A Private War (2018) Review

-For the Uncensored!

There are very few journalists today whom I can respect as they are often keyboard warriors with no real war time journalistic experience. If they did, they probably got out a long time ago. The addiction of war is a very potent chemical in anyone who has served, but very few movies, like a Private War, talk about the journalists who go to war torn countries to write about human suffering. What makes the story of Marie Colvin a fascinating character study is that her war time correspondents reach all the way back to the 80’s until her untimely death in Hom’s Syria. 

            It’s understandable that most journalists never get to be the subject of a film, and the unlikely forgotten matter of war time correspondence is only remembered at the moment, and not at the long term readership. 

            Directed by Matthew Heinemen[1] and starring Rosamund Pike[2], as she plays Marie Colvin, someone who was more fearless than any other journalist in history who boasts the credit of interviewing high profile figures as Yassar Arafat and Colonel Gadaffi, as the world she inhabited was as dangerous as it could get. When Rosamund Pike takes a role, she’s the ultimate character actor. She’s better than Nicole Kidman by a thousand miles. What Rosamund Pike brings is that intensity that most actors in there age range have before a sharp curve happens. I don’t expect Ms. Pike to retire gracefully, as the role of Marie Colvin is a woman beset by rampant alcoholism and an addiction to going to war torn countries to help give the suffering a voice. 

            What the film does is present an unflinching portrayal that most actresses couldn’t do. Willing to make themselves look flawed in order to create genuine emotion for the viewer to sympathize with her outlook in life. Watching Rosamund Pike play a role is not only play a role but become a role. Become the very essence of what a movie can do in a short period of time. In two hours or less. 

            What most actresses can’t do is what Rosamund Pike does better than anyone in her generation. The camera follows Pike, but we see Marie Colvin in the frame, and Heinemen is not afraid to show the wilder side of Marie Colvin. 

            A photographer, Paul Conroy, becomes her closest friend in the stories she chases. Most of the colleagues who follow her respect Colvin for her peerless journalism. Only she quotes Martha Gellhorn, and hands a book to a younger journalist. Showing that she is not the subject but those who have come before her, living in Gellhorn’s shadow as the young journalists look up to Colvin. But what they see is a woman obsessed on the story and not about her cultural relevance. A need to find the story over letting people stroke her ego. Fame was not what Marie Colvin was interested in, as she was focused on getting the story done and calling out those responsible for massive war crimes and atrocities against innocent people.

As we follow her, she can’t live without alcohol, because she keeps having flashbacks of her time in war. It does a great job of portraying PTSD in a realistic way, as remembering a young girl dying on a bed, plays a big part of Colvin’s need to go into war torn countries and help the unfortunate tell their story.

            One of the film’s more gruesome moments is when Colvin is watching a young follower of Gadaffi recount him raping a young girl, as she says, “There is Allah, and he is watching” and the boy who seems brainwashed and shell-shocked follower said, “Gadaffi is Allah.” He repeats it three times as it really does make the viewer cringe at how horrible tyrants push there people to fight as they do not even shed one ounce of blood in the battlefield.

            While the films strengths play to Pike, and her ability to slip into a role, it’s the moment when I said, “This is acting” as she is only 42. What most actresses accomplish is not the same as life long actors who grind in smaller roles and then finally make it in their early thirties. What makes Heinemen’s camera shots persuasive is that it’s willing to put you on the edge of your seat, sometimes when Colvin is just back at home, recovering from writing a story as her PTSD takes hold.

            The horrible purpose of war is that men have to fight a threat that they would face in there lifetime. Many don’t willingly go into war, as it’s part of a duty to protect one’s country. Marie Colvin went to tell the story behind what tyrants do to good innocent people. Without a doubt, this is probably felt more on the strength of Pike’s performance and the camera is just watching Colvin come out through Pike’s voice and tone. 

            Whatever Pike has done to piss off the establishment makes it all the more ironic that she hasn’t won an Oscar. But then again, who needs an Oscar when I get to see Rosamund Pike portray one of the bravest journalist in human history. The camera is in love with Pike’s body and gives her the command over the director being the star. 

            What is the only complaint I have is that Pike hasn’t gotten the proper treatment of praise since David Finch’s Gone Girl (2014). What makes the world an unkind place is when an actor, writer, or filmmaker works and they never get the credit they deserve. But maybe film is about capturing the moment, and anyone who watches A Private War will be better off for it. To witness Pike at the peak of her career, and where she goes, is anyone’s guess. The only downside of the film itself is that there was so much to put in about Colvin that they had to work within a narrative structure. Marie Colvin is the star of the film, and the viewer peering into the film, makes us all the better for watching it.

            Final Analysis: 4/5

[1] His credits list from 2015’s Cartel Land, 2017’s City of Ghosts, and the 2018-2020’s Trade. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1292648/?ref_=tt_ov_dr.  

 [2] Her credits list from Pride and Prejudice (2005), The Libertine (2004, for which she won the British Independent Spirit Award for best Actress), Doom (2005) and most famously from the hit Gone Girl (2014, for which she was nominated for her first Academy Award). https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0683253/awards?ref_=nm_awd.  And most famously a bond girl in Die Another Day (2002). Based off the best-selling book by Gillian Flynn.

-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 15 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline, Apocalypse Soldier, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. Our Freedom Book https://www.ourfreedombook.com/thereallouistbruno17. His next series, City of Sand is out now: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/louis-bruno/city-of-sand/hardcover/product-rke9jz.html?page=1&pageSize=4. Also, if you can’t subscribe so that you can get members only content, please be sure to share the articles, as well. Every little bit helps. Thanks for reading.