Words of War Review: The Right to Speak

James Strong’s Words of War is an efficient drama based on real events that could nevertheless have been more thrilling and less obvious.

Thus, Worlds of War plays like a very earnest and slightly naive experience that tries to be emotionally potent, but ends up feeling a bit too obvious despite its engaging visual language and strong performances.

Words of War starts right after Putin is announced as president in the year 2000, with Politkovskaya trying to convince her editor, Dmitry (Ciarán Hinds, game as always), to let her write potent pieces that speak against the government. Firstly, she wants to focus on the war with Chechnya and the way the Russian military has been massacring innocent people. But rapidly and thanks to her very popular articles, Anna manages to get more and more involved with the victims of the government’s violent acts. She ends up becoming an enemy of the state, which compels officials such as Egorov (Ian Hart, of Harry Potter fame) to follow her and threaten her. But not even that or her failing personal life convince Anna to stop.

Much like other biopics or movies centred on important political or social figures, Words of War tries to juggle its subject matter’s personal and professional lives, trying to tell the audience that being that passionate about a country’s problems can only bring trouble to one’s home life. This works to an extent. Anna’s marriage to TV presenter Sasha (Jason Isaacs, of Honey Bunch) seems normal enough at first, but eventually is shown to be a bit toxic, with him feeling not only left out, but also jealous of his wife’s accomplishments. Sasha worries about Anna and her trips to war-torn Chechen cities, but he also can’t help comparing his own accomplishments to his wife’s.

Isaacs, as usual, is believable as a well-meaning but ultimately superfluous husband. Less convincing, in any case, is Anna’s relationship with her son and daughter. The former, Ilya (played by Harry Lawtey, of Joker: Folie à Deux), looks like an adult but acts like a teenager, feeling more like the idea of a character than a well-rounded individual. And the latter, Vera (played by Naomi Battrick, of A Very English Scandal), is even more poorly developed, even if she plays a relatively big part in Anna’s growth as a character during the last few scenes of the movie. The actors are fine, but their characters’ roles in the movie are clichéd and ultimately unnecessary.

As a protagonist, though, Maxine Peake’s Anne is sufficiently fascinating. The British thespian plays her as a regular mother and journalist who at first seems to become obsessed with the way Chechens are being mistreated and massacred by her own government, but ultimately shows she only wants to uncover some semblance of justice for the people she finds and interviews and befriends. It’s a believable performance for a character who, at times, is written as an almost Saint-like figure. At a certain point, Anne sees a group of supporters cheering for her in the street and says, “I’m no Saint”. She might not believe it, but the film itself certainly seems to do so.

All of the above, then, can be a little problematic, since it’s always more interesting to follow a flawed and three-dimensional individual instead of an incredibly altruistic and brave one. Thankfully, in order to counter this perception of Anne as a character, Words of War includes enough problems, obstacles and discussions for her to become not necessarily a well-rounded protagonist, but at least not an invincible heroine. If you know anything about the real story, you’ll know things don’t precisely end well for Anne; this results in a rather shocking ending, which seems to tell the viewer that even the best and most well-intended of people cannot escape the consequences of their actions against a corrupt and violent regime.

Thematically, then, Words of War isn’t a particularly complex movie. It’s obviously (and logically) anti-Putin and anti-war, and it stresses the importance of the work journalists do, especially those who are against the governments that rule the countries they live in. And to be fair, even if they’re not perfect, watching movies that show the inhumane way regimes can treat immigrants and foreigners, accusing them of being terrorists when they’re clearly innocent civilians, couldn’t be more necessary nowadays. Words of War might be about a conflict that took place more than twenty years ago, but it still feels pretty relevant nowadays (it certainly “helps” that Putin is still the President of Russia).

Words of War is a mixed bag, where most of the bag’s contents are quite good, and the rest could’ve used a little bit more preparation. The performances are all pretty great, Mike Eley’s cinematography is realistic and attractive without calling attention to itself, and the movie’s themes feel relevant and important, even if they’re conveyed with the subtlety of a bomb. But the film could’ve been even better if the portrayal of its central character had been less Saint-like, her home life had been better developed, and some of the dialogue had been less expository. Words of War is an efficient drama with elements of a thriller that, despite its flaws, should appeal to those looking for an interesting mixture of history and fiction.

Words of War is now available to watch in US theaters.