Russia and Georgia: A Cinematic War
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20091204/wl_time/08599194460100
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- pandaman2105
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More than a year after Russia and Georgia clashed in a short but brutal war, the two countries are continuing their dispute on the movie screen. Russian filmmakers have already released a slick documentary as well as a romantic feature that depicts Georgia as a genocidal aggressor. Now, the Georgian government is supporting Renny Harlin, the Hollywood director who made Die Hard 2, for its own take on the conflict, complete with Andy Garcia as the embattled Georgian President standing up to Russian tanks.
Truth, famously, is the first victim in war. In the case of the Russia-Georgia conflict, the closest we'll probably get to the truth is an E.U.-led investigation that took more than a year to figure out who fired the first shot. That was Georgia, the report concluded, while also judging that Russia violated international law during the onslaught that followed. But don't expect to see any of that nuance in the films now battling it out to rewrite history.
From the beginning, Georgia's press-savvy and Washington-backed President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has a law degree from New York's Columbia University, has been relentless in spinning the war as a product of Russian expansionism. He gave dozens of interviews to Western media even as the bombs were falling, and says that the upcoming film with Garcia will drive that point further. "Indeed right now the American director is producing a Hollywood film, and I am sure Russia is not depicted there in the best light," he told a gathering of supporters in Kiev, Ukraine, this month. "It's true Andy Garcia's previous role was in The Godfather [III], and his evolution from a Mafioso to the President of Georgia does not make for the best associations. But I think we will manage."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20091204/wl_time/08599194460100
Truth, famously, is the first victim in war. In the case of the Russia-Georgia conflict, the closest we'll probably get to the truth is an E.U.-led investigation that took more than a year to figure out who fired the first shot. That was Georgia, the report concluded, while also judging that Russia violated international law during the onslaught that followed. But don't expect to see any of that nuance in the films now battling it out to rewrite history.
From the beginning, Georgia's press-savvy and Washington-backed President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has a law degree from New York's Columbia University, has been relentless in spinning the war as a product of Russian expansionism. He gave dozens of interviews to Western media even as the bombs were falling, and says that the upcoming film with Garcia will drive that point further. "Indeed right now the American director is producing a Hollywood film, and I am sure Russia is not depicted there in the best light," he told a gathering of supporters in Kiev, Ukraine, this month. "It's true Andy Garcia's previous role was in The Godfather [III], and his evolution from a Mafioso to the President of Georgia does not make for the best associations. But I think we will manage."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20091204/wl_time/08599194460100
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- groups:
- Culture, Movies, Art, cultural film, 2 more
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- tags:
- Russia, Georgia, Foreign Films, Russian film
