Post by klep on Sept 3, 2018 9:22:41 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 9/3: In The Loop
SATIRE WEEK!
It can be difficult to be someone deeply invested in politics. Power always attracts unsavory elements, and they can be quite unscrupulous in the pursuit of their goals. They have no respect for the rules, and so they feel no need to follow them if they can get away with it - and they certainly won't follow the rules to more than the letter.
But there's lots of good people in politics too. People deeply invested in the public good and honestly trying to do what they feel is best for everyone. Unfortunately, the frustration of fighting the inherently unscrupulous politicians can lead the good ones towards unethical behavior themselves. It ends up becoming a game, with once dearly-held positions being traded or compromised for temporary and ephemeral gains in a desperate battle to keep one up over the other guys. It corrupts the best of them, leaving them in a grey area where best intentions are sullied by bad acts.
There is perhaps no one who understands this better than Armando Iannucci, a master of political satire. Iannucci is adept at finding the sweet spot between cynicism and optimism - the point at which the well-intentioned politician crosses the line - and mining it for comedy.
Spun off from his TV series The Thick of It, In The Loop explores this moral abyss during a drive for war. While obviously a send-up of the push for George W. Bush's Iraq War, the target of the war in the film is never named (beyond being in the Middle East). Indeed, it doesn't even seem to matter to the characters. All they seem to care about anymore is whether they're 'for' or 'against' war and how they can win that fight. Anything and anyone is disposable in search of that goal.
It starts with the Minister for International Development Simon Forster (Tom Hollander) screwing up in an interview and saying war is "unforeseeable" - driving confusion about whether the UK is for or against war. Forster is personally against war, but the threat of losing his position in Parliament and the more specific, graphic threats issued by Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), the Prime Minister's Director of Communications. On the US side Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomacy Karen Clark (Mimi Kennedy), her assistant Liza Weld (Anna Chlumsky), and General George Miller (James Gandolfini) work to stop a drive to war by maniac Linton Barwick (David Rasche), Assistant Secretary of State for Policy and man who uses a live grenade as a paperweight.
The actual machinations of the plot are fairly droll, but that's only because they're unimportant. What's important is how vehemently so many of the characters urgently push for their positions while seemingly having lost sight of whatever principal they may have had. Malcom in particular moves through the film like a collection of phrases bleeped from live broadcasts profanely bullying people into doing whatever he wants, little caring if it's the opposite of what he told them to do just moments earlier.
But while the villains of the film are ostensibly the warmongers, no one is clean. Poor Minister Forster is completely out of his depth - a pawn in the struggle. He has an honest desire to do good, but his general lack of political savvy and obvious desire to advance his position make him a perfect pasty to be cajoled and manipulated by whichever more canny pol he last bumped into. Liza is primarily interested in keeping her anti-war report from tanking her career, and Karen seems driven as much by spite for Linton as anything else.
Iannucci's idea of politics is deeply cynical - his political satires tend to feature protagonists who were probably good, principled people at one point who deeply cared about issues and the public good. But the twisted machine of politics - the need to win reelection, to raise money, and to make deals - corrupts them and makes them betray themselves bit by bit until nothing is left but a calculating schemer.
Through most of the film it seems General Miller may be the only truly strong, principled person left on either side of the pond. He is firmly against war - giving a passionate speech about the horror it imposes on the men and women who fight it. He even manages to stand up to Malcolm - one of only two people he is unable to make wilt. But in the end even he cannot keep to his position. Rather than resign in protest, he stays in his position - claiming it's how he can best serve the men and women in uniform. In Iannucci's world, no one gets out of politics intact.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 9/10: The Fall
DREAM PROJECTS WEEK!
The production financed largely by his own money, Tarsem Singh's The Fall is a heralded fairy tale of a movie, with brilliant colors and bold characters. Join us next week as we dive into the film that made Singh so passionate. The Fall is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 9/4: Malcolm X
This week the podcast starts discussing a pair of movies from Spike Lee in Malcolm X and his new BlacKkKlansman. Join us Wednesday as we have a thread for his heralded biopic. Malcolm X is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
SATIRE WEEK!
It can be difficult to be someone deeply invested in politics. Power always attracts unsavory elements, and they can be quite unscrupulous in the pursuit of their goals. They have no respect for the rules, and so they feel no need to follow them if they can get away with it - and they certainly won't follow the rules to more than the letter.
But there's lots of good people in politics too. People deeply invested in the public good and honestly trying to do what they feel is best for everyone. Unfortunately, the frustration of fighting the inherently unscrupulous politicians can lead the good ones towards unethical behavior themselves. It ends up becoming a game, with once dearly-held positions being traded or compromised for temporary and ephemeral gains in a desperate battle to keep one up over the other guys. It corrupts the best of them, leaving them in a grey area where best intentions are sullied by bad acts.
There is perhaps no one who understands this better than Armando Iannucci, a master of political satire. Iannucci is adept at finding the sweet spot between cynicism and optimism - the point at which the well-intentioned politician crosses the line - and mining it for comedy.
Spun off from his TV series The Thick of It, In The Loop explores this moral abyss during a drive for war. While obviously a send-up of the push for George W. Bush's Iraq War, the target of the war in the film is never named (beyond being in the Middle East). Indeed, it doesn't even seem to matter to the characters. All they seem to care about anymore is whether they're 'for' or 'against' war and how they can win that fight. Anything and anyone is disposable in search of that goal.
It starts with the Minister for International Development Simon Forster (Tom Hollander) screwing up in an interview and saying war is "unforeseeable" - driving confusion about whether the UK is for or against war. Forster is personally against war, but the threat of losing his position in Parliament and the more specific, graphic threats issued by Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), the Prime Minister's Director of Communications. On the US side Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomacy Karen Clark (Mimi Kennedy), her assistant Liza Weld (Anna Chlumsky), and General George Miller (James Gandolfini) work to stop a drive to war by maniac Linton Barwick (David Rasche), Assistant Secretary of State for Policy and man who uses a live grenade as a paperweight.
The actual machinations of the plot are fairly droll, but that's only because they're unimportant. What's important is how vehemently so many of the characters urgently push for their positions while seemingly having lost sight of whatever principal they may have had. Malcom in particular moves through the film like a collection of phrases bleeped from live broadcasts profanely bullying people into doing whatever he wants, little caring if it's the opposite of what he told them to do just moments earlier.
But while the villains of the film are ostensibly the warmongers, no one is clean. Poor Minister Forster is completely out of his depth - a pawn in the struggle. He has an honest desire to do good, but his general lack of political savvy and obvious desire to advance his position make him a perfect pasty to be cajoled and manipulated by whichever more canny pol he last bumped into. Liza is primarily interested in keeping her anti-war report from tanking her career, and Karen seems driven as much by spite for Linton as anything else.
Iannucci's idea of politics is deeply cynical - his political satires tend to feature protagonists who were probably good, principled people at one point who deeply cared about issues and the public good. But the twisted machine of politics - the need to win reelection, to raise money, and to make deals - corrupts them and makes them betray themselves bit by bit until nothing is left but a calculating schemer.
Through most of the film it seems General Miller may be the only truly strong, principled person left on either side of the pond. He is firmly against war - giving a passionate speech about the horror it imposes on the men and women who fight it. He even manages to stand up to Malcolm - one of only two people he is unable to make wilt. But in the end even he cannot keep to his position. Rather than resign in protest, he stays in his position - claiming it's how he can best serve the men and women in uniform. In Iannucci's world, no one gets out of politics intact.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 9/10: The Fall
DREAM PROJECTS WEEK!
The production financed largely by his own money, Tarsem Singh's The Fall is a heralded fairy tale of a movie, with brilliant colors and bold characters. Join us next week as we dive into the film that made Singh so passionate. The Fall is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 9/4: Malcolm X
This week the podcast starts discussing a pair of movies from Spike Lee in Malcolm X and his new BlacKkKlansman. Join us Wednesday as we have a thread for his heralded biopic. Malcolm X is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.