Brexit: The Uncivil War

Cumberbatch plays another highly intelligent sociopath who goes against all conventions (and he does so splendidly). This time he gives us a behind-the-scenes look at politics based on strong emotions and the creation of an alternative reality with the aid of social networks and data analysts (due to the brief runtime, not much emphasis is placed on the perspective of voters, though some reasons for their anger and desire to change the narrative are taken into account). In terms of information, however, it is incredibly dense, while also being clear, comprehensible and very nimble. The news footage could have been incorporated into the story in a more elegant manner, an occasional bit of image-based storytelling (not merely an unrelenting stream of words) would not have hurt anything, and the “confessing” Cummings’s framing of the story comes across as hollow (the narration also jumps to the other camp, where he was not present). However, I take a certain incompleteness as a necessary toll for how soon the film was made after the British referendum, thanks to which it has a lot of (angry) energy in it. Despite the relative faithfulness to the actual events, it is primarily opinion-based political commentary (with caricature drawings of some politicians), not an unbiased reconstruction. In spite of the exaggerated tone and cynicism of most of the characters, the result is more chilling than entertaining, as it is already clear that undermining fundamental trust in facts and authority has rather atrocious consequences. I at least hope that when Johnson and Farage see themselves in that context, their blood vessels will rupture. 75% (09.01.2019)

The Brits nailed this. I don’t mean Brexit itself but this film of the same name. They conveyed the economic topic with quality filmmaking and introduced the period before Brexit, which resulted in Britain deciding to leave the European Union. I’ve met countless Brits and I can guess that when they are able to believe that Prague is a separate country and the Czech Republic doesn’t exist, all it takes is a local conservative to tell them why it is good to leave the EU and they will follow him. Nothing, however, is as shallow as it seems and the main character (played by the incredibly natural Benedict Cumberbatch) who could be mistaken for a local intellectual in a pub made me realize a number of things thanks to which I see Brexit from a wider perspective now. A really interesting and well-made movie. (16.03.2019)

Stylization to “wannabe Sorkin movie" fits well, what is noticeably missing is staying on top of things. Perhaps the authors would then refrain from childish portrayal of (would-be) politicians (not that they do not deserve it, but it belongs to a completely differently conceived film) and first of all they would have more information, i.e. they would not have stay that much just on the surface. It could have been approached as a battle between two campaigns leaders in a way à la Duel Frost / Nixon campaigns, it could go have described “torn soul of Britain" and address the causes that are under the surface, address neglected part of the population, it has gone more into the secrets of targeted “advertising" and into ways how data from social networks are used, into ... But I´m not saying that all this is not in the movie. But it is so superficial and brief, that if you have read at least one article about the causes of Brexit (hence the election of Trump, etc.), then it will not say anything new; let alone interesting. Nevertheless, it is fast-paced, it has excellent performances and several impressive scenes (second session with focus group, talk after work over couple of beers and final monologue in front of the commission). (10.02.2019)

A dynamically filmed look at the campaign leading up to the infamous referendum that confirmed that the polarization of the inhabitants of one country is beginning to create space for a new type of war, primarily by means of social media. Now it’s not just the clever or the dumb who have a vote, but also those who don’t give a damn about anything, but still assert their right to decide anyway. This leads to bizarre results thanks to jokers and people who think that by changing their model of behavior, they can beat the current, disintegrating system. Emotion and populism versus argumentation and narcissism. True democracy versus government of the elite. Despite all of the progress we have made, we always end up at the original problem. Each of us is different. Cumberbatch is excellent as always and Kinnear as a symbol of the faulty establishment is too. The pop-culture references are funny and the comments hit their mark. This is the kind of movie that makes you think. (11.06.2019)

Am Anfang hat es mir nicht besonders gefallen, wie billig und einseitig das Drehbuch die Politiker zeigt, welche den Brexit unterstützt haben. Fast wie Teufel (es fehlten nur die Hörner) oder wie die Mafiosi von Scorsese (es fehlte nur der italienische Akzent). Nach und nach verschwand das aber aus dem Film und er konzentrierte sich mehr auf Cumberbatchs Hai Cummings. Und als auf die Szene der – verzeihen Sie – Dummkopf Johnson kam, hat mich keine Einseitigkeit mehr gestört, eher im Gegenteil. Brexit: The Uncivil War präsentiert viele wichtige Anregungen zum Nachdenken, Fragezeichen sowie Ausrufezeichen. Er sagt nicht nur über das gegenwärtige Großbritannien viel aus. Das Ende gehört zu den traurigsten Filmenden, die ich in letzter Zeit gesehen habe. (28.12.2019)