Before the SXSW screening of his new satire Four Lions at the Paramount on Friday, director Chris Morris preempted one inevitable Q from the post-screening Q&A. “The most common question about the film is, ‘Why make a comedy about terrorism?'”
It made a lot of sense that his film played straight before the final SXSW showing of American: The Bill Hicks Story. Morris is not only of the best satirists Britain has ever produced, but one of the most controversial. He even has his own “kicked off Letterman”-style moment (Just Google “Chris Morris Brass Eye Michael Grade” or “Chris Morris nonce sense” to get some clue on his tortured history.)
Even with his reputation as a modern Jonathan Swift, potential backers eyed the project like it was “Delicious like a lobster and revolting like a locust.” Beforehand, when he was stuck in the four year development process, his wife had kindly told him, “Even if it’s shit, well done. At least you made a film.”
After thanking the audience for helping him give “the middle finger” to the non-process of developing a film, Morris had an easy time defending his film against accusations that it was either pro- or anti-Islamic. His intention, he said, was always to make a film that could be funded “either by the CIA or a mosque.”
The response from cast, crew and viewers (especially the SXSW crowd) so far has been very positive, not least because Morris’ movie brings out the ridiculous humanity in his actors in a way that transcends any one cultural descriptor. Out of the five central characters, all of whom play wannabe-Jihadists, three of the actors are Muslim, one is an Iranian Christian, and the fifth is Jewish. The film has already been sold in Saudi Arabia and Israel. At a screening in the film’s location of the ethnically diverse English city of Sheffield, Morris said, “There were laughs from the Asian side, laughs from the white side, and laughs from everyone.”
When asked by an audience member about the intention behind the film, Morris took a couple of seconds. “Mm. The message thing,” he mused. After a brief bouncing around of ideas, he summed up what it was really about. “Most loud bangs aren’t bombs. They’re mopeds backfiring.”
This article appears in March 19 • 2010.
