it All begins in a my on a oglamoröst kampanjkontor: “Everyone knows who won. But not all know how”, says Benedict Cumberbatchs demonic chief strategist at the opening of the ”Brexit: the uncivil war”. In the up-tv-film, he plays Dominic Cummings, one of the chefsarkitekterna behind the Leavekampanj that caused the greatest political earthquake in Britain’s modern history.
In the film’s dystopian prologue from 2020, hanging the hangover still blytung over the little island, four years after the heartbreaking Brexit vote. We meet a depressed and misanthropic strategist with severe bakfylleångest, tormented by remorse over his draksådd created political chaos. In some fantasiscener questioned Cummings of a parliamentary commission that, among other things, trying to investigate how personal information is used in the campaign.
is the a way to the Brexit campaign dark heart in connection with the referendum in 2016. Behind the sharp script is the hot political playwright James Graham, who also, among other things, written teateruppsättningen “Labour of love” with Martin Freeman and tv-movie ”the Coalition” that depicted the aftermaths of the uk elections 2010. In addition to interviews with Cummings, and other key employees based the movie on the books ”All out war” by the Sunday Times political editor Tim Shipman, and ”Unleashing demons” by Craig Oliver who has been a communicator for David Cameron.
In the opening credits makes Graham claims to tell the truth at the same time that he freely admits to taking artistic liberties in order to max out the drama. Director Toby Hayes (“Sherlock” and “Black mirror”) has just the right canon to give the story a sense of authenticity, a nervous energy and a black humor reminiscent of Armando Iannuccis ”The thick of it” and ”In the loop”.
A superb actor with leading-edge expertise when it comes to antisocial universalgenier and neurotic outsiders – Sherlock Holmes, Alan Turing, Patrick Melrose, Hamlet, and Julian Assange. Even if Cummings both have been described as a ”brilliant eccentric” to ”evil genius” shows Cumberbatch that he is too skilled an actor to make his character into a mindless pappdocka.
In the tv movie, he gives the unglamorous Cummings and an equally as mysterious as the ordinary charge, with its sky-high hairline, skrikgula reflective vest and a bicycle helmet. In some of the film’s more poetic scenes become Cummings a living seismograph that literally put his ear to the asphalt to listen to the ”humming, moaning, moans could sound” from the underworld – the popular discontent and resentment ferment and must have an outlet: ”Europe is only a symbol, a cipher for everything bad that happens, has happened…”, said Cummings, in a monologue that could be taken from “House of cards”.
a tantalizing behind-the-scenes trip in the new political landscape that is controlled by smart algorithms, and statistical analyses based on voters ‘ personal data. In the real world Brexitkampanj sounded Cummings, among other things send out huge amounts of targeted mikroannonser on social media to undecided voters. The film also depicts the mythical “Eureka!” moment when Cummings found on the Leave-the campaign winning slogan: ”vote leave, take control” which later on was enhanced to ‘ vote leave, take back control”. A säljfras that Boris Johnson used seven times in a minute during his opening statement in an election debate June 2016. Unlike the Cummings appear to be the film’s Boris Johnson (played by Richard Goulding) as a putslustig caricature.
Regardless of which political camp you belong to, should all watch with open eyes.
It is even more the case for the Ukip leader Nigel Farage (Paul Ryan) who is portrayed as a överklassfånig toady. His noisy financier Arron Banks (Lee Boardman) is portrayed as a vulgar högerhuligan with a beer in hand. In the Uk Graham received criticism for doing this history into a kind of innocuous antics, when in fact they played crucial roles for the outcome of the election. (Finland has among other things been accused of illegal kampanjdonationer, Russian involvement and has himself admitted that he enlisted the help of Cambridge Analytica.)
that the film has the heart on the Remain side, hårdvinklar on Cummings and exaggerating his importance. In the end, it is impressive how man can create something so important and so entertaining out of something so osexigt as a referendum on the EU. The title notwithstanding, the film is less about the vicious rivalry between Leave and Remain as to how a newcomer in the yellow reflective vest armed with personal data and algorithms can win a political battle against the old Westminster establishment is in kritstrecksrandig Savile Row suit.
Regardless of which political camp you belong to, should all watch with open eyes. “Brexit: the uncivil war” is an exceptionally moral lesson in how quickly it is possible to poison the political climate and tjuvkoppla democracy. It is a political skräckdrama aptly accompanied by an eerie, kakofonisk version of Edward Elgars classical style of “Land of hope and glory”.
In the end credits it says, in white on black: “the Story continues to unfold.”
Indeed. Brexit-the shocker continues…
