Conspiracy 9/11

I also saw this film at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and I nearly walked out, but couldn't not watch, it was so bad. The story was so unbelievable, I felt no real sympathy for the protagonist who is arrogant and cheats on his girlfriend, the storyline that eventually unfolds between Jake and Tina is completely predictable, the footage looks horrible. I should have walked out when the director himself announced before the screening that it was conceived, written, cast, shot, and edited in less than 100 days. Believe me, it shows.

I have no problem with directors putting themselves in their own films - many greats have done it. But it is quite another thing when you're making a film that is arguably propaganda (and yes, my politics are very much to the left) and less satire and you cast yourself as the leader of an underground political action group. Not only that, but you look several times directly into the camera and deliver a barrage of your own personal politics. That's just bad film-making.

Don't waste your time on this film. If you want propaganda, watch Michael Moore. At least his work is documentary and you know what you're getting, and it's not veiled ever so thinly in narrative. If you want satire, watch Dr. Strangelove or Wag The Dog. Maybe Mr. Marshall should, too.

Director Stephen Marshall is best known for his documentaries, including some that are Sundance winners. This is his first foray into fictional mainstream films, and it is a promising effort. I am mystified by some of the negativity I read here; granted, Marshall is no Costa-Gravas (yet), but I doubt even Costa-Gravas was Costa-Gravas in his first movie. Working under extreme deadline pressures with a cast of mostly unknowns and a limited budget, he has exemplified making lemonade out of lemons. Since many of his principals are non-actors, the fact that he gets good performances from them speaks well of his directing skills. He also has a painter's eye: there is one scene with Rosario Dawson and her fictional son, shot at sunset as they pretend to fly like the pigeons soaring around them, that is starkly beautiful. The street scenes pulse with life, no doubt because they are real. There are some amusing vignettes on the street that add piquancy to the mix. The modestly named rapper "Immortal Technique" has some interesting scenes, but for some puzzling reason appears to be identifying himself as black, when he is clearly hispanic. "Technique" also rips off the Brahms third symphony (third movement, trust me on this) for his rap, but no shoutouts to Johannes can be found in the credits to enhance his street-cred. I would like to see more character development, but given Marshall's background in documentaries this is not surprising. The motivation of some of the characters was hazy also, and anyone who has been to Times Square knows the big TV screens there are mute. But so what? These are minor issues, and he will learn. I saw the final cut at Sundance in January, and there was a large and enthusiastic crowd. Marshall spoke to us afterward, and came across very well. I look forward to more from this most interesting young director.

Writer/director Steve Marshall may have thought himself in trouble when the big name star of his low budget film got arrested doing a shoot during the real protests in New York. Certainly he had to rework his film to accommodate the loss of Dawson but I think he quickly got over it and was thankful for it happening – particularly for all the press the film got at the time. I know I watched this film because it stuck in my head for that reason and I imagine that many others heard about it and saw it as a result of her arrest. And, from Marshall's point of view it is a blessing because there is very little else about the film that makes it memorable or something to be talked about.

The film appears to have been conceived in good faith as an attempt to capture the spirit of the activists and deliver their message in a film. However in reality the film has a very thin plot that it spends a lot of time on and leaves most of the commentary down to asides that are sound-bites no different from those you have heard before. If you agree with what they are saying then I guess maybe you can ignore the quality of the film and embrace this content but that will only appeal to a limited audience and even then. Many have criticised the quality of the filming but I can forgive this to a point given the low budget and style of making. Some of the set shots are really clunky and obvious though and little about Marshall as director is of interest. The real problem is in the material though which doesn't have the complexity and realism to draw the viewer into the characters or the discussion. This is a real shame considering how many viewers (including myself) will agree with the broad sentiments of the activists (if not their methods) but yet it just clunks around on the screen in an annoying way.

The blame must more or less be totally put at the feet of Marshall because he is responsible for the majority of the film. His low budget matches his low ambitions in regards his cinematography and plotting and the end result is a rather lacklustre film that looks cheap and feels thrown together. The cast are mixed but generally don't have the material to help. Even if Dawson got the cover and the headlines, Crooker takes the main character – you will probably not have heard of him as an actor because he is frankly not very good. He doesn't feel real and has no screen presence – not helped by the nature of filming either. Dawson tries to have chemistry with him but it doesn't really work. She is good once (on the fire escape) but she has no character, no material and has been put in a hairstyle meant to make us think "street" but only made me think "wow, someone has worked out a way to make the stunning Rosario Dawson look ugly". Outside of these two the supporting cast are mixed – the activists generally convince but other set performances are generally weak. It was a nice idea to have the political rapper Immortal Technique involved but again this doesn't work within the context of the film.

This Revolution is a nice idea and got fame from Dawson's arrest but yet it doesn't make the most of this potential. The ugly visuals I can sort of understand but the plot is messy, the characters poorly drawn and the message is clunked down in an obvious manner that is a lot less effective than it would have been if it had been delivered with intelligence, insight and debate. Of course it has been made for a target audience who loved it before they saw it, but for the casual viewer this is a pretty average film.

I saw this movie at the Munich film-festival. Due to the nature of film-festivals I did not know very much about what I was going to see since the info on all the movies shown is very limited. From the first moments on the rapid and rough style of Marshall's picture grabbed me by the throat and held my interest until the end. THIS REVOLUTION has a feel of a modern reality show like the ones we see on MTV. Like it or not this is current and pretty "Zeitgeist"! This should appeal especially to younger audiences. It certainly would be a great thing if younger people watched this film. Marshall has a lot to address and delivers something that regular Hollywood fails to accomplish: He really changes your perspective on things. His film gets you thinking, especially after leaving the theater. Since Marshall wrote, shot, edited and produced the whole thing in the very short period of 100 days I am even more astonished how well it came out. Marshall delivers a clear and classic 3 act structure! That works well of course but Marshall - coming from a documentary background - also succeeds in filling in a lot of documentary like bits and pieces which launch a lot of social background at the viewer. Furthermore everybody gets a good idea of how divided America really is at the moment. If you take nothing at all from this film this still won't escape you. To me as a German this is particularly interesting. OK, the love story sometimes slows the movie down, the main character is not always sympathetic. But considering all the achievements Marshall made in this film and how big the impact of the movie was on me, I consider this minor flaws. This is a modern, controversial, exiting, stylish and very original movie that grows and grows and grows on me after seeing it. And that is certainly a good thing to say about a movie. Go see it. Especially when you don't share the same political view...it could be very inspiring! And if it annoys you...even better! Controversy means movement, and movement means change! For me as a German I can say that I am very happy to see a controversial film like this coming out of America these days. We all can look forward to more feature films from Marshall!

This Revolution is a remarkably smart, relevant and timely take on media and personal responsibility in an era of the Patriot Act and fear of terrorism. Shot in a somewhat gritty style, the cinematography and editing offers a front line perspective in a beautiful and effective way. Footage from the actual Republican National Convention is disturbing and effective. It is able to humanize certain aspects of the media. Nate Crooker, as the character Jake Cassevetes, has the ability to take the audience through the ethical challenges that those in the media must face when reporting on highly charged and controversial topics. There is a fantastic dynamic among the cast and the emotions ring true.