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Civil war Writer-director Alex Garland addresses some of the biggest questions surrounding his next A24 action drama: Because right now? What are you trying to say with this film? And why exactly are Texas and California allies in their fictional conflict?
At a South by Southwest Film & TV panel the day after the film’s world premiere, the ex machina and Annihilation The filmmaker broke his silence on these issues and more. Civil war has raised his eyebrows at his momentamid a contentious election year in which President Biden has claimed “Democracy is at stake” given his opponent Donald Trump’s history of attempts to subvert election laws.
“When I worked in ex machina, [which was] When it comes to AI, people sometimes use the word “professional” or “predictive.” [to describe the film] and I always feel a little embarrassed when people say that because at the time I wrote it, there were [already] There’s a lot of debate going on about it,” Garland said when asked about the timing of the film. “I think that all the issues in [Civil War] They have been part of a huge public debate for years and years. These debates have been growing in volume and awareness, but none of it is secret or unknown to almost anyone. I thought that everyone understands these terms and, at that moment, I felt compelled to write about it. If you remember when I wrote this in June four years ago, there was an election coming up and we are dealing with Covid – the same conversations as now. Identical. So that’s where it came from.”
Garland added that the film is not specifically intended to be a criticism of the United States. “America’s divisions are mirrored almost precisely in many countries around the world,” the British filmmaker said. “In the case of the United States, there is an additional danger given its power and importance in the world. The United States has an internal concept in its exceptionalism that means it feels immune to some types of problems. One of the things that history shows us is that no one is immune. Nobody is exceptional. And if we don’t apply rationality, decency and consideration to these problems, anywhere, they can get out of control… I’m not trying to localize [these problems] For the United States, that would be objectively incorrect. I can take you back home [to Britain] and I can show you the same things that happen in my country. But the implications here are much greater.”
Garland added that the mass availability of weapons in the United States was not necessarily a risk factor for civil war (although weapons are used extensively in the film). “Any country can disintegrate into civil war, whether there are weapons floating around or not,” she said. “Some civil wars were carried out with machetes and they still managed to kill a million people.”
At one point, Garland noted quite passionately that Civil war is trying to create a conversation about the broader political divide that vilifies the other side; turning rhetoric into an ethical debate makes it easier to see others as evil, and once someone is deemed morally wrong, their opponents can justify all sorts of extreme measures to stop them.
“Why do we talk and not listen?” she asked. “We have lost trust in the media and politicians. And some in the media are wonderful and some politicians are wonderful, on both sides of the divide. I have a political position and I have good friends on the other side of that political divide. Honestly, I’m not trying to be cute: What’s so hard about that? Why do we close? [conversation] below? The left and the right are ideological arguments about how to govern a state. That’s all they are. They are not a right or wrong, nor a right or wrong. Which do you think is more effective? That’s all. You try one and if it doesn’t work, reject it and try again another way. That’s a process. But we have turned it into “good and bad.” We make it a moral issue, and it’s fucking idiotic and incredibly dangerous… Me personally [blame] some of this on social media. There is a person-to-person interaction that fades when it reaches a public forum.”
Garland was also asked about the vagueness of the war’s politics in his film. Civil war imagines a near-future dystopia in which the United States has been torn apart under the authoritarian rule of a three-term president (Nick Offerman). The story follows a journalist (Kirsten Dunst) and her colleagues as they make their way through hostile and divided states in the United States. However, the film avoids the typical divisions between red states and blue states (Texas and California are allies). The politics of the conflict are left almost completely unexplained, leaving the viewer with no further clues as to what led up to the battle beyond what has already been revealed in the trailers (although one of the president’s first actions was to disband the FBI, which which seems like a nod to Trump, who has called to “defund” the Office).
“Personally I think that the questions are He responded,” Garland said. “There is a fascist president who destroyed the Constitution and attacked [American] the citizens. And that is a very clear and answered statement. If one wants to think about why Texas and California could be allied and put aside their political differences, the answer would be implicit in that. So I think the answers are there, but you have to take a step forward and not wait for these things to be spoon-fed to you. Makes assumptions about the audience.
“The warnings [about the country falling apart] “They’re all there, but for some reason they don’t get any traction,” he added. “[I wondered,] ‘Is it polarization? Is it simply that we cannot absorb any information because of the position we have already adopted? Therefore, making a film that eliminates polarization.”
The public reaction to the film has been very effusive, with viewers calling it a fascinating, disturbing and masterful work of cinema (Read early reactions from audiences and critics.), while critics have so far given it an 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes (read The Hollywood Reporterrevision).
The timing of the film has been a source of debate online. “The potential danger is that [right-wing] The groups are not known for their media literacy or nuance,” wrote one reader on an American Civil War subreddit before the film’s release. SXSW premiere. “And a psychotic gang of rednecks who commit terrorism [in the film] ‘owning the freedoms’ might be an obvious criticism for us, but it could be interpreted as a role model for MAGA groups if not presented carefully.’”
Others have said that the film’s theme seems too close at the moment. “The thought of another American civil war happening today actually keeps me up at night.” wrote Another reader of the American Civil War subreddit. “This is a movie I want to stay away from. Although it is based on a political scenario very far from ours. “I just don’t want to entertain the thought of something so horrible.”
While the idea of a modern civil war may seem far-fetched, a survey 2022 by YouGov and the Economist found that 40 percent of Americans believe a new civil war is “at least somewhat likely in the next 10 years.”
Civil war It also stars Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Sonoya Mizuno. The film will be released in theaters and IMAX on April 12.
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