The Art of Meddling in the film In the Loop - Movie Review Example

4 April Spinning and Muddling: The Art of Meddling in the film In the Loop (2009) Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) is the foul-mouthed aggressive Prime Minister’s Director of Communications, who just found the perfect prey to hawk on. Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), Minister for International Development, says over a radio interview that “personally, I think that war is unforeseeable” and then says at a later ambush interview that Britain might have to “climb the mountain of conflict.” He refers to the U.S. war against Iraq. The first one is an offhand remark that sets the motion of a series of spinning and muddling that governments and the media are known for. This paper reviews the black comedy of In the Loop (2009), directed by Armando Iannucci. I believe that this is a film with commendable writing and acting, combined with directing skills that satirize the dark reality and consequences of the art of meddling in contemporary international politics. The mise en scenes and editing elaborately portray the characters and the brisk and quickening plot toward war. When Tucker listens to the radio show with Foster, he is shown in a medium shot to focus on his bodily actions. His actions confirm what he is saying; he believes that Foster is a complete idiot. The mise en scene reveals cluttered desks with papers. There is coffee or tea at the table and an ash tray. A book shelf of encyclopedia is present, as well as shelves filled with other books and compiled documents. The scene captures the life of a busy man, a man busy re-arranging politicians making public mistakes. In one of the subsequent scenes, Tucker chastises Foster for another daft interview. The only three characters shown first are Tucker, Judy, and Toby, with Tucker shouting and pointing his finger at Foster. The shot transitions to a medium shot of a sorry-looking minister. Then there is sharp cut toward the livid demeanour of Tucker, as Foster says that they can “do without the ritual humiliation.” Foster says that he is simply telling the press that he is against the war, although his ambush interview shows that he is ready to go to war. The writing of the script is spotless, as it describes the quickly-turning plot and the depth, as well as shallowness, of personalities involves. Tucker calls Foster a “Nazi Julie Andrews,” which is an apt description, given that the latter was later angered by the blinds he could not control. When Tucker says that the PM asks Foster to go to Washington for a fact-finding commission on the options of Britain in case the war ensues, Foster revises his position and says he is “on the verge.” Before that, Michael Rodgers (Chris Addison), Director of Diplomacy, sends Toby Wright (Chris Addison) to help fix Foster’s radio interview mess, but he is overshadowed by the hostile Tucker, whose tirade of swearing badgers him down. Foster’s Karen Clark (Mimi Kennedy) meeting at the Foreign Office is supposed to help patch up Foster’s radio blunder. Clark is the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Diplomacy. Foster is supposed to be present, but not “relevant.” Toby talks to Foster about the Clark talk, and the latter agrees to it, even when Tucker advised against all media interviews. Liza Weld (Anna Chlumsky), aide to Karen Clark, submits a proposal about the lack of urgency of the war, which Clark brings up in the talk with other powerful individuals. Clark gets the approval of Foster who shares the same sentiments. Again, Foster makes an idiot of himself by sounding unsure, and yet saying that he “sticks” to what he says, regarding the war being “unforeseeable,” but it might be “inevitable.” The emptiness of the halls taken from a high-angle shot makes Foster, Toby, and Judy insignificantly small. The film stresses that they would soon be pawns at the U.S., where spinning and muddling is much more fast-paced and antagonistic. Indeed, Foster's fence-sitting positions implicate him in the political debate in Washington, where both hawks and doves seek to make him part of their covens. At the talks in Washington and New York, Iannucci appears to be saying that Britain's inexperienced political liberals permits themselves to be flattered and bullied into supporting whatever war America has planned for itself. Director Armando Iannucci effectively shows the spinning and muddling present in numerous governments. Linton Barwick (David Rasche), Assistant Secretary of Policy, says that he has all the facts he needs. He adds: “In the land of truth, the man with one fact is king.” Linton changes the facts about the London meeting of Clark, so that he can emphasise on what was supposed to “what was intended to have been said.” He cuts sections he does not “like.” He also creates a “Future Planning Committee,” a euphemism for his War Committee. The same goes for Tucker. His dialogue reveals his intentions: “He did not say unforeseeable. You might have heard him say that, but he did not say that. And that is a fact.” It is hilarious how he says it with conviction and adds a “fact,” even when he heard Foster say it himself. The long shot of Tucker going out, with a backdrop of a construction site, indicates that he will be “fixing” a “mess.” He adds that his aide should include that “everyone agreed on that,” which is a section he wanted, most probably about going to war. The writing is also darkly humorous and realistic. It is so real, it is quite frightening. At the U.S., Tucker wants to rehearse with Foster about saying “nothing,” at the Future Planning Committee meeting. During the same time, Liza sleeps with Toby, so that the latter would miss the “muddling” that she and Clark would do on Foster. The horrible lack of experience and gullibility of Toby and Foster are further highlighted as they bickered over Toby arriving late at a meeting and smelling like a “pissed seaside donkey.” Furthermore, when Barwick calls Miller and Clark “John and Yoko,” it asserts how he undermines the for-peace efforts of the two. But “John” wants to fight back and calls the meeting “unofficially bullsh*t,” when Barwick insists to the people that it is a Future Planning Committee and not a War Committee. The blabbers of Foster is another highlight, as he is asked to choose sides, he opts to use the senseless remark of his similarly inexperienced aide, Toby: “it’s difficult, difficult, lemon difficult.” Judy Molloy (Gina McKee), Director of Communications, might be the perfect scapegoat, but she is only sucked in by the mistakes made by Toby who leaked the news about the committee to the CNN. Lt. Gen. George Miller (James Gandolfini) is a memorable character. In a scene where he computes the available troops for the war, he does that using a child’s laptop toy. The scene is taken in a child’s room, which is quite symbolic, being that it indicates that critical war policy decisions are being made by inexperienced politicians. The mess inside this room also suggests the chaos in the U.S. and U.K. governments, two superpowers who are spinning and muddling “facts” for their own political purposes. The “meat puppet” is Foster, who is next shown sitting in front of a window, inside a first-class hotel. Furthermore, it is quite ironic when Miller talks about 12,000 American soldiers dying as part of the consequences of war. He has a tone of sarcasm, which shows his disagreement with the war, nevertheless. Still, the indifference on this remark highlights Iannucci’s view that war sacrifices the people who are not even involved in starting it. The ending is matter-of-fact. The pro-war movement gets its approval from the U.N., because of a series of fact-twisting actions from Tucker. Miller no longer resigns, because he wants to remain “in the loop,” now that the war is beginning. The voices of the PM and president of the U.S. are missing, however, making them puppets of their own cabinet members and agencies. Perhaps there should have been some focus on that regard to add another shade of realism to the movie. As a whole, the movie depicts the events and personalities that build up toward wars and the main point is that wars are idiotic, because the people behind it are idiotic or liars. Work Cited In the Loop. Dir. Armando Iannucci. Perf. Peter Capaldi, Harry Hadden-Paton, and Samantha Harrington. BBC Films, 2009. DVD. Read More