Kannonfodder

Steve McQueen has proven himself a master of the historical drama, with protagonists thrown into an unjust world and compelled to fight it at great cost. He never loses sight of the core emotional story as events unravel. Our empathy for those we might ordinarily ignore or find to be our opposites, challenge us to think carefully. How would we ourselves deal with ordeals that could be straight out of the old testament? How to deal with injustice in a world in which the institutions of justice do not serve you?

Switching from fiction to documentary I feared a parade of "talking heads" and sappy music to keep it all together. Thankfully this is no ordinary documentary. McQueen tells this complex story with great understanding of its long reaching consequences without losing sight of the humanity of these people thrown into a series of awful events. By the end the emotional punches leave you shaken but also questioning your own agency/apathy in a world where much remains unjust.

A few short 10 to 15 min segments by Vice have shown us what internet networked demonstrations look like over the past decade. Whether in Egypt, Ukraine, Venezuela, Ferguson (US) or elsewhere there is a paradoxical self-assured hopelessness against far greater forces, almost certain to win any conflict of arms. Ai expands on the theme with a 93 minute film that takes us through several stages of the protests, from peaceful beginnings to what seems like almost urban warfare versus a far stronger, and by then, meaner force of state security.

Like Vice background exposition and use of talking heads is minimized. Ai focuses on images and sound, introducing words mostly of protesters, to take us inside their thoughts and give context to what we see. As a viewer I felt the intensity of the protests, as well being witness to the minutiae of the many small in between moments that make up history. What I felt lacking was a deeper understanding of the costs incurred by the participants. What has happened to their family relationships? Their life prospects? Why did this strong urge to protest happen in this generation, and despite the hopeless situation? We see the rage, we know the freedom they want, but I as a viewer cannot escape the merciless logic of power forced onto the citizens of Hong Kong by the Chinese Communist Party. Perhaps this hope against all hope is the point.

Despite these misgivings this is a remarkable documentary on a historical event utterly surprising and predictable all at once.

In politics hindsight is 20/20. This documentary naturally cannot escape this fact but it matters little, for here we are given the role of the fly on the wall, as we follow a class of challengers to the democratic machine. This entails a focus on the emotions of this journey, from the beginning where no one cares to the end whether in defeat or victory.

A focus on the tactics of organizing a movement, or any logic on the asymmetry of struggle against these powerful incumbents, gets overshadowed by that of the personality of the characters involved. This makes for an entertaining emotional drama but one is left hungry for more details on how a campaign is won. Or lost as is the case for many of the candidates.

Still this is a decent documentary worth your time if you're interested in the zeitgeist of our moment in time, but I doubt it will have staying power. It spends too much time talking to the wishes of the democratic underdog, and not enough on the work required to win. The most interesting exception to this is when Ocasio-Cortez goes through the reasoning behind hers and her opponents election flyers. This is when we get to see the intelligence behind the charisma. More of that please!

As for those who give this one or ten stars the less said the better.