Intense? Yes, very. Emotional? You bet. Necessary? Debatable. But is it effective? This scene is a perfect precursor to the film Lord of War because in just a few minutes, it thrusts you into the real point of what the rest of the movie is intended for: a glimpse into the horror and reality of violence. Andrew Niccol, the director of the film, did not write this movie about a valorized brazen war hero, fighting for honor and glory, gaining the favor of the viewer—this movie shows real violence. It gives the audience a taste of what guns are really capable of, and how they are really used around the world today.
Niccol, is very adamant on staying away from “displaced violence.” He makes sure you, as the viewer, gets the full emotional impact of every death portrayed. You are not sitting back as some soldier fires a shot ending a random “extra’s” life. He does everything he can to stay away from the third-person perspective. In the intro, you are the bullet. You’ve been the bullet since it was created, you see what it sees. With it, you’ve been traded around many countries and dealers. You get loaded into a gun, and then you see the close up face of the little boy whose life you are about to end. You feel all the “ugly” of every situation, and without senseless gore, you are thrust into the plot line mentally. Niccol also uses another strategy to stray you away from being a non-emotionally attached third party. He’s is involving you in the plot line throughout the entire movie as the main character.
Yuri Orlov, played by Nicholas Cage, is the main character of this story. He is a Ukrainian immigrant dreaming of bigger things than his family restaurant. He cavaliers his younger brother, Vitaly, played by Jared Leto, into the dangerous, fast-paced, and monetarily rewarding lifestyle of a successful underground gunrunner. Niccol, yet again, intentionally involves the viewer personally throughout the entire movie. Yuri is narrating the plot, his thoughts, and his emotions eloquently and frequently. Niccol is making sure that you are not outside looking in, he thrusts the reader in the the psyche and subconscious of the main character as he deals with the repercussions of selling machines of death for a profit. You, as the viewer, have no choice but to feel the weight of the actions and occurrences in this story as Yuri’s tale unfolds.
From the ground up, Yuri starts on his entrepreneurial mission. Underneath it all, the beginning of the story is simply a man’s search for the American Dream. And the real tragedy is that if he had chosen a different profession, he would be your favorite capitalist. Yuri is not a bad guy. One wonders how he can even bring himself to be involved in such a profession. However, there are two basic ways that Niccol “humanizes” the character, Yuri, and therefore keeps him in the viewer’s favor. One very powerful strategy he utilizes is making him relatable to the viewer. Driven with the aspirations of a better life than his parents, and inspired by the dream of considering himself worthy of a beautiful girl he once knew, not unlike F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Yuri builds an empire. This aspect of the movie is very archetypal, a very tried and true story that the viewer easily sympathizes with. Everybody has that dream of rising to something better in order to prove their worth to someone from their past and making their parents proud. This familiar, likable aspect of the plot line reminds the viewer that Yuri is a human and not a soulless gun merchant.
While narrating the film, Yuri explains repeatedly how he distances himself from his “profession.” In one scene, when he is home, he gingerly takes a toy gun from his young son’s desk and throws it way with a disgusted look on his face. Guns are simply Yuri’s way of making money, it is not anything he wishes for his son to become familiar with. This portrays an internal conflict expressing his distaste for killing, and wishing a better life for his son. He prides himself on the fact that although he sells guns, he himself, has never actually used one and will not associate with them.
Not only does he refuse to associate with guns, he refrains from personally associating himself with their owners. He does not take sides in these wars he supplies. He would sell to anybody and everybody willing to buy. He would sell to one army one day, and to the men they are fighting the next. He even goes so far as to brag that “[He] sold to every army but the Salvation Army.” In some weird, twisted way, Yuri is defending himself by envisioning himself as an overseeing, omnipotent figure who never takes sides. He only looks out for his own interests and therefore is not responsible for the interests of others, particularly the men he sells arms to.
One such “customer” is Andre Baptiste. Niccol uses this character to show the horrible things that humans are capable of when they have the means to kill. The viewer is disgusted by him, and by Yuri for selling him weapons to further his efforts. Baptiste is the supposed democratically elected leader of Liberia. He is played with regal, dangerous elegance by Eamonn Walker, who no doubt took inspiration for the character from Charles Taylor of Liberia in the late '90s. His trigger happy ruling turns his presidency into a thinly disguised dictatorship. Baptiste is no stranger to murder and is not phased by delivering death. Niccol uses him as the main example in the portrayal of violence. Baptiste shoots his own guard for flirting with a woman while on clock. His men line innocent women and children against walls, then proceed to shoot them like livestock. This invokes a horrified, sympathetic feeling from the viewer.
Rafe Telsch of cinemablend.com states that, “While the bulk of the movie relies on Cage’s formidable abilities, writer/director Andrew Niccol deserves praise for the movie’s story, dialog, and visual style.” However, I personally believe that Niccol’s role had greater effect on the success of the movie. A substantial portion of the movie’s success is owed to Cage; that is undeniable.This is not the one-sided, monotone Cage we have seen recently, he perfectly delved into his character to make him the sympathy invoking charismatic monster of Yuri. This is an amazing feat of acting, he blazes through much of Niccol’s extremely deep, ironic and witty dialogue making it inspiring yet easy to follow. I however, place most of my faith in Niccol’s abilities. Niccol truly shows his mastery of the art of storytelling in this movie. You feel the grotesque nature and horrible sorrow of the murders, while most violence is actually kept off screen. Amazing cinematography, manipulating camera angles, and accurately portraying the bloodlust in some characters and the lament of death in others allows for legitimate responses in the viewers, and keeps the story extremely real without crossing the line from influential to completely disturbing. Niccol’s brilliance focuses on the emotional response from violence, not the teeth-gritting, fist-clenching disgust. In one scene, you see a small boy running in a concentration camp, and his mother screaming after him, militia proceed to massacre both of them off screen. This really effects Vitaly, Yuri’s brother, who then refuses to go through with an arms deal, ultimately resulting in his murder. Although you do not see the blood and wounds on the victims, you feel something horrifying and real, unlike so many movies today, you realize that lives are over. It takes an amazing storyteller to influence this in a viewer mentally, without use of visual gore.
But why does Niccol want to horrify you? He is not simply looking for a reaction from the viewer, he is making a point. Towards the end of the movie, Yuri drops Niccol’s bomb on the viewer. He says that “the reason [he’ll] be released [from prison] is the same reason you think [he’ll] be convicted.” He says that the biggest arms dealer in the world is our very own president. And while Yuri does indeed rub shoulders with some of the most cruel and monstrous people on the planet, some of these people are the enemies of his enemies. Sometimes the president is too embarrassed to have his own fingerprints on the merchandise, so he needs a criminal like Yuri to do the job for him. While we may consider him evil, in the eyes of the American government—Yuri is a necessary evil.
Yuri had kept his profession a secret from his family. Neither his parents, nor his wife had any idea of what he did. Nobody was aware of the source of their lavish, elegant lifestyle. They stayed blissfully ignorant of the corruption and destruction required to upkeep the life they’ve grown accustomed to. This is Niccol’s metaphor for America. As American citizens we are accustomed to our elevated lifestyle, but we are completely unaware of whats going on behind the scenes—that our own government is the real Yuri Orlov. The movie Lord of War is a masterful blend, of sarcastic dark comedy, ironic plot lines, and beautiful, well-crafted dialogue, effectively making an interesting, followable movie with a political agenda to express.
About the Author: Andrew Stump is a student at University of California, Davis.
Works Cited
“Lord of War.” cinemablend.com. 17 August 2005. 8 February 2011.
<http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/Lord-of-War-1134.html>
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