Warfare and Electric Dreams

 Warfare

I got a last minute ticket for a preview of the new A24 film Warfare with a short Q&A with the director Alex Garland and a couple of the cast (Kit Connor and Cosmo Jarvis)  It was in the BFI IMAX which is probably the best way to see this immersive experience.  Garland's previous film, Civil War took a neutral view  of a fictional civil war in America.  It was graphic and grim, a sort of updated Apocalypse Now about war being pointless and hellish, but he got some criticism about not taking a moral stance.  This film takes it further in many ways, although it is about a real mission that went wrong in Iraq in 2006.  The film tries to remove any editorialising or imposition of narrative structure or morality, instead just letting it play out in real time over 90 minutes.  Based on the accounts of the US Navy Seals who were there, there is no hero, back story or character development; in fact it is often difficult to tell the men apart.  

Garland talked in the pre-film Q&A about the fetishisation of the Seals in the US and to a certain extent by the Seals themselves.  So he talked about his aim to avoid that and to be a technician bringing the story to life, rather than being an artist; I think it succeeded to a high extent, and to a high degree in the main film.  However, this doesn't mean the film is clinical. The actors also all talked about the sense of love and brotherhood between the men portrayed in the film, something they deliberately emulated in their working relationships whilst working on the film, and I do think this can be seen in the finished work.  So trying to focus on the facts hasn't removed the emotion.  

Apparently the filmmakers also spoke to the Iraqi family caught up in this and we do get a sense of their terror and of just being inconveniences to deal with as their home is taken over by soldiers.  This means that the film also acknowledges that no war is ever context free, and that follows through in the way that the action is all from the point of view of the soldiers, both good and bad.  Despite best efforts there is a certain amount of sentiment creeping in, particularly in the dedication at the start and the end credits.  I understand the wish to honour the stories, but I wonder if it would have been purer without it.  

This is a really powerful immersive movie with loads of gore so not for the squeamish; it's visceral and with no turning away from the consequences of violence.  Another thing in its favour is that the  performances are all un-glossy, and with a strong sense of authenticity despite the amount of shiny young talent here (Kit Connor, Joseph Quinn,  D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Noah Centineo and more).  

This film is trying to do two things, tell the unfiltered facts and also honour the stories of those caught up in war, and it is a very fine line they are walking.  It certainly is a strong addition to the genre of ‘war is pointless and hell’ films and is well worth seeing, particularly at a time when it seems that war and all sorts of violence are firmly back on the table as a means to political ends, whatever the consequences for the people caught up on all sides.

EDIT:  Someone filmed the whole introductory interview which is now up on youtube here 

https://youtu.be/gXujEsNaGvE?si=iso47O44sAbAoqc0

Electric Dreams

Earlier in the day I popped in to see this exhibition at Tate Modern, which was about how artists have engaged with and used technological developments before the internet. 

I loved the interactive stuff, particularly  Carlos Cruz-Diez’s immersive installation Chromointerferent Environment which was full of children playing with the balls, and people taking photos of the weird effects on each other while I was there so I stole this photo from the catalogue instead 

I also liked this which felt a bit Bridget Riley-esque and made my eyes go suitably squiffy. 

And this 'DreamMachine' by Brion Gysin.

 I also liked the works by Katsuhiro Yamaguchi playing with the optical properties of glass, particularly as I am currently reading Material World by Ed Conway which has a whole section on glass and how closely it aligns to fast technological development.  

Anyway, quite a lot to look at in this exhibition - as a grown up it might be best to wait till the kids have gone back to school to have a better chance to play.