America is in the grip of a civil war. Secessionist states are attempting to overthrow the government. Despite the risks, Lee Smith, a renowned photojournalist, and three followers make their way to Washington in the hope of securing an exclusive interview with the controversial president.
The USA is more divided than ever. Leaving out expository details, Alex Garland conjures up the
incongruous association of Texas and California setting out to storm Capitol Hill under an authoritarian regime. The Commander-in-Chief, about whom little is known, is in his third term. He has dismantled the FBI, targeted the media, and bombed civilians. New Yorkers are thirsty, electricity is running out, and the dollar is plummeting. In the midst of this political chaos, the entire country has been thrown into turmoil.
Abandoned cars on access roads, tents for refugee camps, looters hanging in a car wash tunnel, open-air mass graves. In this journey through hell, there are still timeless villages where you can walk your dog quietly… under the eyes of snipers. The nightmarish visions, often striking, are those of the post-apocalyptic films or series that thrill our screens. Only the enemy is neither alien nor zombie; it comes from within: ‘What kind of Americans are you?’ becomes a question of life and death.
As privileged witnesses, reporters are eager to inform, hunting for the scoop and the perfect photo. In the car labelled “Press”, generations rub shoulders, combining the wisdom of the elderly with the immaturity of the youngest. In the middle, Lee gradually loses faith in his job, while his partner Joël is all about the action. In the dark of the night, the shooting stars of the bright rockets are for him the promise of fireworks. The archetypal characters lack depth and struggle to elicit empathy. Whether you press the button on a camera or pull the trigger of a gun, the word is the same: ‘shoot’.
What remains is the horror of this raw, realistic and direct violence, unleashed without warning. The fall of the White House becomes a Bin Laden-style hunt. We jump at every impact, anticipating the final, extremely cold handover. A taste of sour blood stirs in the stomach and reaches the throat. Fiction often predicts the worst. Let’s hope it is wrong today.
Civil War by Alex Garland can be (re)discovered on DVD at the Library:
Call number: 973 CIV
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