Michael Winterbottom: The '00s
The Claim
24 Hour Party People
In This World (March 4/04)
In This World is an odd hybrid of fiction and non-fiction, featuring a cast comprised mostly of amateur actors. It's hard to tell what's real and what isn't, and because director Michael Winterbottom's shot the film using digital cameras, there's a definite sense of immediacy in terms of what's happening on screen. The simple storyline follows two Pakistani men - Jamal (Jamal Udin Torabi) and Enayat (Enayatullah) - as they attempt to make their way to England via not-exactly-legal means. The two pass through countries such as Iran and Turkey, meeting different people along the way and trying their darndest to avoid deportation. According to the film's press notes, the majority of In This World was improvised - while the two central performers were caught genuinely reacting to the vastly different surroundings encountered on their journey. It's that aspect of the film that works best, as it's hard not to root for this pair to succeed (when they're deported from one country, for example, there's a distinct sense of anger towards the immigration officer). But Winterbottom's roving attention span winds up hurting the film, particularly when he introduces another family on a similar trek. Not enough time is spent on them for us to care one way or the other about their efforts, and it's hard not to wish that Winterbottom had remained focused on Jamal and Enayat. Likewise, the use of digital photography proves to be both a positive and a negative - it's great that Winterbottom is able to show us all these unusual places, but the darker sequences are virtually incoherent (this is particularly true of scenes on a mountain at night and in a cramped boat). Still, the film remains fairly compelling throughout, making it worth a look.
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Code 46
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9 Songs
A Cock and Bull Story
The Road to Guantanamo (June 20/06)
Though Michael Winterbottom is undeniably one of the most prolific filmmakers of his generation - The Road to Guantanamo marks his seventh effort in six years - his output is generally as uneven as it is plentiful. And while the director has never quite made a flat-out bad movie, his filmography is chock full of maddeningly erratic works such as The Claim and Code 46. With The Road to Guantanamo, Winterbottom - working for the first time with a co-director - delivers a disturbing, often unpleasant film that certainly succeeds in provoking an emotional response from the viewer. Based on a true story, The Road to Guantanamo follows four British friends as they travel to Pakistan to attend the wedding of one of their own. While there, they inexplicably decide to take a day trip into neighboring Afghanistan and arrive just as the United States has begun bombing the country. After being rounded up as suspected Taliban fighters by the Northern Alliance, the three survivors (the fourth disappears and is never seen again) are taken into custody by American soldiers and shipped off to Guantanamo - where they are systematically tortured and beaten for over two years. Co-directors Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross employ the same sort of cinema verite, shot-on-digital vibe that was prevalent in Winterbottom's In This World, though The Road to Guantanamo instantly establishes itself as a far more urgent and engaging piece of work. This is despite the fact that none of the characters are developed beyond their most superficial attributes, as Winterbottom and Whitecross waste little time in thrusting the four hapless victims right into the thick of their perilous situation. That a good portion of the dialogue is rendered intelligible due to some seriously heavy accents certainly doesn't help matters, nor does the confusion surrounding several early plot points (ie why are the guys even in Afghanistan?) That being said, there's no denying the effectiveness of Winterbottom and Whitecross' harsh portrayal of life within the Gitmo prison camp. The methods employed by the trio's captors certainly fall under the category of cruel and unusual punishment, as the prisoners are forced to endure various forms of torture (ie they're chained to the floor of a tiny room while death metal blares). The Road to Guantanamo is far from an easy watch - the movie is often depressing and thoroughly unpleasant - but one suspects that that is precisely the point.
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A Mighty Heart (June 17/07)
Based on the infamous Daniel Pearl case, A Mighty Heart casts Angelina Jolie as Pearl's devoted wife Mariane - with the bulk of the film following her efforts to track him down after he goes missing in Pakistan. There's certainly no mistaking A Mighty Heart for anything other than a Michael Winterbottom effort, as the movie possesses precisely the sort of jittery, documentary-esque vibe that one has come to expect from the filmmaker. But unlike, say, In This World, A Mighty Heart manages to hold the interest of even the most politically apathetic viewer - primarily thanks to the emotionally devastating and flat-out compelling nature of Mariane's story (ie though we know how the movie has to end, there's still a palpable undercurrent of suspense running through the proceedings). One ultimately can't help but sympathize with the woman; Jolie's stunning, absolutely convincing performance certainly cements this feeling, and it's very likely that this marks the apex of her career. And although the film's midsection does become just a little too bogged down in the technical details of Daniel's search - ie the various agencies, both American and foreign, must contend with instances of bureaucratic red tape - A Mighty Heart is, in the end, an undeniably affecting look at an exceedingly familiar story.
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