IronWatcher’s review published on Letterboxd:
Watched in the cinema (60th visit in 2024)
"The job of a journalist is to document, not to ask questions."
This is how tough journalist Lee (Kirsten Dunst) explains to newcomer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) how the job of a war photographer works. In Alex Garland's latest film, everything revolves around war reporting and he would like to provoke with "Civil War", but not in the way you might think. The film is intended as a kind of provocation. Not provocation to fight ... Actually to think and talk. So the question is: has Alex Garland managed to make you think with his film? And the answer is a resounding yes.
Alex Garland's aim was not to create an ordinary war film that relies solely on showmanship or patriotism, and he deliberately refrained from dramatizing scenes of violence. The blood doesn't flow in torrents and nobody gets up again and again after being riddled with bullets. Those who are hit simply fall down and are dead and there is nothing romantic or beautiful about it. There is also no hero like Rambo running around shooting everyone up and if there is a hero at all in this movie, then it is the press itself and not any particular person. It is neither the serene Lee, nor the old hand Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) or the inexperienced Jessie, but all the journalists together who symbolize our basic rights. Freedom of the press is an essential fundamental right that is supposed to protect us from corrupt governments. If there was no independent reporting, there would be no democracy and without democracy we would all wear the same hairstyles and pay homage to the supreme dictator.
Nevertheless, the press has an incredible amount of power and therefore bears a lot of responsibility, and there is always the danger that this power will be abused because every journalist always brings their own judgment to the table. This is precisely why it is so remarkable that Alex Garland chooses to ensure that his characters maintain their neutrality. With resolute matter-of-factness, Lee takes photos of people who are about to be shot by the extremists at any moment without batting an eyelid. She judges nothing, but simply documents for posterity. Business as usual. After all, war is war.
But it's hard to stop someone who is basically just like you. Jessie is determined to photograph real life and how could Lee blame her if she used to be the same. Most war films focus heavily on soldiers, so it is all the more important to show that there are even more people who are severely traumatized by the events of war and these are the journalists. They document the truth because they can't close their eyes to it, just like some of the other characters in this movie. The contrast is of course huge when the press team drives through areas where there is shooting and a few miles later an elderly lady calmly walks her dog or a saleswoman stands in a store reading a book as if nothing had happened. As if there wasn't destruction and chaos everywhere in the country.
The scenes in which Lee and her team drive through the deserted streets with the destroyed, abandoned vehicles are most reminiscent of "28 Days Later" with their apocalyptic flair. Alex Garland has definitely remained true to his style. Overall, he likes to work with contrasts: he shows something beautiful and then something terrible shortly afterwards or lets loud and then quiet sounds resound. There is something so peaceful about Lee resting her head on the green lawn for a brief moment. She looks almost dreamy and it also seems so surreal when the journalists in Winter Wonderland are greeted by a waving snowman to the tune of Jingle Bells and then later a pit full of corpses is shown as a contrast to these peaceful moments.
When, after a few quiet moments, a shot suddenly rings out, you involuntarily flinch. No explanation is given as to who is shooting at whom and why. "Someone is trying to kill us and we want to kill them." The war premise has probably never been summarized so simply. This is it. Armed with a camera, you take hundreds of pictures and, if you're lucky, you might get that one special shot that will stay with you forever.
There is one question that you can't help but ask yourself all the time in connection with these trophy pictures: are the journalists actually tired of life or why do they put their lives in danger so recklessly? But Alex Garland wouldn't be Alex Garland if he didn't answer the question through one of his characters: "I've never felt so scared and so alive at the same time!" Basically, the whole story is not so far removed from a possible reality, because during the war in Iraq, the soldiers were also accompanied by journalists to document the events and, as divided as people are in the USA at the moment, "Civil War" could, God forbid, indeed be a possible version of the future.
Alex Garland's film aims to draw attention to the dangers of extremism and fascism. This is a truly noble intention, but whether it actually succeeds remains to be seen. One thing is certain: despite the fictional plot, "Civil War" appears frighteningly realistic and definitely serves as a warning to the whole world. If we don't stop closing our eyes to the truth, then everything that happens in "Civil War" is our future. So many people believe that the wars going on right now don't affect them personally and stay out of it, but if everyone follows suit, like some of the characters in Civil War, then as trite as it may sound, "the bad guys win" and what would our world look like if it was ruled by extremists? Would it still be a nice place to live?