fatvegan

I finally got to watch Rendition. I was initially interested when it came out, and then heard more about it and figured it was probably another half-arsedly liberal film that tries to redeem the majority (generally the American people) by blaming some group (generally the US government or corporations).

But it wasn't that film at all. It was brilliant and maybe perfect. It was thoughtful, coherent and beautifully structured. The characters and script were excellent. It was wonderfully shot. There were some great lines and great insights. The case for rendition was forcefully and reasonably put forward, and it's compelling. But the case against it is also compelling.

At times, some of the US government figures seemed to exude a little too much evil, but then if they were put in a room with their real life counterparts they could scarcely compete. The likes of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld give you every sneer and twitch of the evil caricatures you get in bad films. So for a good character actor, it's a tough call as to how you play them.

I get so cross at the US. Perhaps one day I will get used to the horror of everything it does and stop being surprised and appalled at the stuff I hear and read. I have a lot of trouble fitting the US into any consistent view of the world. It has so much money and time invested in horror and it is so good at it, and yet mostly it presents as that creative, energetic and raffish nation. It's not that the US or the people there are any meaner than people are in most other countries, it is more that they liking going to other countries and being mean there. So they look much more horrible, but I think without really being more so at heart.

Were the country to vanish it might improve a lot of things around the world, but it is hardly practical nor fair to all the more gentle people who live there. Perhaps a more promising scenario is compulsory deportation of the whole nation to Mars. Or perhaps somewhere slightly further, so their Martian missiles can't reach Earth.

But even if you love the US and mostly think its tops, Rendition is a great film and worth watching for every single reason there is to watch films (except possibly fun).