LORD OF WAR
US, 2005, 122 minutes, Colour.
Nicolas Cage, Jared Leto, Ethan Hawke, Bridget Moynihan, Ian Holm.
Directed by Andrew Niccol.
The illegal arms trade. Most audiences might not have the interest or the patience to watch a documentary chronicling the history of illegal arms dealing, especially since the fall of the Soviet Union with the sudden supply of Kalashnikovs and rockets and all kinds of hardware not wanted for Cold War threats or use. On the other hand, audiences might be just willing to learn and to learn to protest if they were shown a feature film with action, drama, comedy and some cynicism and starred Nicolas Cage. And, here it is, Lord of War.
Most reviewers quote the eminently quotable opening. Here it is again. As the camera tracks over thousands of expended bullet cases and focuses on Yuri (Nicolas Cage), he looks into the lens and tells us that in our world one out of every twelve people has a gun. He then poses what he says is the most important question as a consequence of this, ‘how do we arm the other eleven?’ With this dose of cynicism, we are off and running.
This is a cleverly written film, from New Zealander Andrew Niccol who directed Gattaca and has shown that he is a critic of technology run rampant with his script for The Truman Show and his writing and directing of the satire on the visual images where even a computerised image can become an Oscar-winning star and celebrity, Simone.
Cage and Jared Leto portray two Ukrainian migrants in the Coney Island area of Manhattan, the Little Odessa of the Russian Mafia. Yuri tries out a gun deal and it succeeds. Allegedly keeping within the letter of the law, he then travels the world for years (from the 1980s to the present), involved in every civil war and uprising, taking advantage of stocks of disposable weapons, finally arriving in Africa for the uprisings and massacres of the 1990s on. His last job is in Liberia.
Along the way, he keeps involving his brother. He also picks up a trophy bride, a model (Brigid Moynahan) who has no idea of his other life until the relentless agent (Ethan Hawke) turns up
And she has to face her husband’s lies and make a moral decision.
The film ends, of course, with some alarming statistics. For gun lobbies, this may just seem sensationalising a necessary situation. For those who campaign for peace, Lord of War will be an entertainment that cuts two ways: an enjoyable action drama but a dismaying reminder of the reality of the illegal arms trade and those who benefit by it financially as well as in using the weapons against fellow human beings (so often by ‘liberation’ forces).
1.The impact of the film and its message? Arms dealers? The reality at the end of the 20th century into the 21st? The continuity of wars around the world? Trouble spots? Money? Morality?
2.The 80s, Little Odessa and the neighbourhood, the restaurant, the streets? The contrast with the international world of Berlin, Lebanon, Sierra Leone, Liberia, the episodes at sea? The musical score?
3.Yuri’s voice-over, the continuous narrative? The irony? Cynical? Questioning of morality? The prologue, the tracking shot across the bullets, Yuri surveying them, his comment about arming the eleven without arms? Commenting on every man having his price – but Valentine wanting Glory? His confiding everything to the audience?
4.The family background, Ukraine, the Soviet Union, the escape, posing as Jewish? The father and his clothes, going to temple, dietary regulations? The criticism of his wife? Vitaly and Yuri, as brothers, there seeming to be no hope for the future in Little Odessa? Yuri going to the hotel, comments about gangsters being whacked, the massacre, the insight when he saw the bullets, finding his vocation, going to the temple, the Jewish connection, sales? His decision to employ Vitaly?
5.Going to the Berlin arms show, the gala atmosphere, the fair, ironies? Meeting Simeon, Yuri and his ambitions, Simeon and his disdain? Simeon’s own career as an arms dealer? With the CIA? Partisan?
6.The various sales, working with Vitaly? Going to Lebanon, the shooting experience? On the ship, the pursuit by Agent Valentine, changing the ship’s name? Describing the various ploys to stay clear of the agents? Disguises, connections for intelligence around the world, the dealers, the dangers? The comment about never getting shot with one’s own merchandise?
7.The amoral life, sex, drugs, Vitaly and his becoming an addict? The lifestyle? Vitaly and his travelling away from home, being found with the drugs, Yuri destroying them? Vitaly desperate and snorting from the table? The return to New York, his rehabilitation?
8.Yuri and his comments about Ava, from childhood, in the pageant, booking the hotel, the photo shoot, his discussions with her, courting her, taking her in the plane, marrying her, the wedding? Her character? Believing Yuri, enjoying the lifestyle, the house, her family, her son? Her ordinary life, contrasting with Yuri’s lies, risks? Her stating that she did not want lies?
9.Agent Valentine, relentless, chasing, incorruptible, wanting the glory of putting down arms dealers? And saving lives?
10.1991, Gorbachev, Yuri delighted, kissing the television set? Not noticing his son walking for the first time? Discussions with his father, advice? Vitaly and his girlfriends?
11.Russia, Dimitri, his drinking, the atmosphere of the end of the cold war, the availability of arms, like a bazaar, Yuri exploiting this? Dealing with the Russians?
12.Simeon, his falling on hard times, Yuri saying there was no place for politics? The amoral approach, examining the Kalashnikovs, praising them and their use? Exploiting them and exporting them? The experience of Russia in the 1990s?
13.Confrontations with Agent Valentine, issues of law, loopholes?
14.The wars in Africa, the gunrunners, the delight for the dealers? Liberia, its wars, history? The ruthless president and his son, their recklessness? Their entourages, the women? Yuri and his comment about sex and AIDS? The bargaining, the explanations, the title Lord of War for warlord?
15.Ava, at home, selling her painting – Yuri buying it? Her love for Yuri? Vitaly and his life as a mess?
16.The problems, truces in Africa, the agents searching the house, the family garbage, Ava and her concern, Yuri’s reassurances?
17.Liberia, the planes, their being forced down onto the highway, ruthlessly going through the people, the snatching of the baby from the path of the plane? Arms for Sierra Leone? Yuri giving the guns to the kids, able to explain himself to Valentine?
18.Andre, the girls, the ruthlessness, the execution of Simeon? Yuri and his wandering, nightmares and seeing Simeon?
19.Valentine’s visit to Ava, Yuri’s arguments with Ava, the difference between legality and being wrong? Yuri and his promise to change, Leonard Cohen’s Alleluia, Ava following Yuri and discovering his stash, his son’s birthday for the code for unlocking the gate? A catalogue of carnage?
20.Yuri’s return to Liberia, Andre, comment on the elections, the dispute in Florida – as a bad example for Africans?
21.Vitaly, the crisis, seeing the tents, his comments on the morality, exploding the guns, being mowed down? Yuri’s moral dilemma?
22.Ava leaving, Valentine talking to Yuri, the final arrangements – friends in high places and his being released?
23.Continuing his gunrunning, the 21st century and the Middle East?
24.The final information and statistics, the film based on fact – and the alarming reality of war and exploitative gunrunners?
