Film Review

Death of a President

Directed by British filmmaker Gabriel Range, Death Of A President is a mockumentary, set in the near future after the fictitious October, 2007 assassination of U.S. President George Bush. Range uses standard documentary techniques, interspersing “live” event footage (in this case, some of it is actual events and other staged events) with interviews with different personalities central to the story. He makes the film as realistic as possible by using real footage (Bush making a public speech to the Economic Club of Chicago, scenes of anti-Bush protests, clips of interviews with Bush and other members of his administration) mixed with what he’s filmed. The effect is chillingly realistic, for example, scenes of anti-Bush protests include signs denouncing the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and Iran as well. Interview clips with Bush are mixed with faked reports by news analysts to suggest the U.S. has already attacked Iran and is preparing to attack North Korea.

The first half of the film centres on the buildup to the assassination, with staged scenes of protestors breaking through the president’s motorcade and actually touching the presidential limousine. We also see the police assault on protestors, which includes beatings, tear gas and the use of clubs. The brutality is made more chilling by the self-justification employed by the actor playing the head of the Chicago Police Department. He explains in one of the interview clips that he respects the right of people to protest, but that right is gone when they begin to use violence, a comment followed by clips of the police assaulting demonstrators who are doing nothing more than chanting. There are also scenes of police agents sent into the protest, ostensibly to keep track of the leaders but also to try and incite actions that will provide the justification for the police to crack down.

The second half of the movie is both a whodunit and an indictment of U.S. imperialism. Much as September 11 was used by the Bush administration to further fascize the American state through the enactment of the Patriot Act and other measures, the Bush assassination is the pretext for enacting Patriot 3, which further extends these state powers. Of course, the assassination is also used as the pretext for furthering U.S. imperial aims in the Middle East. On the basis of flimsy forensic evidence, a Syrian-American is identified as the primary suspect in the attack on Bush, and within hours of the assassination, newly sworn-in President Cheney is pressuring the intelligence community to provide evidence linking Syria to the attack. There is even a Syrian ex-patriot who begins making the rounds of the news shows swearing that he saw evidence that the Syrians were planning to assassinate Bush. It would all seem so far fetched, except that it mirrors the blatant lies and falsified intelligence used to justify the Iraq invasion. (Fiction, in this case, echoes the truth).

One of the strengths of Death of a President is the way it shatters the much-cherished illusion that U.S. imperialism can be reduced to one or two individuals who are evil. Whether or not Bush is bad (or even, as some would argue, an idiot) is not an issue to Ranger. Indeed, one of the film’s most sympathetic characters is Eleanor Drake, Bush’s speechwriter, whose reminiscences in the interview clips portray Bush with warmth and affection.

Bush’s assassination does not in any way deal a blow to U.S. imperialism, despite the cheers with which the news is greeted by some of the protestors. Indeed, it provides the basis for furthering the U.S. imperial agenda. While not implicitly stated, it’s also clear that the assassination ends up weakening the anti-imperialist protest movements.

Perhaps if the movie had simply been about Bush being evil, it would have been distributed in the U.S. As it is, every major theatre chain in the U.S. has refused to screen it. This is unfortunate, as it should be mandatory viewing for all those on the left who say U.S. imperialism can be weakened by supporting more progressive Democrats or more moderate Republicans.

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