DanielMark:
Two major US theatre chains say they will not show a controversial new movie that depicts the assassination of President George W Bush, while the film's distributor defended it as a thoughtful political thriller.
A third major chain said it was undecided on whether to show Death of a President.
The movie is scheduled to open in US theatres on October 27 and its backers said they are booking it into many regional venues and art houses, despite being shunned by the large chains.
The fictional film is told like a documentary that tracks the political drama behind an investigation into Bush's murder in October 2007. It has raised a ruckus because it uses digital technology to depict Bush being gunned down.
The film, which was directed by Britain's Gabriel Range, made its debut at September's Toronto International Film Festival to a barrage of media coverage. It won an award from critics and was acquired for US distribution by Newmarket Films.
It is scheduled to air on British television this week.
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The premise is remarkably simple: President Bush is assassinated in Chicago after a speech to local business leaders while a particularly large and very angry anti-Bush demonstration rages outside in the cordoned off city streets. For anyone laboring under the illusion that this film is some sort of left-wing wish fulfillment fantasy, Seeing Dick Cheney being sworn in as the 44th President of the United States should be enough to dispel those thoughts. In any case, this is a remarkably apolitical film, with depths of subtlety and twists that are as logical as they are unanticipated; possibly something that only the British have the proper distance and the finesse to pull off. This is definitely no ‘Path to 9/11', which makes it all the more shocking.
alisenjafi:
I thought this was a made for tv movie- here in the US. I am not sure what the objective of said movie is to accomplish. I am finding that that this country is losing some sense of reality , just the other day the New York Post printed as an editorial made up emails of people such as Ted Kennedy, a la Foley's. It seems that the more failures of this gov't - the Republican party- the more this kind of stuff is coming. There is more than enough fodder for movies without this. I wonder what the plot is or is this it. I usually avoid American films because they suck, and many are just rip off of foreign movies.
DanielMark:
I am not sure what the objective of said movie is to accomplish.
Director: Gabriel Range Country: United Kingdom Year: 2006
Director Gabriel Range’s 2003 project The Day Britain Stopped – which asked what might happen if Britain’s transportation grid was suddenly halted – was his first experiment with this style. He assembles a vast array of media, manipulating and subtly altering it to act as a continuous background illustration of falsified history – and then employs the conventional, after-the-fact style of History Television and its ilk as narration.
But it’s a long leap from Britain’s trains to a gunned-down Commander-in-Chief. Range is up to the task: collaborating with some of the finest special effects wizards in the world, he inserts his characters seamlessly into existing footage. His narrative is also airtight. Cautionary tales are too often flights of fancy; as they push the envelope of credibility, the lessons gleaned from dark speculation become somehow tarnished. Not here. Every moment is completely believable, every comment is somehow appropriate – to the point of chilling, horrifying certainty.
As one might expect, Range is ultimately interested in addressing today’s political issues through the lens of the future. Xenophobia, the hidden costs of war and the nature of civil liberties in a hyper-media age all come under the microscope. The film is never a personal attack on Bush; Range simply seeks to explore the potential consequences that might follow from the President’s policies and actions.
It is the very technique of D.O.A.P., finally, that poses the most haunting questions of all. Not only do we feel the authenticity of mass media imagery slipping away, but Range suggests that his manipulation is merely a more radical example of what we encounter every day.
Lwood:
I hate to burst anyones bubble, but this is hardly an original idea, its just better marketing. A couple of years ago Nothing So Strange ( click on trailer) Came out as a sort of experiment in Open source moviemaking..they used a storyline about the assasination of Bill Gates which got the project alot of publicity..( you simply MUST watch the trailer in the link,, it just never gets old..) The Bush film raised a couple of Eyebrows at the Toronto film fest , usually followed by "Isnt this a ripoff of that Bill Gates Movie a few years ago?" Fake Documentaries have been poping up since Blair Witch Project, and they invariablly suck. The sole exception in my Opinion, was 'Best In Show".... "and to think, in some countries these dogs are eaten.." Id rather see something about say, the Trial of Osama Bin Laden .. but who the hell would you get to play the part??