(For this review, we’d like to welcome guest blogger Neil Kennedy from the Chris Morris website Cook’d And Bomb’d)
Journalists always say the same things about Chris Morris. It’s as if they cut and paste from the same small pool of information, without ever bothering to vary from the template. The incident on his Radio 1 show where he inferred Michael Heseltine was dead. The Brass Eye Special on paedophilia. His made-up drug ‘Cake’ that caught out many an unsuspecting celebrity and politician. That nonsense story about helium in a news studio (for more about that go HERE). On and on it goes. It’s usually quickly followed up by a description of Morris himself, which is also done in the exact same inspiration-free way. The Culture Vulture isn’t content to mindlessly drink from the same trough, particularly as Morris has done so much to confound people’s expectations in 2010. So let’s start this review of Four Lions by slicing down some of the most popular myths that still surround the controversial, hilarious, original mind of Chris Morris.
Firstly, Morris’ predilection for working in controversial areas is always given prominence, as journalists love anything that upsets members of the public. As a fearless satirist, humorist, and now director, he’s well aware that we need to stop ignoring taboo areas. Only by discussing them, can we begin to understand them. Only by laughing at them, can we begin to accept them. This is the area where comedy becomes one of the single-most powerful means of communicating an idea – if you make someone laugh, you instantly make them drop their guard, and they become more open to subversive, challenging notions. The media stubbornly refuse to recognise this, for the most part, and will obfuscate by asking if we should be allowed to make light of serious issues. And the answer to that is “Yes, it’s fine if the intentions are sound. Now move on and learn how to engage with comedy as art”. Putting all this aside, Morris may be defined by his most controversial work, but in truth much of his humour is deeply daft, twisting reality to the point of surrealism, while still maintaining a consistent internal logic that grounds it in its own wonky world view.
He never does interviews! He hates being photographed! He’s a shy recluse! These are all myths that Morris has casually dismantled in 2010, yet the press still hold onto them, refusing to update their narrative, because to do so would devalue all the interviews that they give him. It’s true that Morris prefers to let the work speak for itself, but even that has fallen by the wayside this year, with Morris having given countless Q&A sessions during the promotion of his new film. He’s popped up on the news, podcasts, and even Australian radio stations, and has had no issue with giving unprecedented access to his creative process, while happily promoting the film, and contextualising some of the more problematic issues. In some ways, this seemed utterly necessary, as the British premiere of Four Lions was the subject of a very minor kerfuffle when family members of those affected by the 7/7 bombings made a last-minute plea for cinema goers to boycott the film.This, incidentally, was whipped up by the press, with Radio 5 Live and Radio 1’s Newsbeat both setting out with the intention of upsetting these people, urging them to give their opinions, and to condemn a film they hadn’t seen, but were understandably suspicious of. This very minor controversy was quickly swept aside by the ingenious scheduling of the Four Lions opening – coinciding as it did with the general election – however, internet commentators continue to greatly amplify the fuss caused because they are far too excited about the idea that they’re enjoying something subversive…something which the Daily Mail will hate…something which will make them feel liberal, and smart, and in on the joke.
But, when separated from the media and online hype, how does the film fare?
Morris’ debut feature follows a group of British suicide bombers. Their target? London. Yes, the entire set-up is undeniably confrontational but it’s used to confound the audiences’ expectations. There’s no crass humour here as Morris continually avoids participating in dull, offensive-for-the-sake-of-it comedy. Instead, there’s an intriguingly thoughtful mind at work, and extreme care is taken to shun the obvious – one of Chris Morris’ greatest strengths is his unwillingness to spoon-feed the audience. He adamantly refuses to talk down to them, presuming that they are as clever as he is, which makes Four Lions a deeply thought-provoking film that deserves the discussion and analysis that has been afforded to it.
As mentioned, audience expectations are confounded along the way, so much so, that you very quickly empathise with the plight of the suicide bombers. The media’s demonisation of such people is skilfully tossed aside, and we begin to see them as what they are, or what they can be: lost, muddled blokes, with families, jobs, and responsibilities. Much like any of us. Most of the comedy in Four Lions stems from the main characters’ inability to effectively organise themselves into an efficient terrorist cell. They’re depicted as clumsy, bumbling clots – they make the same mistakes anyone would make when emerged in such serious, life-or-death circumstances, with no real idea of how to go about it. These are not terrorists as ruthless, cold-blooded killers, who are stupid because they want to blow themselves up. Their lives and motivations are a lot more complex than that simple sentence so beloved of the media will allow. The characters brought to life by some brilliant performances, with Riz Ahmed and Nigel Lindsay being particularly strong. They crackle and fizz as they bump up against each other, in a futile struggle for power. Kayvan Novak (Fonejacker/Facejacker) exceeds all expectations, and the only slightly jarring casting decisions come in the form of Kevin Eldon and Julia Davis, long-time collaborators of Chris Morris. Cameos can very easily pull you out of the reality that’s been established, and that’s particularly true of Davis’ tonally jarring appearance.
Four Lions will tickle you with contradictions from beginning to end: it’s a wonderful comedy, and a surprisingly touching film. Thanks to their enormous skill at character comedy Morris and co-writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong (the creators and writers of Peep Show), render Four Lions‘ world consistent and compelling, and growing familiarity with the protagonists character traits make it more amusing each time you visit it.
Aside from the opportunity for repeat viewing, the DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film also contains many extra delights.
Morris hasn’t always seemed entirely willing to engage with the DVD format, but now obviously values them as another way of challenging the audience. As his work is so lavishly, painstakingly detailed, he enjoys taunting those who seek out these details, but then greedily lust after more. Previous DVDs have seen commentary tracks with a group of genuine tramps commenting on his full-frontal media assault Brass Eye, while the commentary for My Wrongs #8245–8249 & 117 (his BAFTA winning short film) is purported to be from one of the runners on the film. While it starts off normally, giving you just enough information to start unravelling the main story, it then quickly side-steps into an earnest monologue about the history of dogs in cinema. It teases and frustrates those with a very defined, rigid idea of what they should expect from such things, while still containing enough information, insight and cheekiness to make it a worthwhile and engaging feature. Four Lions had at least one commentary track recorded, featuring Bain and Armstrong, as well as a possible separate cast one, but they’re both noticeably absent as, after a quick enquiry to the distributors discovered, “Chris decided he didn’t want them on there in the end.” Despite this mild disappointment, there’s certainly more than enough content to compensate.
Quite a few deleted scenes are included on the disc, with seven being directly accessible from the Deleted Scenes section, and a few others being used as menu backgrounds. The aforementioned emphasis on character comedy meant that I laughed out loud more at these scenes, than I did at the film itself the first couple of times I saw it in the cinema. They’re very well chosen and give us the chance to observe moments in the film that are alluded to, but not depicted.
This section of the DVD also contains a couple of alternate takes, which give you a feel for the rough, improvisational ethos Morris brings to bear – this would seem to have its roots in ‘On The Hour’, the radio show which shot him and Armando Iannucci to prominence in the early 90’s. While Four Lions is meticulously researched and scripted, Morris learnt never to be precious about lines, and (as with Iannucci) he is willing to ditch individual jokes that have been honed and refined over months, provided something better presents itself in the moment. Further insight into the creative process of Chris Morris is given in the barely-concealed “Behind The Scenes” section, where we can watch rehearsals, observe special FX shots being constructed, and generally just soak up the on-set atmosphere. It’s priceless and unprecedented access to Morris as a director, and gives you a real feel for the nuts and bolts of film making.
Another feature covers the March 2010 premiere at the Bradford National Media Museum and consists of cast interviews, with Morris, Bain and Armstrong featuring briefly. More on-set footage here (most of which is repeated on other parts of the DVD), but sadly there’s only an extremely brief clip of the Q&A that followed the premiere, despite the whole thing being filmed. This is probably the most scant extra on the disc, and it’s more of an introduction to the world of Four Lions. Not a lot of substance, and an extra you will likely not return to more than once
That only really leaves us with the Background Information section, presented as an authentic Jihadi training video, complete with the look of a VHS tape that has been copied multiple times. I found this to contain the most interesting, thought-provoking extras on the disc.
The first feature is called Lost Boys, and it’s a short film made by Four Lions Associate Producer Afi Khan. It’s centered round a group of young muslim lads, living in a small English town called Nelson. It becomes immediately obvious that Nelson is a hotbed of racial tension, and at times it almost seems segregated.
I recall interviews with Morris where he said that, during the course of researching Four Lions, he drove around with young lads like these, observing as they shouted out of car windows. That’s exactly what we see in Lost Boys – these young lads acting like many people of their age, but with an underlying racial tension always at play.
What really got me about this short, is the way you quickly side with the ‘lost boys.’ It’s immediately established that they feel entirely unwelcome, and suffer from racial abuse as a matter of course. They’re disliked for reasons beyond their control, and point out how white Brits don’t entirely understand the full cultural ramifications of, for example, pissing outside a Mosque when drunk. We also see that they resent and distrust the police, because they feel singled out by them.
So…why wouldn’t you side with them? Well, because they’re no saints, and we observe them engaging in racism towards whites. We have context, so we empathise, but I actually found that surprising. Afi Khan’s skill in contextualising their situation makes it very hard to form any kind of damning, negative judgements about them, despite the unpleasantness of much of their behaviour. They seem like fundamentally decent lads, with aspirations towards helping out the community in the future by moving into youth work, for instance. You understand that, really, they’re just as rowdy as you’d expect any group of young blokes to be. It’s the combination of youth, the colour of their skin, and this feeling of being surrounded, persecuted and unwanted that makes them act in this manner. The cultural differences mean that they split more readily into ‘sides.’ They’re being squeezed into a role, because that’s part of their identity as British Muslims. Echoes of Four Lions abound.
The final feature I’m going to touch on is also located in the Background Information section, and it’s based round an interview with Mohammad Ali Ahmad. At the time of filming, Mo Ali was awaiting trial for “preparing an act of terrorism”, and had been imprisoned on remand for over a year. Mohammad, like Barry in the main feature, is a white convert/revert to Islam. He appears to be a creative, passionate and sensitive young man who takes his religion very seriously.
I found two moments in this interview to be unexpectedly challenging. Firstly, Mo Ali describes the process of being arrested, and starts to outline some of the questions he was asked under interview. The authorities produce a letter which he had sent to his daughter, and we’re told that it ends with ‘If I do not live long enough to write this out neatly, then I’m sorry this is the only copy you’ve got.’ The police suspect this to be hinting at a martyrdom operation. I’m ashamed to say that the thought crossed my mind as well. Reasons are given for the phrase used – he explains that it was written late at night, and then goes on to briefly explain that Muslims are very aware that they can die at any time. The letter is used as justification to keep him on remand for a long time, so that he can’t fulfil his apparent desire to become a suicide bomber.
At the end of the interview, a caption flashes up which informs us that in March of this year, two of Mo Ali’s associates (who referred to themselves as the “Blackburn Resistance”) were found guilty on terrorism related charges. Again, I found suspicion nagging in the background. Another caption tells us that Mo Ali was acquitted, but the seed of doubt had been planted.
I quickly realised how ignorance causes fear, and how overblown situations can become when you add cultural and religious differences. Lack of knowledge leads to suspicion, which in turn leads to fear, which in turn leads to reprisals. We’re told that Mo Ali was found innocent, then we’re immediately told that his two associates were found guilty. It’s so, so easy to make presumptions from that, but who on earth am I to know better than the courts? For me, this extra underlined the casual, thoughtless manner in which we can make judgements based on tiny amounts of information, with suspicion filling in all the blanks – especially the ones that are caused by cultural ignorance. You realise the incredible weight a phrase like “no smoke without fire” carries, and you begin to recognise how it originated. I left this extra feeling challenged, enlightened and embarrassed.
If you want to see how Four Lions was made, that itch will certainly be scratched by this DVD. If you want to see why it was made, then the Background Information section will provide a surprising level of insight. All of the included features do serve to enhance your appreciation of the film itself, and you’ll find this to be an emotionally draining, complex piece of cinema, lovingly presented. An at times broad, hilarious farce, yet underpinned by sociological commentary, Four Lions is a powerful, funny, thoughtful piece of art that you’ll treasure.
Four Lions is released on DVD and Blu-ray by Optimum Home Releasing and is available now. Superficial differences exist between the presentation of the two formats, with the DVD version containing a few extra menus, such as the training video mentioned in this review.
For more information about Chris Morris visit www.cookdandbombd.co.uk