Talking about the ‘’great’ nation that America actually is, there are two sorts of films being made. Something like The Great Gatsby, which talks about the great American dream, and in contrast to this, there are films like Civil War, which show the lows of what is going on.
For years, film has been a very strong weapon regarding the social scenario, taking the place of dramas in contemporary society. And as they tend to show you the truth, it isn’t always accepted by the fans, gaining the tag of being ‘’problematic’.
There comes a question: if the mass audience isn’t accepting films like these, is there any point in making content like these?
Civil War is more than just a loose portrayal of a dystopian world and the power struggles of America.
Talking about the plot of “Civil War,” a war photographer, Lee, saves aspiring photojournalist Jessie from danger in a divided America. They journey towards D.C. for an interview with the President amidst chaos.
Along the way, they witness brutality, grow closer, and face deadly situations. Lee sacrifices herself to protect Jessie, who captures poignant moments, including the President’s downfall.
Now, films like these do make the audience uncomfortable a bit; the truth cannot be avoided. And they might suffer from the act of ban, at least in some parts of the world, but titles like these encourage other artists to raise their voices; it creates a chain reaction of change.
“The film is trying to function a bit like the reporters in the story, so it’s just showing something within a window of time,” said Garland when he was talking about his project.
“If you unpack some of the moments or some of the statements within the moments, [the political world-building is] probably less ambiguous than it might appear at first blush. But I think that’s probably actually something to do with the grammar of the way film often functions, which is to be very, very clear about everything at every moment. And because this is doing that less so, it feels like there’s an absence of something, but I’m not sure there really is an absence,” he later stated.
Talking about the importance of such films, which definitely create some major sparks down the line, Garland stated, “I’m very wary of things that I feel would shut down the conversation. So it’s not that when people have conversations, there are assertions within it; there are statements within it, but you have to be careful about how you do that in a way, particularly in something which in some respects is one-sided because a film is just giving something and then the other part of the film, the receiver of the film [the audience], is made silent by that. And I’m trying to reduce that silence.”
And this is definitely how it should go. Films like Civil War don’t really end a conversation or debate; they shouldn’t really do that. But these films should start the spark; they should make the viewers think and question.
Civil War is definitely not the first one in this category; films like A Wednesday have done the same thing in the Indian context. But a film like Civil War will definitely inspire other artists to move forward; it will make a chain of films that will question the system.