For movies like "Word of War," this is a powerful moment, as other measures of press freedom and democracy seem to be under attack worldwide. There are few more powerful illustrations in recent historical illustrations compared to Anna Politkovskaya’s case. Probably in revenge, she was assassinated twenty years ago - Vladimir Putin's birthday.
Politkovskaya undoubtedly deserves the dramatic treatment that is appreciated by "Words of War" which lists Sean Penn as its executive producer. However, the British production plays Maxine Peake in the central role, with a lofty intention earning more points than artistic inspiration or original influence. It's a beautiful pedestrian biopic directed by British television veteran James Strong, rather than elevating Eric Poppen's cliché script. While the theme is convincing, one hopes that one day Politkovskaya will get a stronger, less formulaic screen processing. Scrolling Images is currently distributing the feature in the US theater.
Starting with the necessary fate, the film introduces Peake's middle-aged Anna to the 2004 hostage crisis, where she suffered from poisoning. Her plane returned to Moscow, but loved ones had to drive her out of a hospital after realizing that her safety was at risk. Five years ago we found she had become a journalist and columnist for the independent (i.e., non-state-controlled) newspaper Novaya Gazeta, a report that Mikhail Gorbachev found after the Soviet Union broke up. In super oligarchs and public welfare institutions, her nose smells the truth of scandals, such as an orphanage who is eager to get enough funds.
Nevertheless, Anna's notoriety was restricted until editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov (Ciaran Hinds) agreed to let her conduct ground coverage in Chechnya, and so far the new conflict with Russian forces has been observed only through lenses of government propaganda. Her first trip to the war zone was shocking, but offered little insight. However, on her second visit, she put on military oversight and accepted a local guide (Fady El-Sayed for Anzor), who promised to show her what was really going on. Anna was increasingly shocked by the despair of civilians, the conditions for being bombed, and their atrocities were shocked with them. Eventually, she was taken to the site of an unmarked grave, covering an area of more than 150 to massacre Chechnya.
Anna's accusation article has a direct negative impact. Her husband, Jason Isaac, was fired from his high-profile broadcasting job. Their adult children (Harry Lawtey and Naomi Battrick) are worried about her recklessness. Anonymous death threats, obvious surveillance and warnings from secret police representatives (Ian Hart) were quick to visit. But Anna's calories applied to the Kremlin, attracting attention from key institutions such as the UN Security Council. When Chechnya Islamic Separatist Rebels took over 900 hostage holders of the Dubrovka Theatre in Moscow in October 2002, they asked Anna to act as a negotiating intermediary.
This painful plot is awful for many people due to the tactics of Russian security services, which politicians consider betrayal strategies, which in itself can easily sustain the entire film. Here, it powers the kind of kit that can provide suspense for the drama that inspires facts. But Strong's work is mainly in the small screen series and doesn't really take the opportunity. The scripts previously produced by writer Poppen were modest genre efforts.
It is understandable that the need for a two-hour narrative should need to be simplified. But “Words of War” (ends with a closing note authorized by the politician family or anyone else depicted here) often feels like a serious and universal approach to a single character. Its nose conversation often boils down to “Damn Anna, are you so ecstatic and uncompromising?!” Spend too much time on dull, repetitive family dynamics.
Despite Peake's best efforts, her heroine is a one-dimensional character that corrects justice, which seems to be a very English prototype. Only Chechen characters can move any accent. Elsewhere, the prevalent high teaa voice tone and lack of obvious Russian flavor (neither helped or helped by shooting at Latvian locations) adds further to what we are watching similar to what the BBC makes.
The results are strange and convincing, although inevitably arousing conscience. Since the events depicted here, an estimated 1,500 journalists worldwide have killed the long end of the montage. The message barely helps, but instead moves the audience. But, like this beautiful, respectful but untrue respect, its delivery is a rote tenor of a luxury charity fundraising campaign.