“Civil War”: The only people who can destroy the United States are themselves

The United States is the world power. It is the world’s first economy. The one responsible for defining the systems that move the West. And beyond, It is the country that preserves the (idea of) democracy, Brings freedom to most third world nations on the planet.

That all sounds very idyllic. Nice. But we have rarely thought about how terrible the thing is. And not just because of that Giving a single nation the stability of half the world (more/less), but because the United States hardly has any 248 years.

However. Let’s think of other first world nations like Great Britain. Its history spans thousands of years This does not mean that they are fit to lead the nations of the West. and implement whatever their ideologies are.

But why are we not scandalized by the United States? The answer would initially be wrong because the question is also incorrectly worded. We are talking about a present and a past. We weren’t shocked before, but are we now?

Alex Garland and the tsunami

After Donald Trump took office in 2016, it’s fair to say that The global image of the United States changed. The idea of ​​​​his liberal democracy has completely changed compared to the others, and at the end of his term Joe Biden was supposed to regain it, but that was not the case.

The country In view of a presidential election in which Trump is again the Republican candidate and Biden is the Democratic candidate, he feels more divided. Again? Eight years of polarization, which was exemplarily reflected in the middle of both mandates: the attack on the Capitol in January 2021.

For many it was foreseeable. There was no way to stop it. Alex Garland, director of films like Ex Machina And destruction, in an interview he describes it to us like this: You’re standing on the beach and you see a tsunami; They tell you to run away, but you don’t. The tsunami hits the beach and everything it reaches.

Civil War, his most recent film, is neither the guy on the beach nor the one warning him. It’s not the beach either. Civil War It is the tsunami, so devastating and unpredictable.

What is the civil war about?

Civil War introduces us to a The United States is in the midst of a civil war. As mentioned in the title. The nation is divided into several groups, two of which take the lead in battles: the federal government led by the president and the separatists led by the states of Texas and California.

That’s how it is. In an unprecedented event, two of the states with the greatest political strength unite to overthrow the government and seize power a new speech. Which? We don’t know him. None of the political contexts in Civil War It will be revealed to us in an instant. Nothing.

We just see the outbreaks of violence and the atrocities committed by both sides inside and outside of a confrontation. Because yes, it’s not just about the clashes between two groups in different buildings or the patience of a sniper on each side. It is violence for its own sake, the possibility of exercising it and controlling it.

Each of the events We see them through a group of journalists who have to leave New York, travel the country and arrive in Washington DC where they have one last opportunity to interview the President.. No one has spoken to him in over a year.

The protagonists of the civil war

The group includes Lee, one of the most renowned war correspondents and photojournalists. She has photographed every conflict anywhere in the world. His images were once intended to be a dire warning, but they have been ignored to the point that his land, this paradise, is in the grip of brutal conflict. What was the purpose of the risk and physical, emotional and psychological demands of the work?

We also have Joe, a reporter who accompanied Lee on several occasions. He is addicted to adrenaline and finds conflict situations to be the most revealing moments. not of the groups that fight, but of the people who do it without knowing why (something like what eventually happened in Vietnam).

The third of the group is Sammy, a What Remains veteran of The New York Times. He is not invited to the interview with the president, but asks him to drop him off somewhere along the way. His body is big and old, Therefore, it is dangerous to carry it on the route.

And finally there is Jessie, a young graduate who admires Lee and wants to become her. Lee angrily takes care of her on her journey and tells her something important for understanding the film: the photos, The job of journalism is not to interpret it, but only to present it.

Journalism and cinema

This reminds us of that something Michael Haneke said about cinema. The director’s work begins with the responsibility he assumes towards his audience. The director should not manipulate the viewer and tell you what to think, you just have to show the story and Give them the tools to draw their own conclusions and form an opinion.

The same thing happens with journalism Civil War. They are there to interpret the images, just to present them. Citizens must read them and draw their own conclusions.

The worst is The narrative of a war, for it to exist and be sustained, must always be extremist, regardless of the side. So, the images, no matter how brutal and devastating, They have an ideological filter so extreme that it justifies atrocities.

That’s why we believe Garland decided to make a film that was “cynical” in all its elements: From the story and its characters to the soundtrack, music, photography and editing.

We do not want to go into philosophical definitions of the term but at the same time we cannot complete the explanation with words. But we’ll try.

We understand the film to be cynical because it tells us so To be a war correspondent and remain neutral in presenting history, you have to be very cynical. And you have to be very cynical to make films and present these stories. AND As viewers, we consume violence in a cynical way.

That scene with Jesse Plemons

Be careful, we won’t give any spoilers. But We have to talk about a particular scene with the always spectacular Jesse Plemons and it takes about 3 or 4 minutes at most. But it’s really frightening.

The scene includes a guy with a gun that calls into question the quality of other people’s citizens. The question is, “What kind of American are you?”

This part is scary because shows us the lawless land of a country in conflict. But more than that, because it teaches us how each individual who takes part lives a kind of individual war directed by him Ideologies, again extremists, connected to a communitybut also so personal that they arise from it a more intimate context.

Speculative fiction

Alex Garland said this a few weeks ago Civil War It will be his last film as a director and he will devote himself entirely to producing and writing. Hopefully this decision is only temporary, as it has once again proven that the company can handle productions on a massive scale while still raking in the box office.

Civil War is produced by A24 and is their biggest project to date with a budget of $50 million. The conversation is already on the table and one of the most interesting that has taken place concerns the definition of the film as “speculative fiction.”

This term comes from literature and from various authors such as Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Talethey describe it as a story that raises various situations that a society has not experienced but that are latent. If we take this literally, “Civil War” expands even further the stories it presents in the setting it describes.

In an environment of polarization like the one the United States is currently experiencing, fostered by such extreme ideologies, anything can happen. No one could stand up to the United States and its economic and military might. The only ones who will end up groping are themselves.

Civil War The film opens in Mexico on April 18th.