Review of a Quality Experience
by Suzanne
You don't have to be in the "mood" for some type of apocalyptic Debbie-downer, proselytizing brood of a movie with an agenda. Because this is not that. This is, from every angle, just one damn fine piece of cinema!
It is definitely an artismally done film, but not so "artistic" that it relies on you to meet it over halfway. The filmmaker saves any esoterism for the mystery of background information that could polarize the viewer and create unnecessary alliances toward one side or the other of this story's struggle. This trigger-polarization would only serve to sustain people continually missing the point. There are no "good guys vs bad guys" in this story. There are just people.
This film (I use the word "film" on purpose) is a near-future warning, but it takes ABSOLUTELY NO SIDES in any issues. It does this by never actually specifying what the disagreements are, nor how anything originated.
Instead, the story follows a group of code-impartial photojournalists. Since it's a civil war, all the soldiers are wearing the same camo, so it never establishes who-is-who.
For instance, the journalists get to this old Christmas lights display park, and they have to swiftly pull over because of crossfire. One of the journalists asks a nearby soldier hiding in the brush, "who are you fighting for?" and the answer was "Are you a moron? There's a guy in that building trying to kill us, so we're stuck here trying to kill that guy". Never could a complex circumstance be depicted more succinctly and simply.
Since the story is told through the eyes of photojournalists, it stands to reason that the look of the film is very picturesque. The cinematography is artistically mesmerizing- my autopilot would say "beautiful", but that would be a misnomer. It's not supposed to be pretty. It's impactful, engaging, narrative, and 150% well-done.
...But, it IS a photographer's dream: every scene, every shot after every shot, is intentionally composed. The framing, the lighting, the geometry, etc., tells its own story as a still. It gives truth to the phrase "a picture says a thousand words". And, at the same time, it is presented with such authenticity that the effect is more of the feeling that you're actually there with the people, not in a museum looking at an old painting behind protective glass.
I caught myself squirming in my movie theater seat, trying to dodge the bullets and run up stairs, on more than one occasion.
From beginning to end, you never get the sense that the filmmakers ever ran out of steam and just wanted to wrap it up. The same creative energy peak and attention paid was put into every scene. It is an expressionate, artistic piece done with reliable use of the medium through-and-through.
For audiophiles, this movie will also blow you out of the water. The scene changes alone, from an antedwindling finish in utter silence to an abrupt open with alarming gunfire, uses sound not just as a utilitarian means but as a psychological multi-tool to evoke a whole new level of emotion and interaction with this realistically depicted world.
I realize the cliche of saying "You have GOT to see this in the theater!" And, usually, that translates to me as "The movie's only value is in the sic special effects!"
This is most certainly NOT the case with "Civil War". If you wait to stream it at home, yes, it will still reach out and grab you-
-and grab you it DOES! The entire time, from the beginning to the very end, It reaches all the way into your essence and strikes the chords of raw, authentic tones-
BUT this movie DESERVES to be absorbed from all sides IN THE THEATER! I was talking to the people sitting next to me during the credits, and we all agreed that the Alamo has brought back the positive movie experience, AND we agreed that this was one of those RARE movies which REALLY DOES deserve that experience!
As a potential viewer, one could think at the beginning, "Oh, this is going to be a character arc about an impartial war photographry-journalist developing a conscious, and the cause is SO obvious that they jump in to help". ..
No. No, one would be wrong.
Then, one could think "Oh, this is about a jaded photojournalist showing her soft side in response to a novice photographer joining them"
Nope. It's not that trop-ey. At all.
It is a great, non-inauthentic story. Don't see it in a good theater because it's the only way you'll appreciate it; see it at the Alamo because it, and you, truly DESERVE the experience!
SIX OUT OF FIVE STARS!
-Suzanne
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