|
|
 |
Situation (The)
R0 - Australia - Accent Review written by and copyright: Stevie McCleary & Noor Razzak (2nd March 2009). |
|
The Film
 "The Situation" is a bleak and laboured film that tries to achieve much in the sense of really depicting its view of the Iraqi ‘conflict’ at the same time as adding romantic thriller elements, and it actually achieves…only a small part of that. It is the easy part; the part where we realise war is kind of sucky. Yet "The Situation" is otherwise dull and intense past the need to be. There is really very little to say about it, which has unfortunately occurred for me at the beginning of the review and is coupled with your realisation that there’s nothing for me to say of importance about it to come. Awkward. Philip Haas directs, via handheld, the story that starts after some American soldiers throw an Iraqi boy off a bridge. We follow the inter-linked tales of an American journalist (Connie Neilson), an Intelligence Officer (Damian Lewis) who she is ending a relationship with, and an Iraqi photographer (Mido Hamada) who begins to get her attention. A fictional story based on a real ongoing conflict with a romantic plot thrown in. Things elevate when a friend of Neilson’s is killed and leads to her character being kidnapped. Now the ex and the sort-of-current must assist each other in tracking her down. On the back of the DVD case someone from 'The Village Voice' states “Philip Haas’s deftly paced, well-written, and brilliantly infuriating Iraq War thriller is not only the strongest of recent geopolitical hotspot flicks but one that has been designed for maximum agitation.” Funny, I had no idea “boring” was spelt that way. And do not be mistaken to think I believe not well made. It is. The acting is taut and the direction is precise. But that is all that is there. Perhaps I am desensitised to war movies now, perhaps the Iraqi War has gone on too long and this just feels like more of the same (despite being the first movie, according to the press, to feature the conflict) that I’ve already endured. As with several films that grace my television I find myself wondering – why? Why did they make this? What gave this film life over many other deserving features? When dealing with a film that isn’t bad yet feels like it lacks a point, delivering the impact of any daytime flick, you wonder how they sold the film to the marketing department/executives in the first place. I can see how bad horror and remakes get greenlit. I can see how ‘tween’ films get fast tracked and so forth. But when watching something like this I have to assume the director was already quite ‘matey’ with the production guys or that he had a contract to spawn another film for a company and this was the result. Still, maybe I missed the point. Potentially this is as a documentary, presenting a slice of life in a war torn country as they go about their business. One wonders then why it fails at every attempt to be engaging. Scene after scene occurs and you’re left wondering why it was in the script in the first place. We jump from pointless scene setters all the way through with the only morsel of interest coming in at the climax…and even that is a letdown in every sense. Still, I feel most awkward as the acting is all top quality, if a bit “lion face, lemon face” and it surely looks the part as it travels through this journey. But as I’ve felt in several films over the years, it lacks heart. It lacks soul. This may be no person’s fault; this may just be one of those things that happen. Much like the plot. Much like the war.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 this anamorphic transfer is fairly average, sharpness tends to fluctuate, there's a fair amount of grain and noise and it's not just relegated to the black levels. Detail looks good, colours seem solid as well and skin tones appear natural. The transfer is also clean, free of dirt or specks, which is what we can expect from recent films. Overall the image looks closer to a made-for-TV film than a theatrical production shot on film, but in saying that it's serviceable enough for this story.
Audio
The film's audio is presented in English/Arabic Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. For the segments of the film which are in Arabic there are forced subtitles. The audio is fairly lacking, while dialogue is clear and music cues come across well there's really nothing else going for it. It's not particularly immersive, there's little ambient noise to immerse the viewer and it's not all that engaging. The track is pretty much bare-bones-no-frills.
Extras
Accent has included a collection of theatrical trailers on this release, below is a closer look. The film's original theatrical trailer is featured and runs for 2 minutes 17 seconds. There are also a series of bonus trailers for: - "Keane" which runs for 2 minutes 15 seconds. - "Pusher" which runs for 1 minutes 39 seconds. - "Day On Fire" which runs for 1 minute 47 seconds. - "Looking For Fidel" which runs for 2 minutes 42 seconds. - "Persona Non Grata" which runs for 1 minute 29 seconds.
Overall
|
|||||
|