I pity you if all you got from the movie was that it's solely about War Journalism. Yes, it was one of the main themes but there's more to it. In some movies, the choreography of the scenes speaks louder than the dialogue. IMO, this was one of those movies.
Civil War | Discussion Thread | A24 (4/24/2024, Dir/Writer. Alex Garland, starring Kirsten Dunst)
- Thread starter Deltron
- Start date
Yes, and war journalism was the perfect lens to tell the story especially if they didn't want to stir too much controversy by delving into the political side of things. Plus good war journalists have to be a bit impartial to do their job.
We get all of that but it’s hard to try to on the one hand convey this overarching message to your audience on how terrible war is yet make the entire plot around an apathetic lead character. The two things are in conflict with each other and make the first two acts a little boring. Diving into what caused the war and the politics around that could have definitely helped the audience invest more into the story that Kirsten seemingly couldn’t be bothered with.
gldnone913
Integrity and Consistency
To me, this was a dark movie. Sadly, as an American, I've had a false sense of security. Seeing those scenes in rural areas with the folks all down bad...the attack on DC...it was rough. One of the things I took away was that the destroyed buildings and countryside looked like war torn Ukraine or some shyt
Another takeaway was that it was hard to tell "good" from "bad". Everyone was commiting atrocities
I'd watch it again, but it was tough. It's only a few people that keep the country from going down a similar path
Folks just don't put effort in picking up subtexts or refuse to acknowledge any possible themes or symbolisms that aren't spoonfed to them
The entire plot isn't around Kirsten's character tho. It's moreso the comparison between her, her partner and the young, new journalist girl. How they both react to different scenarios is a contrast to how different people may react based on experience. Wagner Moura's character too.
Wagner's character = Labor of love, Adrenaline junkie
Kirsten's character = Dutifulness, Pure objectivity, Cold
Cailee's character = Naïveté, Eagerness
I think Wagner Moura is major enough to put in the title, OP 
She’s clearly the protagonist of the film it literally gravitates around her and her journey with her colleagues
That’s still circling the plot around her, and without her those other people don’t matter. Everybody is pretty apathetic about the grotesque nature of war except for the young girl as a matter of fact. Look at the attitude of the Asian dudes when we first encounter them. Do they look like they are taking this shyt serious or are grappling with the gravity of the situation, there's a disconnect with these characters.. The attitude of the main group and protagonist contradicts what you are saying the audience should be thinking about regarding the main theme of this movie and that’s the problem.
The way Lee’s crew excluding the young girl (whos literally just a regular citizen not a professional) reacts to this environment is such a niche thing because 99% of people aren’t war grizzled combat photographers and even then I think it’s a stretch to say all experienced journalists would have the disinterested attitude that Lee drug through 80% of the film. The old man called this out with her and said she's having an existential crisis because she's moving around feeling as if all of what they're doing doesn't matter anyways...it's just poor execution to use her as the lead and center of the whole movie thats supposedly some cautionary war tale.
Whole crew = apathetic no regard for the consequences of war until it finally hits them on personal level which makes them appear pretty self absorbed and uninteresting tbh.
That's typically how media folks are supposed to be
I'm guessing you're not a fan of apathetic characters that you can't "root for"
Personally, I just saw the crew as a viewing lens for the environment of the Civil War 2 America. I was more interested in the situations, places and people they were running into than the characters themselves. That's probably why we see it different.
What are we rooting for? We don't even know if the President is justified or who's on the right side of the issue. The producers robbed us as audience members to even make that determination because they give us no real backstory thus no stakes. The way it plays out now is that we have these fame hungry unsympathetic reporters on a mission to have their big clout moment and we're following them along the way. It's sterile storytelling IMO. There's no stakes at play because why do or should we even care if they get their clout moment or not..That's typically how media folks are supposed to be
I'm guessing you're not a fan of apathetic characters that you can't "root for"
Personally, I just saw the crew as a viewing lens for the environment of the Civil War 2 America. I was more interested in the situations, places and people they were running into than the characters themselves. That's probably why we see it different.
I was rooting for fukkery and I got it
We care because it's the President of the United StatesThere's no stakes at play because why do or should we even care if they get their clout moment or not..
What more motivation could you want? A revenge plot cause one of the President's soldiers killed their kid?
A romantic plot where Kirsten secretly wants to marry and escape with the president
Or some dramatic bullshyt where the president knows the location of their captive parents and they have to get to them before they run out of their cancer medication
What does this mean "its the president"... We don't even know anything about this nikka...we don't even know bros name...lol.. They went out of their way to let us know he's not important by giving no details yet we're supposed to care about whats going on with him? Huh?... We don't know why he's in the predicament that he's in what justification he's working under what the politics around the state of of country are.... Just nothing the president is written essentially as a random NPC...what are the stakes the movie builds to inform the audience about why we should care about him in this world.I was rooting for fukkery and I got it
We care because it's the President of the United States
Any of that would have been more interesting and a better plot device than a road trip flick about a desensitized burnt out picture taker and her kid sisterWhat more motivation could you want? A revenge plot cause one of the President's soldiers killed their kid?
A romantic plot where Kirsten secretly wants to marry and escape with the president
Or some dramatic bullshyt where the president knows the location of their captive parents and they have to get to them before they run out of their cancer medication
Any of that would have been more interesting and a better plot device than a road trip flick about a desensitized burnt out picture taker and her kid sister
From the Jerrod Carmichael "Rothaniel" thread....
You wanna be emotionally retched by personal issues
I understand your distaste now
This is just wrong. Him being the president in itself tells us that's he's important. And he himself IS the main plot. Why do we need to know his blood type and dog's name to csre about him?
He's in the predicament because he split the country up and went into civil war!
It's meant to be ambiguous to an extent, but they feed us enough information to get the gist.
The President can only be an NPC to the viewer if you go your way to dismiss the character because you're not happy with the information (or lack of) given to you.
The stakes for the audience are that we don't know if they will make it to him before the WF kills him and we're curious about what he will say in his final interview
Poetical Poltergeist
Precise and cold hearted
What do you think Trump's quote would have been?
Maybe a plot that didn't include these journalists period. Or maybe a journalist who joined the rebel force infiltrating DC. Kinda like the last act we saw but much more of that instead of said road trip plot.I was rooting for fukkery and I got it
We care because it's the President of the United States
What more motivation could you want? A revenge plot cause one of the President's soldiers killed their kid?
A romantic plot where Kirsten secretly wants to marry and escape with the president
Or some dramatic bullshyt where the president knows the location of their captive parents and they have to get to them before they run out of their cancer medication
So 1917