Excruciatingly bad.
Western Guilt: The Movie
AKA
"The Trouble with Tribolites"
As one reviewer praised:
“The Forgiven” is a story that urges us to get a perspective. It makes us realize how entitled and privileged we are and how we take all of it for granted. Sitting comfortably on our couches, commenting on our nation’s foreign policies, and being obsessed and selfish about our own trivial struggles, we forget to be grateful for whatever life has given us. We forget to be empathetic towards those for whom the things we take for granted are also a privilege.
Apparently Westerners are also demon fossil thingees.
From the film,
I have no idea why you people have such a thirst for these stupid rocks. What do you see in them? All we know is that you want them and are prepared to pay money for them. Some of us believe... that these are the most evil creatures that ever existed... that they are the forms of dead demons. That is what they look like, you must admit. They must have an influence on our minds. An influence that is evil. And that's what attracts you to them.
Ray Fiennes explains that this character is basically correct.
“A lot of the reviews got caught up in how unlikable Jo and David were,” says Fiennes, over the phone. “Therefore: why should we waste our time with these people? That seems quite a simplistic reaction. I think John is making quite a moral film.
“He pushes all the offensive comments, yes. The disparaging, contemptuous attitude wasn’t compromised on, which I liked. But he’s not interested in celebrating; he’s pointing the finger. Some of the responses didn’t seem to be tuned in to the moral journey. Got a bit sidetracked by the louche behaviour.”
It's not that the film is reductive, but rather that it is courageous. It's just holding up a mirror to how bad you are. Now look! Gaze in the mirror!
Or, rather, just imagine that the characters from
Succession showed up in a pious Muslim country and louted things up after killing a child. That's basically it.
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