With such glorious weather over the past weeks and some glorious and some glorious cricket it is difficult to keep attention focused one what is happening in the earth world around and on politics at home. I attempted to assuage some guilt by going to the Cineworld Bolden on a very hot sunny afternoon to see The East, a film about which I had not heard or read any review but where a brief note on line attracted my attention. A young woman placed undercover in an environmental action protest group and becomes affected, some will say infected by her role.
I had recently reported on the problems which the special national security unit encountered here in the UK when male officers placed undercover in similar organisation commenced long term relationships with female activists, clearly harming the young women in the process, fathering a child in one instance and becoming confused themselves about their role and identities. It is an inevitable consequence of individuals however well assessed and prepared when placed undercover which requires new identities with back stories and twenty four seven role play, especially if the cause of such groups is usually a worthy one and the problem is with the methods they have come to use.
In my youth even if though the methods were non violent and activities open the “ authorities” still placed people covertly to undermine public interest and support as well as gain intelligence because the threat to national stability and government policy was real in addition to the media of the day also placing individuals covertly and sometimes overtly, in addition to acting as an arm of the authorities as quid pro quo or because of political positioning.
Non violent direct action will only work however when the cause is shared by the majority and mass civil non violent protest as part of an extensive non violent campaign should succeed as long as those participating, especially the leaders are prepared to sacrifice their lives and refuse to retaliate in kind whatever the provocation. Gandhi was successful in India but not in South Africa and he failed to prevent the carnage between Hindu and Muslim which followed partition at independence and with its ongoing violence to this day. The civil rights movement in the USA made great strides in terms of changing the law nation wide and changing substantial public opinion but racism remains as strongly as ever before. I am saddened by not surprised that some who espouse excellent causes have twisted their thinking to believe they can achieve their objectives with violence and the corrupted methods required by management of a state
Few these days are willing become fundamental Catholic, Muslims or non sectarian extremists willing to put their lives at risk through non violence and Satyagraha but more are prepared to resort to the behaviour of those they fight against leading governments to reduce personal freedoms in the fight against the consequential terror of their actions.
Time Magazine for 8th July week 2013 provided significant information about the extent of USA surveillance of its own citizens as well as those of nations since 9/11, explaining that a small group of 11 Judges appointed to the Foreign Intelligences Services Court in which individual judges are asked to consider requests from specified government agencies to set aside constitutional rights and standards in the interests of National security. Apparently since the Act became law 1789 applications have been made to conduct electronic surveillance, denying none and modifying only 40. Now tot he first film.
The East is set in the USA and the young female undercover operative has been recruited from a national security force by one of the new international agencies attempting to protect large corporations from those working to expose their at times murderous activities. Sarah Moss played by Brit Marling and who co wrote the film script, is the former FBI officer who is in a loving sexual relationship and lies that she is going abroad on a mission when in fact she is about to join an anarchist collective located a comparatively short distance away. Why she needed to lie in this way is not explained but is an indication that this is a personality who finds the role play involved in her work more exciting and satisfying than her everyday home and social life. The relationship appears doomed at this point and the inevitability that she will establish a more rewarding relationship with someone she can admire is self evident, or at least it was to me.
The group in this film are a collection of individuals with separate agenda’s governed by their upbringing and relationships and which through the course of the film are revealed. The group, one of several loosely connected cells are located on land which it transpires belong to one of the group, where he burned down the family home when inherited. The first target is a pharmaceutical firm which manufactures a drug intended to protect those visiting other climes from local diseases but which in fact can have a lethal side effect for some individuals. The group use a former fraternity contact to gate crash a party and lace the champagne with what transpires to be a mild dose of the drug so that the executives involved only suffer minor ill effects.
In the second attack the target is the parents of one the group who as CEO of an international company is polluting a lake with lethal effluent which has in turn polluted the main water system of the community with lethal consequences, an allegation also made against the technique of Fracking to get shale gas. In the film the father repents at the last moment but his daughter is fatally wounded as the police arrive on the scene and is buried by the rest of the group in a woodland grave.
The role of the undercover officer is discovered by the cell leader with whom she has had a passionate relationship, and he persuades her carry out the third planned strike, to steal the master file from her agency which contains the information on the operatives who work undercover for the firm in some thirty countries world wide. The plan is to release their information Wiki leaks style to the media. The young woman carries out the mission but pretends she was unable to do so, concerned that the manner of the proposed use of the information will place lives of fellow workers at risk. They two decide to go their separate ways while she goes on a world wide mission (how this is financed is not explained) to meet up with the operatives and persuade them not help the companies but to help her expose their short comings.
The film is produced by Ridley and Tony Scott with Zat Batmanglij directing and who also co writes the script. Zat and Brit spent two months in 2009 joining an anarchist collective who lived on the food discarded by supermarkets and family homes, to hop on trains and living on rooftops and they commenced to craft the film idea before they commenced their first film Sound of my Voice in 2011.
In this film shown currently on Sky there are two people working undercover, a journalist with a male partner who set out to investigate a cult which is led by Maggie played by Brit Marling who claims to be a time traveller from year 2054 in world which is even more riddled with struggle, famine and war and her mission is to choose individuals who will be help to cope more effectively than at present in countering the negative forces and interests in involved.
In addition to secrecy, the couple are blindfolded they are required to shed all their possessions, including clothing and to shower to avoid affecting Maggie who lives in a sterile environment and is dependent on oxygen. The young woman has an imposing presence and without providing evidence of her claims begins to affect the scepticism of the investigative couple with the man using the latest technology to film and record their experience. The couple do not live full time with the group and the man, Peter, works as a teacher at a school where there is a challenging nine year old who behaves in an eccentric way, never removing a head covering and once home spending hours in what appears to be pointless and obsessions constructions using building pieces.
Maggie then requires Peter to bring the girl to her who she claims will become her mother and Peter who has been ruthless in his approach to exposing the woman as a fraud appears to be considering the request, something which horrifies his partner who believes he wants Maggie and this is blinding him to the reality for her position and to the danger involved in the request.
The journalist insists Peter leaves her and is then approached by a woman who claims to be working for the Justice department and that there is evidence that Maggie far from being from the future is wanted in two other states because of acts of violence and criminality. This woman persuades the journalist to tell Peter to go ahead with Maggie’s request without revealing it will be a set up and he is to insist that Maggie comes to a pre agreed meeting place. When the film begins the undercover couple use a special handshake which has been taught to them something which is particular to Maggie. When she meets the girl, the child greets Maggie with the handshake and asks how the stranger knew what she had thought unique to her. Maggie who has persuaded the girl to remove her head covering says, “ you taught it to me”
The police arrive at this point and remove Maggie with other members of the group who had been opposed to her leaving sanctuary accusing the man of betrayal. He looks at his former partner who indicates her betrayal. The man says he will arrange for legal defence for Maggie. I am uncertain how the film ends in the sense of what is the outcome which I understand is the intention.
The latest edition of Time magazine which arrived this morning Saturday 13th July 2013 has the headlines World’s best protesters World’s worst Democrats accompanying a picture of the same crowd Egyptians. It took huge crowds over the central square in the capital and other cities to remove the president and the rule of generals and create the first democratic national election in the history of this nation. When the Muslim brotherhood supported won the election I felt the democratic experiment would fail because of the incompatibility of the aims of the Muslim majority with the rest of the population who wanted a female equality pluralist society and state.
Less than a year later an estimated 30 million people took to the streets to demand the removal by the army of the Presidential head of State and when they obliged, the question was this a couple or not appeared academic although the immediately blocking of TV showing the subsequent millions on the street calling for the reinstatement of the president appeared to end the democracy. The Generals however wanted compromise and promised their intervention would be short lived. However the killing of protestors by protestors followed by the shooting by national forces, allegedly in self defence, of Muslim protestors appeared to lose any prospect of reconciliation, The supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood have democratic justice on their side in that they won the majority of seats and votes in the Parliament election and because the liberals and pluralists could not agree on one candidate they won the Presidency and they then won a 60% majority for the proposed constitution. Understandably the president ran the country on the basis of the policies and values of his party which also understandably alienated those who had hoped for a very different kind of approach. Millions then took to the streets in non violent direct action protest and instead of the President responding with concessions he refused to budge an inch and this provided the opportunity for the army that has run the country for hundreds of years to step in.
The July 12th edition of Time also returned to Bangladesh to report on the impact on families of the latest horror of the collapsed garment factory reminding that the industry is responsible for 80% of country’s exports, 13% of its GDP with 4 million employed and some 80% of these female. In over 5500 official factories. It is difficult to see strides being made in improving the safety of buildings and the payment of appropriate wages given these statistics and the insatiable desire of already developed nations for inexpensive quality clothing. The juxtaposition of these two pieces reminds of the continual balance between the economic imperatives of the already developed nations and those merging vis-à-vis moral principles, tribal nationalism, issues of rights, religious beliefs and human altruism While the horror that is Syria continues there are indications fo a softening of positions and moves towards compromise with talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and quietude replacing belligerence between North Korea and the USA but children and their mothers continue to starve and die from curable diseases. Here at home we are getting ready for the hols and a large part of the country celebrates the birth of the third in line to an hereditary head of the British State together with their extended family network. My obsession with crime and cricket of the past writings is about to be broken while watching Sunderland play Spurs to herald the restarting of professional football in a competition in Asia.
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