying and it rips any enjoyment one might have with the action in the film and works as the most successful piece of the film.
Unfortunately, great sound design cannot save this writing. Our characters are flat, with characterizations ranging from a girl from the midwest with passive parents to a woman from the midwest with passive parents. I guess everyone in the midwest is living on a farm in Alex Garland’s America. The actors are given very little to work with and it shows. Moments of connection between Lee and Jessie are meaningless and carry some truly horrible exposition. These broad strokes match the incoherent landscape of his world he has built in order to ground the meaning of his work, which I remind you is about the ethics of photojournalism. I’ve seen people over the last few days speak at the intention behind the flat America that Garland has built. Saying that Garland is attempting to show how war is portrayed in other countries compared to how the American audience sees them, however it seems to fall apart when the visual language itself is so derivative of other works that are steeped in reality and nuance.
The power of a film like ‘Apocalypse Now’ is based in America’s decade long chaos in the jungles of Vietnam, as we watch a GI lose control of his own mind and psyche, much like America losing its purpose or goal in the war. ‘Come and See’ is a biblical analogy of the loss of innocence as a boy’s life is destroyed by the invasion of Nazi Germany in Belarus. ‘Civil War’ feels like a film trapped between wanting to recreate the dream-like horror of the films mentioned and questioning the ethics of capturing war on camera.
Garland has said he feels this is a love letter to photojournalism but I don’t see how. The camera in the hands of Jessie is more of a weapon than something honorable, who uses a “point-and-shoot” style of photography to match her eagerness and ignorance. The disappointing piece of this is the handling of Lee, whose internal questioning of the ethical nature of journalism are very upfront at the beginning but drifts to the back by the end, leaving us with a shaky, unintelligible understanding of what the character thinks and feels. Choosing to instead end in one of the most cliche ways possible as Lee becomes just a bridge for Jessie. Which tarnishes what could have been a powerful ending.
Much like Alex Garland’s recent films, ‘Civil War’ is a work of empty pastiche. Taking profound ideas and images and synthesizing them into something palatable and surface level. Though some technical aspects are able to raise the tension, the paper-thin characters and disjointed filmmaking hold it back from being anything memorable.
Rating: 2 / 5
Companion Films:
Apocalypse Now – Francis Ford Coppola
Come and See – Elem Klimov
Ex Machina – Alex Garland