Lord of War
A few months ago, I saw the trailer of ‘Lord of War‘. It is a movie directed by Andrew Nichol (who? I must say I have never heard of him before), starring Nicholas Cage, Jared Leto and Bridget Moynahan. When I saw the trailer, I thought to myself "This looks like an interesting movie, I must catch it when it arrives at the cinemas."
And last Sunday, I did. The movie holds a very interesting premise, the life story of a lone arms dealer, from the 80s till present day. It tells the story of Yuri Orlov (Nicholas Cage), a Ukrainian immigrant living in the USA. Very early on the movie, he decides that arms dealing is his calling, but rather than selling guns to gangs in America, he set his sights upon the global stage; the wars of the world. He sells weapons to everyone; communists, jihadis, African warlords and even to Afghans during their war against his former countrymen, the Soviets. "I sell guns to every army except the Salvation Army," he claims. This melding of fiction (the character Yuri Orlov is probably fictitious) and real-world conflicts (the global events portrayed, like the war in Liberia and the fall of the Soviet Union) makes for very interesting viewing.
Lord of War is a very engaging movie. It can be rather predictable at stages, but a movie can be predictable while still being enjoyable. This largely is in part due to the movie’s ‘protogonist’, Yuri Orlov. He is savvy and resourceful, and even if one does not entirely agree with his profession, one can’t help but like him. Even if later on in his life, Yuri becomes so detached from morality that he does not care to who he sells his guns to or what his buyers does with it, he still retains a touch of humanity, so much so that deep in your heart, you cheer for him. Nicholas Cage is one of those actors that, while not having the widest of acting ranges, is nevertheless always a joy to watch. Just imagine Con Air, The Rock or Face Off without him, and you’ll know what I mean.
Jared Leto plays Yuri’s brother, Vitaly, the black sheep of the Orlov family, he is an addicted cocaine sniffer, yet he still retains very strong moral views on his brother’s business. Bridget Moynahen is Eva Fontaine, Yuri’s dream girl and later his wife, who remains oblivious to her husbands source of wealth. Lastly, Ethan Hawke (alah, Uma Thurman’s ex-husband) plays Jack Valentine, an Interpol agent who relentlessly pursues Yuri Orlov throughout the world in order to catch him. These characters serve their purpose in the story, yet ultimately they are not as interesting as Yuri himself.
Apart from the entertainment value of the movie, it undeniably has a message. Sure, there is no subtlety in conveying that message, yet it still got me thinking. Ever since the dawn of time, man has, again and again, slaughtered each other with whatever they get their hands on. Guns are only a method of killing. Someone still has to pull the trigger. The invention of gunpowder only made it that much easier to kill someone from a distance. In any case, modern warfare nowadays are very much ruled by firearms. With so many freedom fights, wars, revolution, jihad and crusades going on these days, demands for weaponry is at an all time high. A prudent arms dealer could get very rich, exploiting such business. Morality? Well, you know what they say, "Guns don’t kill people, people kill people." Yuri Orlov only sold guns. He did not kill anyone. The people whom he sold to are so intent on their wars that should they not be able to secure any firearms, they would probably try and kill each other using a kitchen knife. War is hell, true, but war is also business for some people, and most wars involve exploitation of some kind. In spite of the body count, someone, somewhere will benefit from a freedom fight, a revolution, a jihad, a ‘war on terrorism’ etc, either politically, socially or financially. A sad and sorry state of affairs, yet such is the reality of the world today.
At the very end, the movie has this to say; that the biggest arms suppliers of the world are the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Russia, France and China. The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
