Civil War

Olympic level in the discipline of "inducing a feeling of deep inner turmoil". I haven't seen something so often beautiful, yet repulsive and disturbing in a long time. And my apologies to A24 for wrongly suspecting it of producing a straightforward war blockbuster. It's, of course, another auteur film, just the way we like it. (24.04.2024)

Es war klar, dass Garland daraus keinen Blockbuster machen wird. Unklar war aber, was seine meisterhafte Gratwanderung zwischen Realität und Dimensionen jenseits der menschlichen Wahrnehmung in einen Film bringen wird, der eigentlich nur auf rohem Realismus beruhen soll. Civil War enthält auch große Szenen mit Panzern und Hubschraubern, aber ohne das erstaunliche Kameramann-Konzept, das Alfonso Cuarón uns in Children of Men gegeben hat und das hier nötig gewesen wäre. Im Kern ist Civil War einfach ein intimes „Roadmovie“ durch ein zerrüttetes Amerika mit drei erfahrenen und einer jungen Journalistin, deren Unschuld im Kontrast zu ihrer Abgestumpftheit und beruflichen Distanz steht. Unsere Frage, warum ein so junges Mädchen einen solchen Job macht, wird sofort beantwortet. Sie hatte in ihrem ganzen Leben noch nie so viel Angst und sie hat sich noch nie so lebendig gefühlt. ___ Civil War vermeidet Sentimentalität und lockert den düsteren Ton der Geschichte mit amerikanischem Oldie-Pop auf, aber es fehlt die künstlerische Optik, für die wir Garland lieben. Von den ausgesprochen erschreckenden Szenen, aus denen der Film in seiner Gesamtheit hätte bestehen müssen, gibt es nur eine einzige. Sie spiegelt die eindimensionale Mentalität der amerikanischen Redneck-Bevölkerung wider und Jesse Plemons brilliert in ihr. Der Regisseur unterstreicht die Rohheit nicht mit dunkler Instrumentalmusik, sondern mit dem intensiven Klang von Schusswaffen. Und obwohl der Film interessante Figuren hat, fehlt es ihm an raffinierteren und unerwarteten Konflikten sowie an Gedanken, die über Warnungen vor Donald Trump hinausgehen würden. Das Finale ist lächerlich. (17.04.2024)

Recall the three year old event when the Trump mob stormed the Capitol. Alex Garland sensitively and thoughtfully directs this theme, this societal schism, into disconnected mini-stories, with just these aforementioned protagonists (and they don't need a buffalo head to do it) killing because "real fucking America", all of which the protagonists, journalists, follow on their way to Washington. As long it stays in the road movie waters, with lots of iconic scenes, it's great. Unfortunately, Garland flips the switch at the end, and with the arrival in D.C., it becomes a regular war movie that felt like a mannerism in its denouement and showdown. Not only did it leave me cold at the end, but I actually thought "and that's it, Alex?". Too bad, we had the build-up to the movie event of the year, and well, it's not. But still an honest 4 stars (no stripes) for the impressive heaviness and disillusionment with humanity in the first two thirds. (19.04.2024)

Violent Nightmare, der aus einem unbekannten Grund erschien. Eine Art Children of Men von Wish. Garland hängt ein wenig mechanisch ein fragwürdiges Roadmovie mit zufälligen Bildern des verdrehten Amerikas auf sein Halsband. Einige von ihnen sind beeindruckend, visuell und inszenatorisch stark (vor allem die mit Jesse Plemons). Der Film kann Angst und sogar Übelkeit wegen der brutalen Welt wecken, die mit ihrer Abwesenheit von Moral und der Vorherrschaft der Bestialität nicht weit von The Walking Dead entfernt ist. Aber – das Ganze wirkt furchtbar selbstzweckmäßig, auf alle Fragen, was damit der Film eigentlich benennen möchte, zuckt Garlands Werk mit den Schultern und setzt nur eine weitere effektvolle Komposition ein. Die Charaktere sind platt, die Ethik und Psychologie von Kriegsberichterstattern wirken wie eine sehr oberflächliche Recherche. Der Nietzsche-Blick in den Abgrund ist wenig bei einem Film, der paradoxerweise furchtbar thesenhaft und illustrativ wirkt, ohne klarzumachen, welche These er vertritt und was er eigentlich illustriert. Eine beeindruckende Übung, die unsicher zwischen einem geschickten Spektakel und einem nicht besonders geschickten Gleichnis eines geteilten Landes steht. Tatsächlich wiederholt sich mein Problem mit Garland, dem Autor effektvoller Filme, die jedoch im Kern stumpf klingen. (15.04.2024)

I like Alex Garland's work and even though he makes films that aren't exactly audience friendly, he hasn't stepped on my toes once so far, so I was curious to see how he'd handle a slightly different material, more audience friendly, with a blockbuster format and on a very topical subject, and it's great, though not without its faults. It's a war road movie set in a war-ravaged America with an apocalyptic tinge that has a very slow pace most of the time, but thankfully it works thanks to convincing actors, decent dialogue and an uncomfortable atmosphere. I was a bit bothered that we don't see the birth of the conflict but are thrown somewhere in the middle, and also that the whole film is from a journalists point of view, I would have liked to see what's going on in other parts of America or some behind the scenes from the government on what the president is currently dealing with/planning, but never mind. The highlights are two scenes: the confrontation with Jesse Plemons, which has a very chilling atmosphere and a great build up, and then the finale – I was worried Garland would give us a three-minute shootout but he surprised us. We actually get more than twenty minutes of military action! A massive attack on the White House and it has it all: amazing sound of weapons, perfect cinematography, gripping atmosphere, in short it looks really dense and authentic, a perfect dreamlike action war finale. Of course, the few naturalistic shots are nice, but there could have been more of them. 80% (20.04.2024)

Texas' revolt has done Civil War some fine advertising and A24 can celebrate. Alex Garland is keeping his head down with the script and direction. The artistic arrangement is there, but he still focuses on the rawness, underscored by black-and-white photography by up-and-comer Cailee Spaena (the kid from DEVS), and serves up a classic road movie through the disunited states of America. The scariest stop along the way is the one at Jesse Plemons, and it towers over the entire film like the top of the Everest. I understand why Garland doesn't explicitly state the reason for the conflict, though it is implied, but I missed that very conversation whose absence Wagner Moura laments. The excellent Wagner Moura, by the way, easily nudges the brooding Kirsten Dunst. The finale is predictable but formally breathtaking. Great soundtrack. (22.04.2024)

For Alex Garland, Civil War is a return to the tried-and-tested formula of a group of characters wandering through an "inhuman" landscape in pursuit of a vague goal, but compared to 28 Days Later, Annihilation and Sunshine, the British filmmaker is now dealing with a rather down-to-earth and quite realistic scenario. I've always seen him as a very capable genre filmmaker and I also got what I expected from his latest effort: a solid simple genre film; don't expect anything complicated or deep. The relative straightforwardness actually suits Garland far more than the artsy symbolism of his previous two efforts, which is also not to say that Civil War completely resigns itself to it. If I have one criticism, it's some all-too-obvious visual choices, in a film that, given the premise, would be best served by a straightforward and almost documentary-like approach, the director too often tries to frame the characters in all symmetry in the middle of the frame, as if they were in a Wes Anderson film, and it doesn't quite fit the concept. On the other hand, I appreciate that Garland didn't reach for some low-hanging fruit in the script and somehow politicised the film in a one-sided way at its core, so we get a story that is balanced and, most importantly, not black-and-white. (16.04.2024)

After Ex Machina and Annihilation, this is my third encounter with Alex Garland's directorial work, which, as with the aforementioned films, tells a story from the more or less near future - but this time in a more contemporary and realistic vein, which makes you shiver all the more. The plot is a simple road movie with action interludes where the main characters are confronted with disturbing scenes from "everyday life in the USA". I liked the audiovisual execution, with photographs of the journalists inserted into the picture, and the background music, which seemed to soften the horrors depicted with its friendly country overtones. The most uncomfortable sequence for me was undoubtedly the confrontation with Jesse Plemons. Visually, I was most impressed by the passage through the burning forest; and in terms of action, I liked the thrilling finale the most. A solid four stars! (21.04.2024)