Polgárháború

Nyilvánvaló volt, hogy Garland ebből nem fog kasszasikert csinálni. Az viszont nem volt nyilvánvaló, hogy a valóság és az emberi érzékelésen túli dimenziók közötti mesteri egyensúlyozásával mit ad majd egy olyan filmhez, amelynek alapja elvileg csak a nyers realizmus. A Polgárháború című filmben nagy tankos és helikopteres jelenetek is vannak, de Alfonso Cuarón elképesztő operatőri koncepciója nélkül, amit Az ember gyermeke című filmben kaptunk, és amire itt is szükség volt. A Polgárháború alapvetően csak egy bensőséges "road movie" szétvert Amerikán keresztül, három tapasztalt és egy fiatal újságírónővel, akinek ártatlansága ellentétben áll a nagymenőségükkel és a szakmai távolságtartásukkal. Kérdésünkre, hogy miért vállal ilyen munkát egy ilyen fiatal lány, rögtön választ is kapunk: "Il've never been so scared in my entire life, And l've never felt more alive.” ___ A Polgárháború kerüli az érzelgősséget, és amerikai oldies popzenével könnyíti meg a történet sötét tónusát, de hiányzik belőle Garland művészi optikája, amiért szeretjük. A kifejezetten félelmetes jelenetekből, amelyekből a filmnek teljes egészében állnia kellett volna, csak egy van. Tükrözi az amerikai redneck népesség egydimenziós gondolkodásmódját, és Jesse Plemons remekel benne. A rendező a nyersességet nem sötét instrumentális zenével, hanem a lőfegyverek intenzív hangjával fokozza. És bár a film magával ragad és karakterekkel felkelti az érdeklődést, hiányoznak belőle a kifinomultabb és váratlan konfliktusok, illetve a Donald Trumpra való figyelmeztetésen túlmutató gondolatmenet. A finálé pedig szó szerint elmosolyogtató. (2024.04.17)

I like Alex Garland's work and even though he makes films that aren't exactly audience friendly, he hasn't stepped on my toes once so far, so I was curious to see how he'd handle a slightly different material, more audience friendly, with a blockbuster format and on a very topical subject, and it's great, though not without its faults. It's a war road movie set in a war-ravaged America with an apocalyptic tinge that has a very slow pace most of the time, but thankfully it works thanks to convincing actors, decent dialogue and an uncomfortable atmosphere. I was a bit bothered that we don't see the birth of the conflict but are thrown somewhere in the middle, and also that the whole film is from a journalists point of view, I would have liked to see what's going on in other parts of America or some behind the scenes from the government on what the president is currently dealing with/planning, but never mind. The highlights are two scenes: the confrontation with Jesse Plemons, which has a very chilling atmosphere and a great build up, and then the finale – I was worried Garland would give us a three-minute shootout but he surprised us. We actually get more than twenty minutes of military action! A massive attack on the White House and it has it all: amazing sound of weapons, perfect cinematography, gripping atmosphere, in short it looks really dense and authentic, a perfect dreamlike action war finale. Of course, the few naturalistic shots are nice, but there could have been more of them. 80% (2024.04.20)

Olympic level in the discipline of "inducing a feeling of deep inner turmoil". I haven't seen something so often beautiful, yet repulsive and disturbing in a long time. And my apologies to A24 for wrongly suspecting it of producing a straightforward war blockbuster. It's, of course, another auteur film, just the way we like it. (2024.04.24)

Recall the three year old event when the Trump mob stormed the Capitol. Alex Garland sensitively and thoughtfully directs this theme, this societal schism, into disconnected mini-stories, with just these aforementioned protagonists (and they don't need a buffalo head to do it) killing because "real fucking America", all of which the protagonists, journalists, follow on their way to Washington. As long it stays in the road movie waters, with lots of iconic scenes, it's great. Unfortunately, Garland flips the switch at the end, and with the arrival in D.C., it becomes a regular war movie that felt like a mannerism in its denouement and showdown. Not only did it leave me cold at the end, but I actually thought "and that's it, Alex?". Too bad, we had the build-up to the movie event of the year, and well, it's not. But still an honest 4 stars (no stripes) for the impressive heaviness and disillusionment with humanity in the first two thirds. (2024.04.19)

A violent nightmare that I dreamed for some unknown reason. Kind of like Children of Men from Wish. Garland somewhat mechanically adorns his shady road movie with random images of a broken America. A number of them are impressive, with powerful visuals and staging (mainly the scene with Jesse Plemons). The film manages to induce anxiety to the point of nausea from a cruel world that is not so far from The Walking Dead in its absence of morality and prevalence of brutality. But…the whole thing seems terribly gratuitous; for all of the questions that the film wants to raise, Garland’s work just shrugs its shoulders and wagers on another spectacular composition. The characters are flat and the ethics and psychology of the war reporters come across as very superficial research. There is little in the way of Nietzschean gazing into the abyss in this film, which paradoxically comes across as terribly thesis-based and illustrative, but it isn’t at all clear what its thesis is or what it actually illustrates. An impressive exercise in unclearly straddling the line between a skilfully made spectacle and a not so skilfully rendered metaphor of a divided country. It’s actually a reiteration of my problem with Garland, a maker of spectacular movies that are dull at their core. (2024.04.15)