Blu Ray Review: FOUR LIONS
Chris Morris is quite rightly known as the chief agent provocateur of British comedy- his body of work, including the insurpassable The Day Today and Brass Eye are filled with the kind of jet-black biting satire and socio-political commentary that could make even the more adventurous of satirists gasp. The man is also a bona-fide genius, so the opportunity to see his feature film debut-proper has been a long time coming.
Rather like his friend and former colleague Armando Ianucci did with last year's excellent In The Loop (which features as one of the previews before the feature rolls, in fact), in Four LionsMorris offers an intimately researched (near obsessive in fact) faux-documentary style comedy that often skirts the line of so-called dangerous subject matter. And much like In The Loop, the results are genuinely funny.
Die-hard The Day Today and Brass Eye fans may be left yearning for more venom in the bite of the comedy, but be careful not to confuse the film- this is Morris at his most clever. Like Jam, most of the comedy comes from his attention to detail: there are fewer sweeping generalisations than there are intricate comments on the absurdity of life and the human race's unquantifiable capacity for stupidity.
The movie is out on Blu-ray and DVD in the U.K. today. Here's our review of the disc...
Four Lions is the tale of five Muslims from Doncaster- aspiring jihadists, hell-bent on becoming martyrs for their faith, and gaining a fast-track to heaven, despite the key fact that they are farcically inept at organising even the smallest of activities (as their leader states he is having trouble getting them to stir their tea without smashing a window). The merry band of wannabes: the leader Omar (Riz Ahmed), idiotic Waj (Kavyan Novak), unstable Caucasian convert Barry (Nigel Lindsay), youngblood Hassan (Arsher Ali) and luckless Fessal (Adeel Akhtar), are rebels with a cause, but not an exact plan and without the intellectual nous to actually get anything off the ground. That is until circumstances conspire to thrust Omar and feckless Waj to the frontlines, when they head to Pakistan to a training camp and set wheels in motion that will ultimately see them gaining their early access to Heaven.
As with any project that consciously chooses such a visible and politically appropriate subject matter, in Four Lions Morris must have been faced with a weighty dilemma, whether to go for a loaded gun message or for a film of substance that doesn't take heed of its apparent obligations. It seems that Morris managed to blend both: his intricate and vast research into Sleeper Cells and that uncanny knack he has of presenting comedy that is both absurd and absurdly loaded with uncomfortable truths have combined to make a film that is knowledgeable enough and engaging enough to tell a message without trumping substance for an agenda. Crucially, Morris makes the five bombers human, and imparts their circumstances with a poignancy that belies the ease with which most others would have made them unredeemable villains.
In certain lights, Four Lions shares quite a lot with Dad's Army- the humour is certainly of the same family, if not the exact same tone and there is certainly the same blend of idiocy and cantankerousness in the characters, as well as inter-rank petty power struggles and the curious look at the juxtaposition of home and combat life. Perhaps the likeness is more obvious because of the gentler approach than Morris fans might be used to- it is only in the final sequence of the film that we see his usual inspired bluster, as the would-be bombers' worlds threaten to chaotically crash down around them, and up until then the tone is pretty restrained.
Thankfully there is no attempt to judge any characters for their religious beliefs- the Muslims aren't caricatured to personify the facets of Islam (or any other supposedly "dangerous" religion) that are frequently espoused by the inflammatory brigade at The Daily Mail as threats to our own personal and civil liberty. There is a slight comic look at the lunacy of zealous orthodoxy in religion- Omar's brother, a scholar and the eventual pun of one of the film's best jokes, is depicted as somewhat foolish when he attempts to strictly follow the letter of religious law while in Omar's house, demanding not to be in the same room as his wife- but again, the comedy is more about the morbid idiocy of individuals (he ultimately abandons his position by engaging in a water-fight with said wife).
Morris is far more concerned with sticking to his own ideological manifesto- in Four Lions, the grand plan is to show that far from the faceless foes who dwell in shadows and are ruthless, highly trained killing machines, terrorists and suicide bombers are in fact just as likely to be the inept, comically tragic wannabes of his film. The film deglamorises the myth of the suicide bomber- focusing on the mundanity of their life, and showing what happens when that ideological position crashes against the normalcy of everyday life, which goes some way to explaining why the pace isn't turned up until the final moments and why overall it is a lot less adventurous film-making than you'd have been forgiven for expecting from Mr Morris.
And, to balance the satire Morris rains on his Muslim characters, the police force (who represent the only other character group with any real presence in the film) are depicted as just as fallible as they. If the overall subject matter wasn't worrying an already raw nerve to begin with, Morris uses the final sequence to comment more overtly on the police force's inability to distinguish one Muslim from another (and there is a definite nod towards the tragedy of the Jean Charles de Menezes' death). But, again Morris isn't really trying to make a comment about how bad Islam or the institution of the police really is- he is a nihilistic satirist: he clearly believes that everyone is equally capable of idiocy and that is where the comedy of Four Lions comes from, it is after all not only a tragedy of errors, but also a tragedy of infinite stupidity.
The acting performances are all spot on- Fonejacker supremo Kavyan Novak is particularly good as the idiot sauvant of the piece: his capacity for stupidity knows no bounds and his chemistry with Riz Ahmed's Omar drives the majority of the film's heart, especially when you realise that the relationship represented an allegory for the horrendously inhuman process of militant brain-washing. The scene in which Omar chooses ideology over that relationship (briefly) is one of the high-points of the film certainly and proves that while Morris is content with his nihilistic satirist agenda he can still make relevant points about specific wider ideas.
Elsewhere, Adeel Akhtar and Arsher Ali offer more than capable support as the unfortunate stooges who are probably more sinned against than sinning, but not equipped with the faculties to resist. But it is in Nigel Lindsay's lunatic performance as indoctrinated convert Barry that the film scores it biggest hit: he is the perfect personification of the fallible militant, laughably undone by his own contradictions and exhibiting the kind of pick-and-mix scripture attitude that is the most infuriating thing about most of the vocal preachers of any agenda I have encountered. His comic rage is a wonder to behold as well.
I have to say that I loved it- while my viewing partner almost immediately fell asleep, concerned that she wouldn't "get" the film's humour, I was pretty gripped by the characters, even when the idiot jokes centred on Waj outstayed their welcome a little (his recurrent use of the motivational phrase Rubber Dinghy Rapids is a redeeming factor throughout in his defence) and loved the humour when it shone through. If there is to be a criticism, it is that when the film isn't aiming for the funny bones, it can get a little flat, but that doesn't stop me from already wanting to watch it again. And that is the best indicator of a film doing something right.
Quality
Pretty outstanding throughout really- the images are clean and sharp and facial detail is perfect- no sign of heavy handed tinkering anywhere.
Extras
Behind the Scenes Featurette Lost Boys documentary Interview with Mo Ali Unused Scenes Bradford Film Festival Interview: featuring Cast InterviewFour Lions is available on Blu Ray and DVD from Monday 30th August.