Lord of War
If you are looking for arguments to disapprove wars and promote peace, I would suggest you watch Lord of War.
When I found the movie at the catalogue, I remembered a Tom’s post and decided to take it.
Yuri (Nicolas Cage) is a Ukrainian emigree who lives in New York and who decided to sell guns with his brother (братья по оружя — Brothers for arms) to every kind of fighters around the world, not caring of lost lives, buying every kind of weapons from Ukrainians and selling to rebels and goverments, only wanting to spread his influence.
Selling guns is like selling vacuum cleaners. You make calls, pound the pavement, take orders. I was an equal opportunity merchant of death. I supplied every army but the Salvation Army. I sold Israeli-made Uzi’s to Muslims. I sold communist-made bullets to fascists. I even shipped cargo to Afghanistan when they were fighting my fellow Soviets.
I liked the movie, not only for the topic and the point of view, but also for the artistic side. Nice pictures, very expressive; excellent music; the shocking images are correct and have a deep meaning; let’s not talk of casting: they used a jocker called Nicolas Cage. However, I only wonder how did Yuri call his wife from Odessa at night, while she was sleeping in New York, at night too. Well, this small mistake doesn’t affect the greatness of the movie.
I have a feeling it wasn’t exactly what comrade Lenin had in mind when he advocated the redistribution of wealth. But I wasn’t the only one offering a crash course in capitalism.
Capture made with MPlayer and Gimp
My rate: 9/10
Some quotes
- You think I just sell guns, don’t you? I don’t. I take sides.
- But in the Iran-Iraq war, you sold guns to both sides.
- Did you ever consider that I wanted both sides to lose? Bullets change governments far surer than votes. You’re in the wrong place, my young friend. This is no place for amateurs.
- Always remember, son, there’s something above you.
- Sure, Dad. A $40,000 crystal chandelier.
The Soviets put the gun on a coin. Mozambique put it on their flag. Since the end of the Cold War, the Kalashnikov has become the Russian people’s greatest export. After that comes vodka, caviar and suicidal novelists.
Monrovia itself was like being on another planet. Planet Monrovia. From the temperature, it was obviously a planet close to the sun. I rarely saw another white man and I never left town alone. Outside town was the edge of hell. I didn’t want to even gaze into it.
Some revolutions blow over before the guns even get there. There’s nothing more expensive for an arms dealer than peace.
There are only two tragedies in life: One is not getting what you want. The other is getting it.
I do rub shoulders with some of the most vile, sadistic men calling themselves leaders today. But some of those man are the enemies of your enemies. And while the biggest arms dealer in the world is your boss, the President of the United States, who ships more merchandise in a day than I do in a year, sometimes it’s embarrassing to have his fingerprints on the guns. Sometimes he needs a freelancer like me to supply forces he can’t be seen supplying. So, call me evil. But unfortunately for you, I’m necessary evil.
October 24th, 2007 at 9:07 am
ghj