CIVIL WAR

US, 2024, 109 minutes, Colour.

Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Nick Offerman, Nelson Lee, Jesse Plemons.

Directed by Alex Garland.

The US has had a Civil War so it is not unthinkable that it could have another. Many observers from around the world might think that, in fact, the uprising and riots on January 6, 2021, the rabble invading the Capitol, the stance of the defeated President, indicated, at least, a divided America.

British writer and director, Alex Garland (who shown a liking for apocalyptic themes (28 Days, The Beach, Ex Machina, Annihilation) has been observing the divisiveness in America and created this story of a Civil War, in the not too distant future. In fact, so much of the film looks contemporary.

We are introduced to a situation where an embattled President broadcasts a speech, desperately, having intervened militarily in situations, some states seceding (rather unlikely union between Texas and California!). Troops marching on Washington DC.

While there are military encounters, especially the siege of Washington and the attack on the White House and the President, immersing the audience right in the middle of it, the point of view of the screenplay is that of a group of photojournalists, based in New York, New York where there is a disturbing protest, a bomb blast in the middle of the protest, police action, and the journalist with their cameras ready. The group decides that they will risk the travel to Washington to try to interview the president before any final disaster.

We are introduced to the group of journalists, familiar from so many movies, gathered in a hotel, plans, rivalries, dangers. The leading personality is a battle-scarred veteran, Lee, Kirsten Dunst, working with Joel, Wagner Moura, enterprising but more cautious. Lee has come across a young woman shaken up by the explosion, Jesse, Cailee Spaeney, discovers that she wants to be a proto-journalist, has come from Missouri, and, reluctantly, is taken up by the group, accompanied by an old veteran, Sammy, Stephen McKinley Henderson. The roads are dangerous and they have to travel to DC in a roundabout route.

Civil War then becomes a literal road movie, a succession of different incidents revealing what is going on in the American countryside, plenty of roadblocks, encounters with soldiers, having to take shelter from a sniper in a mansion, going through a town where everything seems normal, including a clothes shop, the citizen seemingly complacent, then the vision of soldiers on the roofs of the buildings. In West Virginia, there is a sports complex, people taking refuge on the central arena, in the seats, suspicious but the inhospitable.

There is a powerful sequence, truly upsetting and highlighting ideological stances, a group of soldiers, a truck full of corpses, then tipping them into a vast open grave, a confrontation with the journalists, especially with two journalists who join them, Asian backgrounds. The soldier, uniformed, on guard, is played as the grimly violent patriot, an embodiment of Make America Great Again, supremely self-assured, and, unhesitatingly, shooting the Asians.

And, all the time, the group are taking photos, many in seemingly impossible situations, and on the screen, we see the black-and-white versions of so many of the photos, jolting.

It is something of a surprise to find that Civil War has done very well at the box office, that it has found an audience, but it would be very interesting to interview members of the audiences as they came out of the cinema, and discover what liberals thought of it and what the conservative right made of it!

1. Expectations from the title? Memories of the American Civil War? Civil War in the future? The 21^st-century and the ideologically divided America?
2. The director, British background, interest in futuristic and apocalyptic themes?
3. The situation, the President’s speech, the audience gaging his stances, his appeal to the people, the civil war situation, his military interventions? Secession of States? California and Texas? The uprising against him? The generic nature of the issues rather than detail?
4. The New York opening, the protests, the bomb, the injuries? The introduction to the photojournalists, their involvement, daring, the close-ups, Jessie being injured, Lee helping her, Jessie and her ambitions of being a photojournalist? The refuge in the hotel?
5. The hotel, the journalist gathering, the atmosphere, tensions, journalist ambitions, photojournalists? The discussions, the rivalries? The introduction to , Joel his experience, his wanting to interview the president? Lee, her association with Joel, her ambitions? Jessie and her wanting to join them, her age, and experience? The friendship with Sammy, his age, his experience, wanting to go along as well?
6. The road journey, different faces of America, from New York State, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, to Washington DC? The impact for the audience, to understand something of the Civil War?
7. The effect of the various episodes, the car, the travel, the interactions between them, Joel, his attitude towards Jessie, her being forthright, Sammy and his experience? Lee in charge? Service station, the encounter, the deals, guns, Mansion with the sniper and being with the soldiers shooting back? West Virginia Stadium, the people gathered, hospitality, food? The quiet town, the shops open, seemingly normal, soldiers on the roofs? Tension?
8. The work of photojournalists, always alert, looking for the angle, close-ups, and the device of having the audience see the photos in black-and-white? Adding to the drama?
9. Tony and his associate, Asian background, linking up with the group? The encounter with the Patriot soldiers, the truck and the corpses, emptying them into the pit? The soldier, his stances, right-wing patriotism, his speeches and declarations, the challenge, the arguments, confrontation, the guns, his being shot?
10. The effect on the photojournalists, nearing Washington, the encounter with the encampment, the soldiers, the embedded journalists, the discussions?
11. Going into DC, the siege of Washington, the intense military action, the focus of the group, their access, continually taking photos, the extreme situations? Eventually to the White House, the confrontation with the president, the military reaction? His reaction, issue of the interview, his death?
12. The cumulative effect of this experience on an American audience? Reflect the situations of 2024 and the presidential election year? The cumulative effect on observers outside the United States? The puzzle about American society, contemporary, the future?
13. The portrait of the characters, Sammy and his experience, his death? Joel and his intensity, hesitations? Jessie, ambitions, the dangers, the violence? The common by the two women of the families back in Missouri and Colorado oblivious of the war? Lee and her leadership?