QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM VENICE

Topic choice is neither random nor irrelevant. Filmmakers don’t close their eyes and put their hand in a hat in order to pick the theme of their next movie. It is no coincidence that Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel decided to make a film that portrays Jews – which he insidiously conflates with Israel – as victims of political fanaticism at a time when the Middle Eastern country carries out the best-documented genocide in modern history (Israel are the perpetrators, not the victims). The Order tells the real story of white supremacist Robert Jay Matthews.

And this isn’t the only tendentious issue. The focus on Matthew’s alleged Jew-hating credentials is also questionable. The film opens up by conflating the acknowledgement that the Israeli lobby is very powerful (“they want to take over the world”) with drinking human blood and insulting Jewishness (“kike”). This false equivalence represents a subtle attempt to criminalise criticism of Israel. A quick online search suggests that Matthews’s priorities were anticommunism and white separatism. There are very few mentions of his antisemitism. It is extremely disingenuous that Kurzel should bring this secondary trait to the foreground precisely now.

The year is 1983, and the story takes place in the American Northeast, namely the states of Idaho and Washington. Following the dissolution of the Aryan Nation, white supremacist Bob (played by Nicholas Hoult donning a large fringe, presumably in celebration of the Gallagher Brothers’ reunion tour) founds a spin-off cult called The Order. He quickly amasses a large following of equally racist nutjobs. He intends on killing hundreds of innocent people, including the Potus, and implementing a racially pure United States (he describes his followers as “the real Israelites”, and his country as “the promised land”). He takes inspiration from a fictional insurrection novel called The Turner Diaries.

Officer Terry and his juvenile sidekick Jamie devote their full time and attention to investigating a succession of murders and robberies linked to the extremist organisation. The good guys are played by an irresistibly moustached Jude Law, hairy chest at full display, and a more boyish Tye Sheridan, respectively. Bob and his loyal associates successfully burglarise banks and armoured vans, gathering enough funds and experience for the imminent revolution. They kill tolerance radio preacher Alan Berg (Marc Baron), who makes the film’s most interesting piece of social commentary during one of his broadcasts. He describes how fanatics scapegoat vulnerable minorities in order to concoct an enemy and energise their base. Jews are the target on this occasion, but this perverse tactics could be applied to countless groups anywhere on the globe.

The socio-political elements vanish in the second half of this 116-minute film, when it suddenly descends into fully conventional American bang-bang territory. Angry cops, sadistic criminals, a couple of car chases, a major fire, enough bullets to kill the entire state of Idaho, a final face-off between the good and evil, and redemption. The villain happens to be a Jew-hating supremacist, but it could a be a paedophile, a Russian spy, an Italian mafioso or a Chinese gangster. Someone who must be taken down at all costs so that the faith in the United States and and its law enforcement agencies can be reestablished. You have seen it a million times before.

The Order just premiered in the Official Competition of the 81st Venice International Film Festival.