Chris Morris is the writer and mind behind the peerless media satires 'On The Hour', 'The Day Today', 'Brass Eye' and 'Nathan Barley'. 'Four Lions' is his first feature film, co-written by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. It is a comedy about suicide bombers and its UK provincial premiere was at the Broadway Cinema, Nottingham .
The first third of 'Four Lions' features a scene where four terrorists argue in a Sheffield flat about their ideal target. 'A mosque!' insists one, 'Not a mosque you idiot' counters another, 'Fucking Boots The Chemist!'.
This perfectly captures the 'Four Lions' premise: the difficulty five men have in reconciling the profound, dangerous and exotic nature of international terrorism, with the prosaic, mundane aspects of life in South Yorkshire. And their insurmountable ineptitude.
'It is hard to like muderers, but there is something endearing about anyone struggling.' - Chris Morris
And struggle they do. Perhaps surprisingly for Morris, the humour here is rather traditional. The bombers are clumsy, accident prone and at least two are painfuly simple - attributes we recognise in characters from The Three Stooges to The Chuckle Brothers, Some Mothers Do Have 'Em to Dad's Army. Ah yes! Dad's Army, a show that is a real touchstone when considering Four Lions. In both cases we're following a troop of men utterly unsuited to their task, led by one who believes himself to be a robust leader but who is ultimately hopeless and hopelessly naive. Being trapped is the common thread in all great situation comedy (and this is a sitcom) - either literally (Porridge) or by circumstance (Frazier) and these four lions are trapped by ideology, trapped by confusion and trapped by their limitations.
'I wasn't sure there was anything amusing about terrorist plots until I started to research the subject.'
- Chris Morris
What lifts Four Lions high above crass tastelessness is credibility. We know men from Yorkshire really have planned (and carried out) mass murder with explosives in London. So the context is easy to accept - but it's meticulous detail that allows us to believe these fictional characters are doing the same. Detail from court records to which the director had access.
'I wonder what that ant is thinking ...' 'It's not thinking anything. It's a leaf.' - from a transcript of a bugged terrorist planning meeting.
As Morris points out, it would be impossible to deliver a comedy on this subject, had actual terrorists not actually revealed themselves to be hilariously stupid. Strong sitcom humour derives from reality, hence My Hero is unfunny and Outnumbered succeeds. Terrorists may well be wicked and frightening, but often they are also hapless and daft.
'There's a rhythm to Chris's writing that is irresistable'.
- Jesse Armstrong
That the Four Lions script is splendid is no surprise. Brass Eye and its companion pieces rest on their incomparable use of exaggerated media-isms and Armstrong and Bain write Peep Show. What is praticularly impressive is that three middle class, white men use Asian English and Punjabi so astutely. It would be all too easy to roam into 'It Aint 'Alf 'Ot Mum' territory but there is no hint of such clumsiness.
In fact, it is remarkable that the whole screenplay rolls out without race or politics ever becoming an issue. But that's not to say it is without controversy.
After all, this is a comedy movie about violence and death - and both feature prominently in the second reel.
'There's a rhythm to Chris's writing that is irresistable'.
- Jesse Armstrong
That the Four Lions script is splendid is no surprise. Brass Eye and its companion pieces rest on their incomparable use of exaggerated media-isms and Armstrong and Bain write Peep Show. What is praticularly impressive is that three middle class, white men use Asian English and Punjabi so astutely. It would be all too easy to roam into 'It Aint 'Alf 'Ot Mum' territory but there is no hint of such clumsiness.
In fact, it is remarkable that the whole screenplay rolls out without race or politics ever becoming an issue. But that's not to say it is without controversy.
After all, this is a comedy movie about violence and death - and both feature prominently in the second reel.
'I never set out to be controversial' - Chris Morris
So the key question for any comedy - 'Is it funny?' - is easily answered. It is very funny. One scene involving the purchase of bleach is a contender for one of the most amusing I have ever seen in cinema and the slapstick is superbly executed throughout.
But if there is a flaw in Four Lions, it's this: it sags in the middle. Clearly the film is moving us from gags and absurdity to the hellish truth of suicide bombing but the transition isn't as smooth as it should be. At its mid-point it is neither uproariously funny, nor disturbingly moving.
What's more, it sets up some threads which it chooses not pursue. For instance, Julia Davis' character could well have been excised without any loss of pace or pathos. In short, it feels one edit short of perfection.
Four Lions' trajectory is very similar to the last episode of Blackadder when the endearing idiots are eventually thrown into the line of fire, but it doesn't quite manage to turn the tone quite so effectively.
'What is funny about terrorism? Watch the movie'
- Chris Morris
Morris asserts that he never embarks on a project with offence as a motivator - and I believe him. He clearly finds sensitive issues interesting and taboo full of comic potential but there is nothing to offend the intelligent viewer here. Four Lions did shock me, not because it was inappropriate, but because it made me care about dangerous, desperate men. To reiterate, Four Lions is, at its heart, a traditional sitcom and therefore in many ways, it is Morris' least controversial work. Yet it’s an outstanding film that proves his ingenuity, as he makes you laugh in the face of terror.
Magnus Shaw, April 2010
