At which point in the political- and cultural-shitshow cycle do we stand right now? If it’s winding down and we are about to begin the upswing back toward sanity (though I concede there is no evidence of this), then this film could be an essential chronicle of one piece of the mess that got us here, a cautionary tale of one kind of vile bastard to keep an eye out for next time. For The Brink is a documentary portrait of Donald Trump’s propagandist, chief strategist, and architect of the “Muslim ban,” Steve Bannon… and perhaps a last-gasp attempt by its human-dumpster-fire subject to demonstrate his relevance and importance.
That might explain why he gave director Alison Klayman (11/8/16, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry) such free rein: she embedded herself, as a one-woman filmmaking crew, in Bannon’s life and work in the year leading up to the 2018 US midterm elections, with total access; Bannon had no creative input or control over the final product. Because he knew that this might be his last opportunity to be the center of attention, because he knew he had nothing to lose?
The other possibility is downright horrifying: What if things are about to get much worse? What if we’re in 1938, and the 1940s are still looming ahead of us? Maybe Bannon doesn’t care that Klayman had such an intimate view on his awfulness — his bigotry is on full parade here — because he is going to continue winning and the triumph of his racist white-nationalism is going to spread even further. (His confidence in the correctness of his perspective might be the most terrifying thing Klayman captures.) Bannon is already an instrumental figure in the behind-the-scenes manufacturing of the Brexit vote in 2016, and his Brexit pal Nigel Farage appears here. (I may have thrown something at the screen at this point.) We see as The Brink ends that Bannon is focused on ensuring that the 2019 EU elections, now mere weeks away, will fan the ultra-right-wing flames already burning across Europe.
What would a portrait of Joseph Goebbels have looked liked in 1938? Would it have served as a warning? Might events to come have unfolded differently with advance warning not only of the evil plans afoot but the political and cultural manipulations that would be deployed to enact them? This shit has got to be countered, somehow, and can we use the evidence on display here to help with that? Or is it already too late?
Lest you think Goebbels is too extreme a comparison for Bannon, know that he here calmly and with admiration talks about the design precision of Birkenau, and also asks, as he ponders his work, “What would Leni Riefenstahl do?” I feared The Brink might humanize Bannon, might create some sympathy for him, but he seems beyond that. He appears devoid of personality and lacking in any human warmth. He’s an ugly, nasty, self-congratulatory, hypocritical pustule fomenting hatred and race war, and there’s literally nothing else to him. The best that might be said of Bannon is that he puts the banality in the banality of evil: he might be dangerous, but he isn’t even dangerous in any original way. He’s a depressingly familiar monster.
The Brink is a deeply unpleasant film to watch, but it’s one vital for appreciating just how big a mess we’re in. And it’s a film that we will be digesting for a while yet, for this is a dispatch from the present to the future, from the middle of a story that has not yet ended. If we’re lucky, this movie might help us end it well.
The Brink was the Alliance of Women Film Journalists’ Movie of the Week for March 21st. Read the comments from AWFJ members — including me — on why the film deserves this honor.
This guy was involved in the production of Julie Taymor’s “Titus”, among other films, which I found pretty bizarre.
Yup, Bannon was a film producer. In fact, the producer of this doc worked with him in that capacity years ago, and it was on the basis of that previous relationship that she managed to convince him to let this film be made.
Harvey Weinstein is a total shitbag too*, and he also produced some good movies.
(Though not as big a shitbag as Bannon. Congrats, Harvey: You’re not the *absolute* worst guy ever to grace Hollywood with your presence.)
I fear it’s too late. Our system is broken and the grifters, con-men and bad faith evil fucks like Bannon are better positioned to take advantage way more than people with an actual moral compass.
I fear you may be correct. But we could make an attempt to fix things by getting money out of the system and publicly funding all elections, thereby leveling the playing field for all candidates.
This review is a bunch of crazy commie claptrap. Western Civilization, which built modern society and defeated the Nazis, Imperial Japan and took down the Berlin Wall, and made America reach the highest heights of divinely-guided human progress, is under assault. Bannon is not my cup of tea, but this slanderous hit piece of him is inane. BTW, Brexit is great, and the EU is an evil institution that’s destroying Europe, in collusion with socialist tyrants and violent Islamists. Western capitalism creates wealth and reduces poverty; big government socialism destroys wealth and increases poverty while spreading ignorance and illiteracy. The Guardian reporter in the movie failed to prove his point or support his questions with solid facts.
Promising villain monologue, but too cartoonish. Please rewrite.
Divinely guided? hahahahahaha!
Ever read the Declaration of Independence? Our rights come from God, and the authors and signers of that document believed in Divine Providence. Without God, we have no foundation whatsoever for “rights” or morality, including what passes for morality and ethics among the godless Radical Left and godless Marxist Feminism that’s now controlling the Democrat Party and the national “news” media.
Still getting a bit of a cookie-cutter, cardboard “Religious Nut” feel here. Maybe try to make him more rational-sounding? Unless, of course, he’s just a secondary character being set up to be owned by the atheist main character, who shows by argument (e.g. Franklin’s substitution of “self-evident” for Jefferson’s “sacred and undeniable”) and by personal example (loving spouse and parent, not a murderer, etc) that the character’s appeals to God as a moral foundation are unnecessary. In any case, I would encourage another rewrite to make the villain more subtly complex and interesting, and less of a frothing fundamentalist. I think we’ll get there. Good luck.
The authors of the Declaration of Independence were Deists. Google it!
Would love to hear how Jesus would defend Steve Bannon, though.
Man, I completely forgot to come back to this.
Dude, are you even for real? Or a POE? Its hard to tell nowadays.
This is just so goofy, its not even worth addressing all the nutty statements in it. Thanks for the amusement.
Obligatory: https://youtu.be/hyaftqCORT4