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"An Appropriate
Backdrop..." |
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Directed by Andrew
Niccol - Written by
Andrew Niccol
Starring Nicolas Cage,
Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto,
Ian Holm
Distributed by X -
2005 - Xmins - Rated R |
CONTAINS
MINOR SPOILERS
“Lord of War” begins with one of the most
brilliant openings I have seen at the cinema in
a great while: the camera pans over a city
street where the discarded shell casings of
seemingly thousands of spent bullets lie and
calmly standing amongst them is Yuri Orlov
(Nicolas Cage) the man who sold them. He turns
to the camera, breaks the fourth wall, and
ponders aloud. “There are over 550 million
firearms in worldwide circulation. That's one
firearm for every twelve people on the planet.
The only question is: How do we arm the other
11?” We hear the famous opening notes of Buffalo
Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” and the most
thematically important credits sequences I have
ever seen begins. We bear a first person witness
to the creation of a bullet to when it is used;
from when it is first pressed until it is lodged
into the head of a poor, nameless young man in a
random corner of the world. Death is a business,
made in factories and shipped the world over.
And we are immediately swept into a bizarre and
gruesome world, the creation of writer/director
Andrew Niccol, a world that is almost a parody
of our own, but at the same time, too real to be
a total fantasy. We are forced to sympathize
with shady characters and evil men and watch
morally wrong events occur while the
protagonists look on with mild interest or glee.
Those who do care are not the subject of the
film; those who do care have no power in this
world. “Lord of War” is a disturbing drama, a
roller coaster thriller and a pitch-dark satiric
comedy: if “Dr. Strangelove” and “Scarface” had
a child, this would be it.
The story follows the above-mentioned Orlov as
he becomes an arms dealer. He starts the film
nervously selling an Uzi to two thugs in a hotel
room and is soon shipping tanks to African
dictators. Along for the journey is his brother,
the dysfunctional Vitaly (Jared Leto), who finds
himself addicted to cocaine, and his wife, Ava
(Bridget Moynahan), who either believes Uri when
he says he’s in the shipping business or chooses
to look away. Pursuing Uri is a righteous ATF
agent named Valentine (but there will be more on
him later).
Looking over Niccol’s resume, I have noticed a
trend: each of his films seems to, in one way or
another, deal with the dehumanization of
mankind. His screenplay for “The Truman Show”
dealt with a man unwillingly being the subject
of his own television show. His film “Simone”
was about the first completely digital actress.
“Lord of War” continues the trend. Orlov is a
fascinating character because he treats his
merchandise as if it were anything else, at one
point comparing arms dealing to selling a
vacuum. He is selling death. He is profiting
from the human race destroying itself. It is
made clear that Orlov is forcing himself to wear
blinders, the less you know, the less it hurts.
Note the powerful scene where Orlov returns home
after a trip and visits his young son’s room.
Next to the son’s bed is a plastic pistol. Orlov
picks up the toy, stares at it and carries it
out of the room. On this level, “Lord of War” is
a story of guilt and tragedy. People are going
to kill one another no matter what. Orlov
realizes this. If he can accept that fact, he
can justify what he does every day.
The character of Valentine acts as the
antithesis to Orlov. He’s a Hollywood archetype,
the straight arrow cop hellbent on catching man.
In any other film, Valentine would be the hero
and Orlov the villain, but “Lord of War,” like
the best of it’s kind, plays with the emotions
of the audience. We know that Orlov is wrong. He
needs to be stopped…but we can see the appeal,
the romanticism behind selling weapons. Being a
cop seems so boring; Valentine is always held
back by the law, and not matter what he tries to
accomplish, he is outsmarted simply because, in
this world, evil prevails. Pessimistic? Oh yes.
Would it be dishonest any other way? You betcha.’
Don’t think “Lord of War” is all heavy, though.
Actually, it’s almost a comedy. The humor is
never laid on thick, but is funny in an satiric
“Catch 22” style that most comedies never have
these days. A running narration by Orlov
provides a surprisingly large number of laughs,
and many sequences seem straight out the theatre
of the absurd: Orlov rids himself of evidence by
yelling out “Free guns!” to African villagers.
He re-paints the name of his boat to evade
capture by authority.
“Lord of War” is the most fulfilling experience
I’ve had at the movies so far this year. I’m
bringing this critique to a close, but I still
feel like I have so much more to say. I’ve yet
to mention the brilliant use of sound and
editing, the brilliant script that makes use of
time and place or the performance by Cage, which
may very well be one of his best (and one of the
best this year). This is one of the greatest
films of the year.
***In a month, I have seen two films dealing
with Africa and it’s troubles. The first was
“The Constant Gardener,” which was sympathetic
to the continent’s plight and blamed all of it’s
problems on interference by outside nations.
“Lord of War” takes a far more bizarre take,
making it out to Africa’s fault for being in
it’s warring state (and doing so quite
humorously and/or graphically). This makes both
films unlikely viewing companions. Do yourself a
favor and watch them both. My view: both films
are correct.
© Written by
Jacob Hall
TC Candler's Comment
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Richard
Propes' Comment
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