Starring: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Taylor Swift, Robert De Niro, Anya Taylor-Joy
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Runtime: 134 mins. Reviewed in Oct 2022
Reviewer: Peter W Sheehan
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Three close friends witness a murder, and are framed for it. The film explores the relationship of those witnesses; and the plot has wide political significance.
This American period-mystery film relates to events that perhaps took place in the 1930s and the years that follow. Director Russell intentionally gives the film a broad, comic-historical sweep. It follows three friends – Burt, a white doctor (Bale); Valerie, a white nurse (Robbie); and Harold a black legal attorney (Washington). All three are witnesses to a murder. Taylor Swift plays the grieving daughter of the man who is murdered. The title of the film anticipates a lively series of events associated with a city (Amsterdam) famous for the vibrancy of its culture and its quirky character in which almost anything can happen, and frequently does. The film’s plot is a blend of fact and fiction, and tells a complex story that is loosely based on factual events.
The film refers to secrets in American history that are built around shocking happenings at war-time. It is directed in dark style, and mixes drama and history with humour, and pointedly projects trust as a rare commodity in the environment that the film creates. A lot happens in this film that is associated with people who can’t be trusted, or relied on to do what they should.
The film was written, produced and directed by Russell, and employs a large ensemble cast of impressive actors, headed by Bale, Robbie, and Washington. The film’s imagery reflects the work of Emmanuel Lubezki, a Mexican cinematographer of distinction, who was responsible for the powerful and evocative imagery of Terrence Malik’s, The Tree of Life (2011).
Falsely accused of the killing, the three friends seek the truth behind the gruesome crime that others think they have committed. They ask for help from their friends, and eventually track down a man (De Niro), who gives them answers that help them understand their predicament, but which also put his own life at risk. De Niro is the instrument to viewer-understanding of the Fascist plot that aimed to supply ‘proper’ leadership to the world.
The film depicts an environment which doesn’t lend itself at all well to personal optimism or trust. Among the group of three, the film explores the meaning of optimism that is impervious to all contradiction, and this theme draws special significance from the fact that the trio formed a pact to protect each other, “no matter what”, after surviving World War II traumas together. The film deals heavily with counter-espionage activities that followed World War II, when everyone seemed desperate – foe and friend alike – to avoid another war like the one that had just occurred.
The film itself has aroused a considerable amount of controversy. Its ending is visually and conceptually confronting, and there are known accusations of inappropriate conduct associated with persons who were involved in the production of the movie.
This is a startling film that captures the period atmosphere of what it presents in fine (and at times, gruesome) detail, and it has an impressive cast of distinguished actors to illustrate the force of its story-telling. The director keeps the film’s tension vibrantly alive, and Russell develops the plot’s historical and cultural sweep innovatively. The unsettling events that the film depicts are perhaps recorded somewhere in written history, but the movie illustrates the potential force of Fascism in a challenging, and threatening way.
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