Recently, I had watched the film Lions for Lambs in my "Writing with a Public Purpose" class. The film acts as political and social commentary in regards to America's mentality on war and pride. I personally did not find much enjoyment in the film. It attempts to confront "controversial" topics with the audience, however it came across as boring and lacking depth. The film seems to villainize the American military and political structure. I felt as if the film was trying too hard to make the audience feel outraged, which sucked almost all the enjoyment out of the film for me. The film goes as far as exploiting the death of the American soldier characters (who had died attempting to defend the United States best interest) to drill the tiring lessons into the viewers heads: war is bad and the people in power are taking advantage of it's citizens. Though they are important lessons, unfortunately they were poorly displayed in the film.
I always try to get something out of every film I watch. Sadly, in this case the film had not introduced anything new or thought-provoking to myself, as a viewer.
For those looking for an interesting political-drama providing commentary of America's foreign policy, and one which might make you think, I suggest Charlie Wilson's War. A film which explains how the CIA had helped fund the Afghan people rebel the USSR's invasion, and the troubling mistakes the American politicians made in the aftermath of the operation.
Fair point on the film trying too hard. Though I like the film for provoking thinking and discussion on a number of issues, on the specific issue of the Afghanistan war and the war on terror, the film is limited. (Charlie Wilson's War is a good rec!).
ReplyDeleteI'm especially interesting in the professor-student conversation. Is it possible to make an interesting film just out of that? I kind of doubt it!