The East (2013)

[Os Cangaceiros]

The East is a pretty explicitly political movie, so I thought I'd give it a watch. It's about a group of radical environmentalists who adopt terroristic methods in order to take revenge upon people who they see as criminals. More specifically, it's about someone from a private intelligence firm who's sent in to infiltrate the group.

I thought that maybe, MAYBE even though it was big budget production, they'd insert some kind of politics into it that deviated from the standard old liberal crap, but unfortunately the ending of the film really cemented in the standard liberal message when there's a choice to be made at the film's end:

One of the main characters wants to release a list of undercover agents for the intelligence firm on the internet, blowing their covers and presumably getting at least some of them killed, while the other main character wants to find all the agents and talk with them individually and convince them to help save the planet :rolleyes:

Overall the film is just not very good I didn't think. The trailer is maybe the best thing about it:

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[bcbm]

gagged at the ending, will be skipping this one i think

[RedHal]

lol the ending sounds like something from some kids cartoon

[The Feral Underclass]

gagged at the ending, will be skipping this one i think

Some of the internal politics of the group is actually not that bad. The problem is the writers' liberal denouement, which is nauseating. There are aspects of the groups dynamic that I thought were really worth considering as practical things actual groups could do. I thought the bonding games, for example, were inspired ideas.

The other issue I had with it was that the main characters came from extremely wealthy families. I couldn't work out whether this was a snide comment on the perceived 'trustafarian' nature of certain activists, whether it was the internal logic of the story (it explains how they can afford all the state-of-the-art equipment etc), or both of these things. I guess the fact that these political militants don't come from within the working class exposes the overall liberal nature of the film.

[Hit The North]

Some of the internal politics of the group is actually not that bad. The problem is the writers' liberal denouement, which is nauseating.

Not necessarily the writers' fault. More like the kind of trick pulled by producers.

[The Feral Underclass]

Not necessarily the writers' fault. More like the kind of trick pulled by producers.

Yes, very possible.

Interestingly, Brit Marling, who plays the main protagonist, is also the co-writer of it.

[Yuppie Grinder]

Some of the internal politics of the group is actually not that bad. The problem is the writers' liberal denouement, which is nauseating. There are aspects of the groups dynamic that I thought were really worth considering as practical things actual groups could do. I thought the bonding games, for example, were inspired ideas.

The other issue I had with it was that the main characters came from extremely wealthy families. I couldn't work out whether this was a snide comment on the perceived 'trustafarian' nature of certain activists, whether it was the internal logic of the story (it explains how they can afford all the state-of-the-art equipment etc), or both of these things. I guess the fact that these political militants don't come from within the working class exposes the overall liberal nature of the film.

Isn't that somewhat accurate though? You can't make blanket statements, but activist movements in America like Occupy Wall Street tend to get bogged down with trust fundie Williamsburg types.

[The Feral Underclass]

Isn't that somewhat accurate though? You can't make blanket statements, but activist movements in America like Occupy Wall Street tend to get bogged down with trust fundie Williamsburg types.

There is some of that within the UK environmentalist movement also, but one has to wonder why they opted for relative authenticity on that particular part of the film and not on others.

The vast majority of militants are not trust fund types.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I think that most of the people in the American ELF (which I think is safe to say is what the fictional group in the film was based on) came from comfortably middle class, but not wealthy backgrounds. Although the key witness that the federal government managed to successfully flip was a poor heroin addict who's father was incarcerated.

I don't know much at all about the earlier radical environmentalist movement in the UK

I thought it was interesting how the main characters were these ultra-bohemian hippy types when they were out living in their "commune" or whatever, but also could slip back into "normal society" pretty effortlessly (although Ellen Page's character started slipping up with the pro-choice stuff at that corporate gathering). That's something that I remember the FBI director guy saying about the ELF, in the documentary about the group, that all of the ELF members paid a lot of attention to hiding their beliefs in public life, and they all seemed like normal more-or-less apolitical squares, when in reality they harbored hardcore wingnut beliefs. Although I guess a lot of them had been known around the radical environ scene for quite some time...

[Art Vandelay]

I thought it was interesting how the main characters were these ultra-bohemian hippy types when they were out living in their "commune" or whatever, but also could slip back into "normal society" pretty effortlessly (although Ellen Page's character started slipping up with the pro-choice stuff at that corporate gathering).

I wouldn't necessarily say they were living at this commune (in the drop out, bohemian sense, although there was an aspect of that), but rather that this property seemed like a temporary place, from which they could conduct their activities. One of the characters explicitly mentions how that bearded guy, who seems to hold the most authority in the group, doesn't like to stay in any place, for more than a couple months.


Some of the internal politics of the group is actually not that bad. The problem is the writers' liberal denouement, which is nauseating. There are aspects of the groups dynamic that I thought were really worth considering as practical things actual groups could do. I thought the bonding games, for example, were inspired ideas.

I did think the bonding game was cool and enjoyed that they stressed the consensual aspect of it. In all, I thought the film portrayed the 'eco-terrorists' in a rather favorable light, while somewhat displaying the dubious 'moral' behavior of the businessmen. Having said that, the scene at supper, where they fed one another and let the protagonist be uncomfortable and struggle to grasp the situation, came across as some sort of creepy proto maoist shit.

[The Feral Underclass]

On Zal Batmanglij's IMDB profile it says: "In the summer of 2009, when Batmanglij and friend and co-writer/actress Brit Marling were penniless and lacking any prospects, they hopped trains and hung out with "anarchists", personal experiences which are included in their film The East." I thought that was interesting.

[Gia]

I have to say I'm glad I found a thread dedicated to this film.

While I do admit that the film has its flaws, I must say that I, myself, personally kind of loved it. Maybe it has a lot to do with the fact that I am quite the fan of Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij's work, and I also like the Skarsgard and Page as actors, but despite that I, too, felt that the ending was kinda abrupt and could have been way, way better, I found myself enjoying the movie and even rewatching it.

Among the things that I liked the most about it was that there was no clear "hero" to speak of, no cardboard-cut "good guy" to embody character whom the viewers are supposed to root for, there were some shades of gray, and I think this added to the depth of the movie. Of course, I found myself siding with enviromentalist group, but they too were presented as having their own faults, just like the protagonist interpreted by Marling, and that is something I appreciated since, after all, there's no 100% "good guy" in real life, even the most kind, altruistic, well-intentioned people have their own share flaws, it comes with being human.

Oh and one more thing, feel free to judge me, but I also must admit that I couldn't help but greatly enjoy the love scene between Marling and Skarsgard's characters :laugh:s Potatoes gonna potate.