Film Review: The Lord of War
There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That's one firearm for every twelve people on the planet. The only question is: How do we arm the other 11?
And so begins "The Lord of War," a film following the exploits of an up-and-comer in the world of illegal arms trafficking. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol ("Gattaca" "The Truman Show") and starring Nicolas Cage, this is the best political film since "The Contender."
I was hooked by the end of the most amazing title sequence I've ever seen on film. With Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth playing in the background, you see the life of a single bullet up close and personal, from its creation and inspection through packaging and shipping, until it is finally loaded and fired through the forehead of a 10-year kid holding an AK-47. From that point you know this film will pull no punches.
Cage plays Yuri Orlov, the son of Ukranian immigrants who finally realizes the way to a good life outside of Little Odessa is through the merchandising of murder. While rationalizing at every turn, Orlov proudly claims to sell guns to every army but the Salvation Army. He never chooses sides, even claiming his reasoning for not selling to Osama bin Laden came not from any moral standing, but from the fact bin Laden kept bouncing his checks.
This lack of morality will ultimately become the thrust of the film. While Cage attempts to keep on with business as usual, he is faced at different points by a rival arms dealer (Iam Holm) who feels it necessary to pick and choose amongst his clients and sell only to those groups he feels are fighting for just reasons, a trophy wife (Bridget Moynahan) who tries to hide her head in the sand, his brother and former partner (a fantastic performance by Jared Leto) who makes the mistake of realizing their merchandise is designed to kill people, Liberian dictator (Oz's Eammon Walker) who wants to step up his purchases from Yuri and the lone Interpol agent (Ethan Hawke) who can't be bribed by Orlov and doggedly pursues Yuri to the ends of the Earth.
This is a fabulous work of military and political satire, in the vein of "Catch-22" and "Buffalo Soldiers." We see Orlov attend arms fairs complete with camoflague bikini-clad, gun-toting models. As his AK-47's are being fired he hears the cha-chings of a cash register. Yuri ignores the first steps of his infant son to watch the televised fall of the Soviet Union, effectively leaving a big For Sale sign on the entirety of the Soviet arms cache.
The film is marked by its strong performances, particulary those of Leto, Walker, Holm and Hawke. Bridget Moynahan, beautiful though she may be, doesn't really do it for me as an actress. Cage was pretty decent. It is not his best, but I'm having trouble picturing another actor in the role.
The action is scary real. The violence of the title sequence is only the start of death in this film. Be warned. This is a very violent film and many of the shooting victims are the children of these developing nations. That sadly, is less satirical and far more truthful.
That change in tone, from satire to commentary takes place within Yuri's world as he is more and more often faced with the ramifications of his "don't choose sides" mentality. We will see him lose his family, his wife and son and potentially his fortune and freedom as his character seems to get closer and closer to falling off the edge.
Ultimately however, the point Yuri makes to himself and anyone who might listen speakes to the necessity of men like him in the world, and perhaps more importantly, the usefulness of men like him to the most powerful decision makers in the world. Yuri points out it is the United States who is the largest trafficker of arms in the world, and many of its sales go unrecorded, made through the gun-runners of the world when it is not practical for the weapons to have American military or political fingerprints on them.
The film is also backed by a very good sountrack. In addion to Buffalo Springfield, the film features songs from Portishead, the fabulous Mazzy Star, Grace Jones, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Jeff Buckley and Louis Armstrong.
I can't recommend this film enough. Never before has the ridiculousness war, weapons and American foreign policy been so perfectly depicted in what is largely a fictional film. Niccol claims to have loosely based his screenplay on real life events and gun-runners. I can't doubt that as much of this is too crazy to be made up.
Yeah...don't know how to end this properly...so go see the film. It will grab your attention and keep you on the edge of your seat.
And so begins "The Lord of War," a film following the exploits of an up-and-comer in the world of illegal arms trafficking. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol ("Gattaca" "The Truman Show") and starring Nicolas Cage, this is the best political film since "The Contender."
I was hooked by the end of the most amazing title sequence I've ever seen on film. With Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth playing in the background, you see the life of a single bullet up close and personal, from its creation and inspection through packaging and shipping, until it is finally loaded and fired through the forehead of a 10-year kid holding an AK-47. From that point you know this film will pull no punches.
Cage plays Yuri Orlov, the son of Ukranian immigrants who finally realizes the way to a good life outside of Little Odessa is through the merchandising of murder. While rationalizing at every turn, Orlov proudly claims to sell guns to every army but the Salvation Army. He never chooses sides, even claiming his reasoning for not selling to Osama bin Laden came not from any moral standing, but from the fact bin Laden kept bouncing his checks.
This lack of morality will ultimately become the thrust of the film. While Cage attempts to keep on with business as usual, he is faced at different points by a rival arms dealer (Iam Holm) who feels it necessary to pick and choose amongst his clients and sell only to those groups he feels are fighting for just reasons, a trophy wife (Bridget Moynahan) who tries to hide her head in the sand, his brother and former partner (a fantastic performance by Jared Leto) who makes the mistake of realizing their merchandise is designed to kill people, Liberian dictator (Oz's Eammon Walker) who wants to step up his purchases from Yuri and the lone Interpol agent (Ethan Hawke) who can't be bribed by Orlov and doggedly pursues Yuri to the ends of the Earth.
This is a fabulous work of military and political satire, in the vein of "Catch-22" and "Buffalo Soldiers." We see Orlov attend arms fairs complete with camoflague bikini-clad, gun-toting models. As his AK-47's are being fired he hears the cha-chings of a cash register. Yuri ignores the first steps of his infant son to watch the televised fall of the Soviet Union, effectively leaving a big For Sale sign on the entirety of the Soviet arms cache.
The film is marked by its strong performances, particulary those of Leto, Walker, Holm and Hawke. Bridget Moynahan, beautiful though she may be, doesn't really do it for me as an actress. Cage was pretty decent. It is not his best, but I'm having trouble picturing another actor in the role.
The action is scary real. The violence of the title sequence is only the start of death in this film. Be warned. This is a very violent film and many of the shooting victims are the children of these developing nations. That sadly, is less satirical and far more truthful.
That change in tone, from satire to commentary takes place within Yuri's world as he is more and more often faced with the ramifications of his "don't choose sides" mentality. We will see him lose his family, his wife and son and potentially his fortune and freedom as his character seems to get closer and closer to falling off the edge.
Ultimately however, the point Yuri makes to himself and anyone who might listen speakes to the necessity of men like him in the world, and perhaps more importantly, the usefulness of men like him to the most powerful decision makers in the world. Yuri points out it is the United States who is the largest trafficker of arms in the world, and many of its sales go unrecorded, made through the gun-runners of the world when it is not practical for the weapons to have American military or political fingerprints on them.
The film is also backed by a very good sountrack. In addion to Buffalo Springfield, the film features songs from Portishead, the fabulous Mazzy Star, Grace Jones, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Jeff Buckley and Louis Armstrong.
I can't recommend this film enough. Never before has the ridiculousness war, weapons and American foreign policy been so perfectly depicted in what is largely a fictional film. Niccol claims to have loosely based his screenplay on real life events and gun-runners. I can't doubt that as much of this is too crazy to be made up.
Yeah...don't know how to end this properly...so go see the film. It will grab your attention and keep you on the edge of your seat.
posted by The Crazy Leftist at 3:06 PM
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