THINKING BACK ON RECENT HISTORY : "W."

When Oliver Stone, one of the directors most associated with political films – be it bios or cautionary tales, made a biography of George W. Bush, I am sure none of us was particularly surprised. I mean, if you think about it, with Stone’s anti-war record behind him and with the war going on in Iraq at the moment, I personally would have been a tad surprised if he hadn’t made one. I watched this film in a period when I was researching war films, specifically about the war in Iraq. And it surprised me – a lot. But before I go into the reasons why, let’s briefly remember the story first. Not that the story needs much in the way of remembering, in its essence. The biography of George W. Bush is now pretty well known around the world. Starting off as a trouble maker and an alcoholic, George W. Bush then found religion and rose to become the president of the United States of America. Stone’s biography takes a very close – fly on the wall, you know, re-enactment style – look at his life “behind the scenes” as it were. Stone shows us a not so public side to Bush. His relationship with his father, also a onetime president, and like any son who follows in the family business George W. Bush struggles to get out from under his father’s shadow. September 11 happens, decisions have to be made and like anyone now ex-President Bush must make tough decisions and maintain his work – life balance. The thing is, a lot more hangs in the balance in this case than with your average folk… Now this film, like I said, surprised me. Because with Oliver Stone’s track-record I would have fully expected him to “rip into” the ex-president, as it were. But no, not at all. No matter what you think of his politics, when you look at the personal side, the George W. Bush we see is not in the least bit a caricature, he is very, very human – a fact we tend to forget with a lot of public figures whether we agree with them or not. Stone has made it quite clear that he doesn’t agree with the war in Iraq – to the best of my knowledge anyway – and the view he takes of the people surrounding ex-President Bush is a tad harsh, be it Colin Powell, Dick Cheney or Paul Wolfowitz. But I almost feel that with George W. Bush Stone was trying to say “Hey. I don’t agree with you but it’s nothing personal. It’s your politics.” A mature view, and in a way one should expect nothing less from a director of Stone’s caliber. And a rare thing in our polarized times. Another point you might want to bring up is “well this is technically a bio – are you sure you can call it a war film with a clear conscience?” My answer would have to be yes. One needs to be neither a political analyst nor an expert in film studies to realize that in the case of the ex-president, he personally and his presidency is now inextricably tied to the events of September 11 and the War in Iraq. So yes, I think when talking about a war, both the decision making process that started the war and the life of a man who was the main decision maker – the president at the time of the United States no less – is well worth examining. And very pertinent. A good film in my opinion both technically and in its handling of a historic moment and its personages. Definitely worth watching.