"Deja Vu" - The Ultimate Sacrifice

As a prelude to what I hope are many posts to come, I thought I would start with a comment on what is cinematographically a less than stellar film, and conceptually, a detestable one - "Deja Vu". While I'll do my best to avoid spoiling the plot without being too vague, I can't make any promises. Consider yourself warned!

My immediate reaction to this film was, as should be expected, skepticism. Clearly, the film is smugly contrived, albeit with a great intro sequence and a healthy dose of music throughout to hold the viewer, and this is evident within the first 15 minutes. But to what end is the movie directed?

On one hand, the movie ambitiously aims at a revision of the technological capabilities of the American intelligence community, and attempts to "shock and awe" viewers with an irrelevant showing of air, land and sea machinery. In the process, it earns a thought or two regarding the logic behind its science (of which I certainly am not capable of commenting on, though I'm sure is naively incoherent). Yet, much more darkly, Deja Vu seeks to pry public opinion away from criticism and towards subjugation to the aims of that power-laden collective of nationhood, commonly recognized via those elusive first-person prounouns "We, Us, and Our".

The film opens with obvious references to Hurricane Katrina, easily discernible to an American audience as an emblem of failed commitment and incomplete sacrifice on the part of government officials on a variety of geographic scales. For some thirty minutes, it builds up the character of Doug Carlin, a sharp and capable ATF agent with no familial, and no clear organizational (read: bureaucratic) ties. Indeed, the Hero must break protocol in order to maximize his effectiveness as a 'saviour of life'. However, despite the apparent contradictions at first glance, the deeper narrative unfolds quickly thereafter, priming the audience for the grand enterprise of nationalism.

Throughout the film, insignias of the state are deliberately placed in clear view - a yellow ribbon on the back of a car here (1:10:43), a "Support Our Troops" sticker during a raid there (1:15:18). Yet the government, or the bureaucratic process, is criticized as inflexible, uncaring and ineffective (1:20:00-1:20:30). Deja Vu has all the hallmarks of a classic Hollywood film - libertarian in spirit, brutually conformist in articulation, which is carefully plotted within the dialogue of the film. At one point, the antagonist - an enigmatic figure of freedom/terrorism declares that "sometimes a little human collateral is the cost of freedom". This sentiment is echoed in the well-known proverb "one man's terrorist is another man's patriot" that appears in the film shortly after (1:17:30). These two statements, in the context that the film frames them in, work to justify and support American intervention in Iraq and encourage (if not manipulate) viewers to do the same.

A recurrent theme in the latter half of the movie, and emphasized a second time in a question at the end of the movie certainly resonated with me - that is, after all I had seen: "What if you had to tell someone the most important thing in the world, but you know they'd never believe you" (1:57:30). The state, even if the government is off-base, is never wrong - it just appears that way to a demanding and ungrateful populace. Trust your institutions (and really, implicitly, your leaders). It is fitting that at one point, while the media reports a story noting a demand for increased expenditures for the war (at least that's what it appears to be), one character mutes the TV and instead prays to god for "a great day" (41:55).

Of course, the core message of the film, enunciated throughout the thread of the plot rings clear - 'We [the state] watch you - in the shower even - but its ok, we'll save you in the end'. Support the troops, avoid criticizing the government if possible, certainly refrain from criticizing the state. Above all, submit yourself to Safety, which only the state can provide.

Deja Vu tries hard to mask itself in a whirlwind of confusion, meant to raise questions but shroud straight answers in subtle (and not so subtle) displays of nationalism, militarism and social control. It suceeds by walking that fine line between borderline overtness and half-clever craftiness. Conceivably, watching this movie without a critical eye could lead to a semi-pleasant encounter in mind-numbing sensationalism - although the seed of submission to the nation-state will undoubtedly be laid.

There is alot to get out of this movie, and I encourage feedback, discussion and criticism, as well as an awakening to the many points that I've missed. Though, of course, not too much of all of these - but not on the account of my ego. Put simply, the movie doesn't deserve it.

http://video.movies.go.com/dejavu/

-Matt