THE BAD PATRIOTS: AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW

The English writer Oscar Wilde said, “Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious”. In The Bad Patriots, a conversation between the director Victor Fraga, the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and veteran social realist film director, Ken Loach, takes steps to reveal the viciousness of patriotism and its bias of nationalism over humanist values. Recorded at the Sands Film Studio of Rotherhithe, London, Fraga leads the interview with Corbyn and Loach, two men who have been derided by the mainstream media for their socialist politics and sympathies with disparaging name-calling: “anti-British,” “spineless,” “out-of-touch,” “terrorist-sympathisers,” and “communists”.

It’s interesting that Fraga chooses to call his documentary, The Bad Patriots, whose subject of censorship and the media feels mistitled. The interview, however, reveals a relationship between the political establishment and the media, who, together, author the expectations of what makes a so-called ‘good’ Briton. Fraga, Corbyn and Loach’s conversation not only shows the viscousness of patriotism but delineates it to mean a type of conformity. Then, based on popular opinion, the individual is graded either good or bad.

Loach has been a progressive presence since his early career. Corbyn references this when he brings up how the director’s 1966 film, Cathy Come Home, about a young woman’s struggle within the welfare system, had the wherewithal to influence and shift political policy.

Another interesting observation by Corbyn is how The Guardian claims “its liberal roots,” but it remains with the establishment and is not the leftist voice the popular narrative suggests. The Bad Patriots also has a critical gaze towards the BBC’s conservative metamorphosis over the years. Despite once being a “pillar of the establishment,” it had guts, and was unafraid to make proverbial waves, unlike today’s BBC run by too many public-school boys.

Loach’s discussion of the BBC leads into his experiences of censorship across both public and private broadcasters—ITV and Channel 4. He talks about these instances in his introductory interview, the meat of which is an early documentary for the BBC, and a documentary series on the trade union disputes for the newly established Channel 4, which was beleaguered by bureaucratic wrangling with the subjects. Loach tells an amusing story about when he and his young and rebellious friends switched the reels to include a benign Leon Trotsky quote they were told they couldn’t air. The punishment—a verbal telling off for being naughty.

There are few better equipped to talk about the hostility of the British media and its role in censoring through misinformation. However, Fraga’s willingness to indulge his subjects, especially Corbyn, who gives a few too many, albeit interesting examples in his introduction about how the media has misrepresented him, compromises the integrity of the film. It veers in moments to a fly-on-the-wall observation of like-minded friends sat in the pub and putting the world to rights. The inevitable push-back against the film will be to brand it as ‘woke’ lefties getting on their soap box, regurgitating worn and tired complaints and ideas.

It’s obvious Fraga is attempting to deconstruct the popular myth of liberal and progressive Britain, where he now resides. After emigrating from Brazil, he lived in London, as well as in Germany, France, Russia and the United States, before feeling London beckon him back. The Bad Patriots is an important film from the point-of-view that it challenges self-made myths, and the moral superiority and integrity western powers project outward.

The Bad Patriots, however, is indicative of the current stalemate we have reached—the political, cultural and social conversation stagnated by an intense adversarial standoff.

The conversation might not dig as deep as it could, but it remains a fascinating conversational piece. Fraga, a critical and politically engaged thinker, is a suitable interviewer. However, he misjudges his onscreen participation. Loosely edited by Fraga and his editor, Valnei Nunes, the pair stumble into awkward cutaways to him while Corbyn or Loach are answering his questions. This isn’t motivated by choice but necessity.

The director is possibly overconfident in the recurring stock footage montage, with Adrian Bracken’s voiceover making derisive comments about Corbyn and Loach to resolve this lethargy. He also fails to visually frame himself in an interesting and engaging way to open the film. Instead, he gets lost in the process and routine of readying the studio. Then, by unnecessarily inserting himself into the film during the conversation, he fails to identify himself in the epilogue.

The Bad Patriots could have or should be essential viewing, but it is limited by its aesthetic ambition, likely dictated by budget. Still, it will nudge audiences to think more deeply about the world around them. In those that are open minded, it might well stir an agency and more importantly empower them.