four lions
Before we start - blah spoilers blah if it really bothers you don't read this blah - and all that shit.
Unfortunately this doesn't really allow us to engage with the wannabe bombers with the exception of Omar. Instead they become slapstick characters to whom funny and often painful things happen. To me this fatally undermines the attacks at the end of the film - I think it would be far more effective if the viewer was genuinely torn between their human desire that the bombings fail, and a sympathetic hope that the characters realise their aims.It also removes some of the impact of those attacks (which are sensitively handled). It's perhaps a brave move to have the attacks happen, however bungled, but because we expect the characters to make a spectacular balls-up our focus is more on them than the innocent bystanders who are killed. This is compounded by the unavoidable fact that we aren't given any opportunity to get to know the victims. This is then further compounded by some of the victims being police and security services, who are also shown as mentally challenged, and who create some of the mayhem.
So to the strengths. By focussing primarily on the group of aspirant martyrs, who have already decided they will carry out an attack, the film doesn't need to expend energy on debates about motivation or what Islamic teaching may or may not say about violence. I said the film doesn't take the piss out of terrorism or terrorists in general. It doesn't, it takes the piss out of this particular set of incompetents, and suggests that as in any human activity the capacity for cock-up is immense. At the same time it's absolutely clear that terrorism is devastating. The bombings and their aftermath, even when Faisal accidentally blows himself up, are treated tactfully. There is no gore, no prurient poking through the debris and human remains. Even if in some cases the cause of an inadvertant explosion is comic there is nothing comic about the explosions themselves, it is clear that these are hugely destructive events.
The characters of Omar, his wife and son who are supportive of his intention to set off a bomb, and his brother, a moderate Muslim are the human and emotional core of the film. This is partly because all the other characters in the film are complete buffoons and impossible to care about , but partly because they are well performed and well written. Omar and his wife and son are more outwardly integrated into a multicultural society, showing no obvious signs of extremism. Omar's brother on the other hand does not want to be in the same room as a woman, and feels women should be under the control of men. He wears traditional clothing, and is plainly incapable of, and opposed to violence. If the idiocy of the other characters had been dialled down a little then perhaps the film might have been even better than it is. You certainly would have felt Omar's last minute attack of conscience about Waj much more strongly.
Overall I think the film handled sensitive areas very well, and mainly fell down when it came to characterisation. While much of the humour as it stands arises from the stupidity of the characters, they are so stupid they just about qualify as sitcom characters. I'd recommend you go and watch the film and enjoy yourself while you're doing it. With Chris Morris on board expectations were probably higher than they should have been, and with it being such sensitive subject matter people perhaps expected something more obviously tabloid-baiting. But for a first full length feature, for someone who's work over twenty years has been primarily in television and radio, it's better than you'd have a right to expect.
Four Lions is a funny film but there are some things you shouldn't expect from it. It isn't The Day Today or Brass Eye. It isn't satirical. It doesn't have the viciousness of Nathan Barley. It's not about the 7/7 attacks whatever the Daily Mail would like you to believe. It doesn't take the piss out of terrorism or terrorists in general. Although it ends darkly it isn't disquieting in the insidious way that Jam was.
So what is it? The trailers capture the tone of the film pretty well. They feature supposed bloopers - outtakes from repeated failed attempts to record martyrdom videos. These include one of the bombers with a box on his head to avoid showing an image, another with a tiny replica AK47, and incessant bickering between the friends. These videos top and tail the film, at the end interspersed with surveillance and news footage. There are also further attempts at martyr videos (and the group's self-documentation) throughout the film. The presence and content of these videos highlight both the strengths and weaknesses of the film.
To get them out of the way early on let's look at the two most obvious weaknesses. First, and above all, most of the characters are not just stupid, they're virtually retarded. It could be argued that idiocy is a dramatic and comic staple in film and television at least. A stupid character is able to have crackpot ideas that any normal person would reject as idiotic or impractical, but maintain the illusion that the story is character rather than plot-driven. A stupid character can forget past mistakes and betrayals. This is why characters in soaps are so irredeemably dim.
Unfortunately this doesn't really allow us to engage with the wannabe bombers with the exception of Omar. Instead they become slapstick characters to whom funny and often painful things happen. To me this fatally undermines the attacks at the end of the film - I think it would be far more effective if the viewer was genuinely torn between their human desire that the bombings fail, and a sympathetic hope that the characters realise their aims.It also removes some of the impact of those attacks (which are sensitively handled). It's perhaps a brave move to have the attacks happen, however bungled, but because we expect the characters to make a spectacular balls-up our focus is more on them than the innocent bystanders who are killed. This is compounded by the unavoidable fact that we aren't given any opportunity to get to know the victims. This is then further compounded by some of the victims being police and security services, who are also shown as mentally challenged, and who create some of the mayhem.
The second significant weakness, surprising given the attention to detail of The Day Today and Brass Eye, and the queasy visuals of Jam is the relative anonymity of the cinematography. Although there are the martyr video outtakes, the group's self-documentation, and CCTV and surveillance footage thoughout, there's not much sense of the importance of images to propaganda. After the September 11 attacks on America it became apparent that the image was an important tool. For me this is one reason why, quite apart from the far more significant human suffering they portrayed, the images that came out of Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib seemed so suicidally counterproductive.
So to the strengths. By focussing primarily on the group of aspirant martyrs, who have already decided they will carry out an attack, the film doesn't need to expend energy on debates about motivation or what Islamic teaching may or may not say about violence. I said the film doesn't take the piss out of terrorism or terrorists in general. It doesn't, it takes the piss out of this particular set of incompetents, and suggests that as in any human activity the capacity for cock-up is immense. At the same time it's absolutely clear that terrorism is devastating. The bombings and their aftermath, even when Faisal accidentally blows himself up, are treated tactfully. There is no gore, no prurient poking through the debris and human remains. Even if in some cases the cause of an inadvertant explosion is comic there is nothing comic about the explosions themselves, it is clear that these are hugely destructive events.
The characters of Omar, his wife and son who are supportive of his intention to set off a bomb, and his brother, a moderate Muslim are the human and emotional core of the film. This is partly because all the other characters in the film are complete buffoons and impossible to care about , but partly because they are well performed and well written. Omar and his wife and son are more outwardly integrated into a multicultural society, showing no obvious signs of extremism. Omar's brother on the other hand does not want to be in the same room as a woman, and feels women should be under the control of men. He wears traditional clothing, and is plainly incapable of, and opposed to violence. If the idiocy of the other characters had been dialled down a little then perhaps the film might have been even better than it is. You certainly would have felt Omar's last minute attack of conscience about Waj much more strongly.
Overall I think the film handled sensitive areas very well, and mainly fell down when it came to characterisation. While much of the humour as it stands arises from the stupidity of the characters, they are so stupid they just about qualify as sitcom characters. I'd recommend you go and watch the film and enjoy yourself while you're doing it. With Chris Morris on board expectations were probably higher than they should have been, and with it being such sensitive subject matter people perhaps expected something more obviously tabloid-baiting. But for a first full length feature, for someone who's work over twenty years has been primarily in television and radio, it's better than you'd have a right to expect.
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