War Story (2014)
Lee is a world-weary American woman who arrives in an Italian city. Her tangles with hotel staff, incessant smoking and her disregard of the persistently ringing telephone hint at her volatility brewing beneath the surface. Between fitful naps, she wanders the streets, snapping pictures of refugees as if her camera were both weapon and olive branch. Struggling to confront her demons, Lee resolves to help a beautiful young woman in need.
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Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
One of my favorite actresses, Catherine Keener, stars as a war photographer who recently endured a brutal detainment in Libya who holes up in Sicily to come to terms with her ordeal. All this happens not far from the home of her former lover and mentor (Ben Kingsley). Soon she crosses paths with a Tunisian migrant in need of an abortion and safe passage to France, who bears a striking resemblance to a Libyan girl she photographed just before her capture.As much as I wanted to like this film, I just was booooorrrrd outta my gord up in here! Like I said, Catherine is one of my all-time favs, but her performance wasn't enough to save this schnooze-fest. Good performances all around, just needed a little more in the way of storyline I'd say-?? Marginal thumbs down...
I think the director was attempting to complete a movie with the fewest possible camera moves. It was drudgery at the highest level...what a terrible effort. And what the heck was the storyline??? Acting was marginal. The history leading to the events we saw was poorly explained. Too much foreign language spoken. The camera shots were endless with nothing changing in them. The written summary must have been gleaned from reading the book because there wasn't any of that explanation in the movie. I wonder if this was the directors first movie? That would explain everything. I'm not even clear on what countries they were in, and what nationalities they all were.
I am very surprised to see that the film has such a low score (4,9 at the time this review is written) and gets negative to mediocre reviews from most critics and viewers.Yes, this is not an enjoyable film. But it is so for a reason! It's the story of a traumatized war photographer, told from her point of view. And the way the camera tells the story stays definitely true to this character's confusion, denial and pain.The highlights are Keener's performance and the beautifully minimalist score by Dave Eggar and Amy Lee.I'm sure Jackson knew that this style of filmmaking is highly unpopular, especially in the blockbuster-driven and feel-good-indie-film-filled US. I give him additional kudos for deciding to go for it anyway.
I think this film deserves more than the stars it has accrued. I believe this score is just due to lack of reviews (by anyone with a brain...ha ha) . It's VERY Bleak but compelling, believable and well acted. This film is looks beautiful and the musical score is gorgeous. Catherine Keener is brilliantly cast in the role of this wasted woman who still has the tenacity to try. Light Saturday night movie with popcorn this is not. From the title you might think there will be conflict and violence but you'll be disappointed if that's what you are looking for. This film is dramatic and poignant and very thought provoking. The themes of post traumatic stress, depression and friendship were very well portrayed for me.