Month: August 2011

By Joe Bendel. It is a provocative, ‘what if’ question. Had the United States forcefully backed the British government during the Suez Crisis, how would history be different? Indeed, the Soviet backed Nasser’s media victory is often considered a precipitating factor contributing to the overthrow of the pro-western Hashemite monarchy in Iraq, but everything turned out okay there in the long run, right? Instead America undercut her closest ally to curry favor with the UN and the independent Arab States. How well did that work, again? A watershed moment for the collective British psyche, the Suez Crisis supplies the backdrop for the newsroom drama The Hour, which premieres on BBC America this Wednesday as the inaugural selection of the network’s Dramaville showcase of British dramatic limited series, hosted by Luther’s Idris Elba.

Bel Rowley and longtime platonic friend Freddie Lyon consider themselves the future of British journalism, wasted in the BBC’s newsreel department. Unfortunately, Lyon is a bit too tightly wound for his own good. When the call comes to work on the network’s new weekly newsmagazine, The Hour, Rowley gets the producer job he covets. Nearly chucking away his career out of resentment, Lyon reluctantly accepts an unglamorous position as the home affairs correspondent. He might be brilliant, but his personal cold war with Hector Madden, the show’s presenter, complicates Rowley’s position. Much like William Hurt in Broadcast News, he is not gifted at thinking on his feet during an interview segment. However, the married Madden’s ambitions are considerable and they include Rowley.

Initially, the show-within-the-show flounders, but when the Suez ignites, they hit their stride. Suddenly questions of censorship are raised when the Eden government starts invoking the gag rule for issues under debate in parliament. To that end, Angus McCain, an Eden advisor with a rather vague portfolio, starts haunting the BBC offices, creeping out the staff with his oiliness. Shocking as it might sound, it turns out many of the journalists have their own agendas as well.

For most of the first three episodes, The Hour hints at a conspiracy within the Eden government, possibly involving the murder of Ruth Elms, Lyon’s childhood friend of aristocratic lineage. However, two events occur in episode four that cloud the show’s ideological implications, making it richer and more complex: the Soviets invade Hungary and we learn they also have a mole operating within the BBC. Just what sort of Cold War morality play The Hour will ultimately become is not at all certain at the shows mid-point, but that ambiguity is not necessarily a bad thing.

Many critics might be tempted to dub the show Mad Men meets Smiley’s People. Indeed, the show has a well crafted 1950’s period look and there is certainly a good deal of alcohol being consumed. The moody jazz-influence score also nicely heightens the noir atmosphere. Continue reading The BBC Plays Itself: LFM Reviews The Hour

By Joe Bendel. In early August, 2008, the Russian military invaded the free and democratic country of Georgia, leaving death and destruction in its wake. They are still there, occupying the so-called breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a fact the media has yet to notice. Indeed, the journalistic establishment did its best to look the other way, except for a hardy band of foreign correspondents who risked life and limb to cover the Russian atrocities. Finnish filmmaker Renny Harlin (yes, that Renny Harlin) dramatizes Georgia’s struggle to preserve its sovereign integrity through their lenses in 5 Days of War, which opens this Friday in New York.

Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili was elected President as a Western-oriented reformer, the exact opposite of Russian PM Vladimir Putin. So committed to strengthening relations with America and NATO, Georgia contributed military forces to Operation Iraqi Freedom. For war reporter Thomas Anders, it is a good thing they did. As 5 Days opens, Capt. Rezo Avaliani’s unit arrives just in the nick of time to save him from a terrorist ambush, creating a bond of friendship between the two men. As Russia starts massing troops on the border, the psychologically wounded Anders heads back into the field, where he will encounter the good Captain again.

President Saakashvili and his American advisor scramble to rally world support, but the media is not interested. When CNN bothers to cover the story (yes, the network is mentioned by name), they only present the Russian government’s spin. Even more frustrating, legitimate journalists on the ground, like Anders and his hard drinking colleague Laurens “Dutchman” Roemer, are not able to place their dramatic stories of Russian war crimes (unflinchingly illustrated throughout the film), because their outlets simply do not care. Unfortunately, the Olympics will soon start, crowding beleaguered Georgia out of the media spotlight.

It will come as a shock to many that Renny Harlin had such a serious and timely film in him. Yet, it is important to remember the Cliffhanger director’s Finnish roots. Indeed, Saakashvili explicitly references Finland’s resistance to Soviet invaders in his climatic address to the nation. The director clearly has a passion for the story, but his action movie roots also serve the material quite well.

Frankly, it is a bit of a misnomer to call 5 Days a war film, because it was never a fair fight. However, Harlin and cinematographer Checco Varese (a former news cameraman who saw action in Bosnia and Chechnya) convey a vivid sense of what it is like to have the Russian war machine bearing down on you. It is a scarily convincing sensation, never really captured on film so effectively before.

A surprisingly good physical match for Saakashvili, Andy Garcia invests the film with real dignity and gravitas. In fact, his delivery of the President’s stirring national address might just get you a little choked up. Indeed, the Georgian characters are all quite credible and compelling, particularly Johnathon Schaech as the resourceful Capt. Avaliani.

Shrewdly, Val Kilmer plays to his new degenerate out-of-shape image as the cynical Dutchman. Rade Sherbedgia, Kilmer’s former co-star from The Saint, notches another memorable heavy role, playing Col. Demidov with more nuance than the Russians deserve. If there is a weak spot in the cast it is Rupert Friend, who only digs into his character just so far, in between dodging bullets and getting the stuffing kicked out of him. Still, he is serviceable enough to keep the film on track and firing on all cylinders.

Tightly helmed by Harlin, 5 Days is absolutely riveting as cinema when considered only according to strict formalist criteria, but of course there is much more to take into account. One suspects it was originally conceived with an even darker slap-in-the-face ending. Regardless, the final film is blisteringly angry and honest. Yet it is also inspiring, depicting a small, scrappy Eastern European nation standing up against a vastly more powerful aggressor, championing the values we advocate. Conversely, for nearly everyone working for a major media outlet, the film is a long cold glass of shame. One of the year’s best, 5 Days opens this Friday (8/19) in New York at the Angelika Film Center.

Posted on August 15th, 2011 at 11:02am.