When more than 20 years ago Justin Lin’s debut feature Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) premiered at Sundance, it was described as looking “as glossy and expensive as a mega million studio production”. The same could be said of the Fast & Furious (2009) director’s return both to his independent roots and the Sundance Film Festival. Here his fact-inspired drama Last Days debuts in the Premieres section, reserved for works by more established filmmakers or with prominent actors attached to them. It’s a fitting choice for a film whose slick, polished cinematography immediately evokes the kind of prestigious mainstream biopic into which the two-track plot subsequently unfolds.
John Allen Chau (rather shallow: Sky Yang) is introduced as a starry-eyed believer, not only in a Christian God but in a sanctimonious ideal of “imposing believes upon others”. These words for the ambitious young hero’s – for as such Chau is presented – quest to convert and thereby “save” the secluded tribe previously uncontacted Sentinelese are used by the Indian police officer (Radhika Apte) determined to track him down. Despite the characters’ apparent differences, her devotion to duty and doing the right thing parallels John’s religious devotion. A devotion Lin, despite public statements of being “not particularly religious”, seems to share with his protagonist.
The director’s partiality towards Christianity makes his comparison of the missionary framed in glowing light with the police detective revealed to be queer rather uncomfortable. There is the implication of a “gay agenda” equalling the very real Christian agenda. The second is never acknowledged, let alone analysed. Instead, the generic plot treats its rich and complex material solely as an adventure tale, elevated by its real-life background and tragic outcome. Sketchy family conflicts between John and his parents are quickly dropped in favour of derivative montages of his self-fortification in front of gorgeous nature backdrops: all for a supposedly higher purpose.
A purpose even John’s pious father (Ken Leung) who’d rather see him follow in his footsteps by becoming a doctor, considers “too extreme”. However, the smug self-glorification apparent in John’s actions and his lack of concern for his own stay but also that of the tribe, are never explored. Neither is the broader context of Christian indoctrination and infiltration of which John is as much an agent as a victim. The radical religious institutions and individuals that took part in putting these dangerous, ultimately deadly ideas in an impressionable young person’s head are unequivocally presented as well-meaning, loving and altruistic.
Void of any critique of the bigotry, racism and classism deeply ingrained in missionary work, the generic adventure storyline of Ben Ripley’s one-dimensional screenplay reshape a fervent fundamentalist into a naive nature-guy who just wants to get in touch with nature and spread love. What could have been a timely exploration of the personal and pedagogical roots of extremism, as well as its destructive consequences, ends up an endorsement of these very things. Psychologically shallow and narratively predictable, the tale builds up a martyr in his own right, falling both to entertain and to answer its initial question: “Who was John Chau?”.
Last Days just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
