I saw Oliver Stone's biographical movie about George W Bush yesterday.
I am not particularly a Stone fan but I am never disappointed by his movies. There is deep understanding, empathy and humanity in his movies when it comes to the treatment of some of his characters, and when he is justified to do so. He approaches W with a light touch without discarding the dramatic dimension of his presidency and the decision to go to war in Iraq. He was able to convey the simplistic and intimate world of W and his internal struggles and how it was exploited by the neo-cons and the evangelicals. There is one person that comes really damaged from this movie and it is Condi Rice. She is portrayed as a follower, a Bush appeaser, and a woman without substance. She comes across as a 100% result of affirmative action, something she must be against and from which she profited without having any special merit.
Overall, it is good entertainement and a glance at the disastrous Bush presidency which is a mix of religious politics, Missionary ideology, entitlement, and special interests in the US.
On both sides of the divide created by Bush, the people of Iraq, Palestine, the Middle East, and American citizen have paid dearly for this dramatic lightness in US foreign policy which has become the hallmark of George W Bush's presidency.
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Since March 29th 2006
4 comments:
I don't know about Oliver Stone...I haven't seen one of his films in a theater since the 1990s, when I saw "Any Given Sunday," which was one of the worst films I have ever seen. I did think "Platoon" and "Wall Street" were really good but that was 20 years ago...I think he has issues with women and megalomaniacal fantasies. I haven't seen "W" but to be honest I don't feel like giving it a chance...especially not if he picks on Condi Rice when it's Dick Cheney who was the worst.
Elizabeth,
'Any given sunday' was one of his worst, you're right here. As for W, there are so many characters around Bush that deserve each one a movie so the focus was on Bush and the family in general. Cheney comes across as cynical and manipulative and is well played by Richard Dreyfus. Powell's character as a dissenter is more developped than others.
I did not know whether to go and see it. It just came out in Brussels and with your recommandation, I will. We just had an Arab film festival and guess who was among the sponsors or collaborators ? None other than Radio Judaica and the Ben Gurion Circle. There are quite valid jewish organisations in Brussels but these two are not. Said input reflected on the choice of the films shown.
Annie,
Radio Judaica and the Ben Gurion Circle sponsoring the Arab festival is the best way to censor the Arab voice in Europe. I don't blame them but I blame the organisers. This is willful intellectual and moral blindness.
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