Orson Welles once said that getting a whole scene into one shot, a “oner” is what separates the boys from the men in film makers. That French film maker Mathieu Kassovitz gets two out of three “oners” right in his latest Rebellion, is somewhat telling about his film as a whole.
Set in 1988 in the French territory of New Caledonia, Rebellion is the true story of the Ouvea Cave hostage taking where a group of guerrilla fighters took 27 people hostage and demanded their country’s independence from French rule. Kassovitz not only co-wrote and directed the film, but stars in the leading role as Captain Phillipe Legorjus who leads the Special Forces team to find the guerilla’s in the first part of the film that plays like a ‘men on a mission’ war movie before turning into a political thriller as he attempts to negotiate their surrender.
The film is well made and performed. The focus is deliberately placed on the events as they occur, and Kassovitz very rarely dives into how people are feeling or discusses character back stories, which works perfectly for this film. Though becoming heavy handed on occasion, especially when dealing with the group of guerilla’s (who Kassovitz clearly sides with) or the corrupt French officials, the film basically does well in telling the story of a moral man in immoral circumstances. In a rarity for this genre, the film is intelligently written and we come to sympathize fully with both sides of the argument in what is an impossible situation. The only flaw in terms of story is the beginning shot which ruins the ending for those unfamiliar with the events and makes the suspense in the films second half to broker a peace deal much less exciting because we already know what happens.
Kassovitz is clearly a visual film maker. The opening shot of a single take that pulls back in reverse to show the conclusion of hostage situation is stunningly choreographed. It is bettered in the second of the aforementioned “oners” that features the guerilla’s raid on the camp in flashback. The final extended take however is a massive failure in what is clearly meant to be one the films defining moments. Showing the final military assault on the cave, the sequence begins promising, even like it may be the jungle battle equivalent of the bank robbery scene in Heat in terms of sheer impact, but Kassovitz foolishly stays with the shot for far too long and it becomes increasingly frustrating as it loses all sense of choreography. The rest of the film is however, visually exhilarating and well-staged.
Engaging, emotional and mostly well made, Kassovitz has made a welcome return to form after his Hollywood debut Babylon, A.D. and has set a good example of how intelligence can be incorporated into action movies to make them engaging without the derivative repetition of genre clichés.
Rebellion will be theatrically released in Australia on 12 April through Jump Street Films.
