Friday Minute
No. 56 | March 19, 2010

Humour Me

Our theme this week (theme introduction)
British comedies from the 1960s to today

Featured this week
Monday         —   Dr. Strangelove or:  How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Tuesday         —   Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Wednesday    —   A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Thursday        —   Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

In the Loop (2009)

Three questions, three answers
The Americans want a war in the Middle East.  The British are determined not to get in the way.  This sounds familiar.  Is it a political satire or a documentary?

A satire, and a blistering one, but it does have the feel of a behind-the-scenes look at a story in the headlines.  Both the Brits and Americans are thoroughly skewered, and with the primary focus on British bureaucrats and politicians, they get the worst of it.  There’s Simon (Tom Hollander), a mid-level minister, who fumbles an interview when he says what he thinks, that war is “unforeseeable.”  That’s enough to set off an international crisis, and Malcolm, a vile and vicious government spokesman, seeks to control the damage.  A few characters want to avoid war, including an American general played by James Gandolfini.  They try to get Simon to speak out, but he’s reluctant to say anything that won’t help his career.

Peter Capaldi plays Malcom Tucker, the foul-mouthed British communications director.  David Rasche plays Linton Barwick, the glib U.S. assistant secretary of state.  Who’s scarier, and who’s funnier?

Malcolm is the bigger role, driving the action from the beginning to the end, and he’s there to humiliate Simon and every other Brit who steps out of line.  Capaldi gives a great performance, and there are few things as sweet as the sheer vitriol that comes from his mouth faster than you can laugh at it.  Linton Barwick is another matter.  He’s a smug, condesending liar, and Rasche gives it a comic turn that’s clearly channeling the spirit of Donald Rumsfeld.  Malcolm is a very funny creation and you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of him, but there’s something especially scary about Barwick because he has the power and you know no one can stop him.

The British once were known for their talent for understatement.  Here and in the other films this week you see over-the-top caricatures and heavy doses of profanity.  Has something changed?

It seems so.

Three more from the 2000s

• Shaun of the Dead (2004)
• In Bruges (2008)
• Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

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In the Loop (2009)
Armando Iannucci, director
Trailer

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In the Loop (2009)
Peter Capaldi (Malcolm Tucker), Tom Hollander (Simon Foster), Gina McKee (Judy Molloy), Chris Addison (Toby Wright)

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Quote of Note
“In accordance to the principles of Doublethink, it does not matter if the war is not real, or when it is, that victory is not possible.  The war is not meant to be won.  It is meant to be continuous.  The essential act of modern warfare is the destruction of the produce of human labor.  A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. In principle, the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation.  The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects.  And its object is not victory over Eurasia or Eastasia, but to keep the very structure of society intact.”
—Winston Smith (John Hurt), Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

…58…59…60.