Four Lions
Four Lions | |
---|---|
Wild Bunch Warp Films | |
Distributed by | Optimum Releasing |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 97 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Languages | English Urdu Arabic Punjabi |
Budget | £2.5 million[1] |
Box office | $6.1 million[2] |
Four Lions (originally titled We Are Four Lions) is a 2010 British
Plot
A group of four radicalised British Muslim men living in
The group disagrees about what the target should be. Barry wants to bomb a local
After the group begins production of the explosives, Hassan is left alone to watch the safe house as Barry takes Waj and Faisal out to a field for a test detonation of a small amount of
The group drives to London in their costumes to prepare for the attack. Waj expresses doubts about the morality of their plot, but Omar convinces him to go through with it. A police officer approaches the group but is satisfied and leaves after a brief conversation. Hassan loses his nerve and tries to alert the officer but is killed when Barry detonates his bomb remotely. The remaining three panic and run away, and the police search for them.
Omar has a change of heart, feeling guilt about manipulating the easily led Waj into dying for a cause he does not understand and attempts to prevent the attack. Two police snipers receive Omar's description, and one of them shoots at him as he tries to blend in with the runners but mistakenly kills a bystander in a
Omar hurries to a nearby mobile phone store to buy a new SIM card to contact Waj but leaves empty-handed due to the frustratingly slow employees and convoluted signup process. He spots a colleague and borrows his phone. He attempts to talk Waj down, but his call is interrupted when the police charge in and kill the remaining hostage, whom they mistake for Waj. Confused, Waj detonates his bomb, killing everyone in the kebab shop. Distraught, Omar walks into a nearby Boots pharmacy and detonates his bomb.
In an epilogue, it is revealed that the police later arrested Omar's innocent brother as a terrorist; that they deflect responsibility for shooting the hostage and bystander; and that Omar unknowingly killed Osama bin Laden when misfiring his rocket in Pakistan.
Cast
- Riz Ahmed as Omar, a security guard with a slight temper who is the leader and the most rational of the terrorist cell
- Kayvan Novak as Waj, Omar's dim-witted and anxious cousin; although dim-witted, he has enough sense to consult Omar or Barry before making decisions
- Nigel Lindsay as Barry / Azzam Al-Britani, a rash convert with an explosive temper and the founder of the "Islamic State of Tinsley" who often comes to blows with Omar over who leads
- Adeel Akhtar as Faisal, a dim-witted and naive member who always trusts Barry. He has a father who sees "creatures" that are not there.
- Arsher Ali as Hassan Malik, a rapper who joins the cell after Barry witnesses him pretending to blow himself up in protest at a conference
- Craig Parkinson as Matt, a security guard and Omar's coworker
- Preeya Kalidas as Sofia, Omar's wife and a nurse in a local hospital
- Julia Davis as Alice
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Ed, a Special Branch Negotiator
- Alex Macqueen as Malcolm Storge MP, a member of the Counter Terrorism Strategy Unit
- Kevin Eldon as Sniper
- Darren Boyd as Sniper
- Mohammad Aqil as Mahmood, Omar's young son
- Wazim Takir as Ahmed, Omar's devoutly conservative but pacifistbrother
- William El-Gardi as Khalid
Production
Morris spent three years researching the project, speaking to terrorism experts, police, the secret service, and imams, as well as ordinary Muslims, and writing the script in 2007.[4][5] In a separate interview, he asserts that the research predated the 7 July 2005 London bombings:
It was an attempt to figure it out, to ask, "What's going on with this?" This [the "War on Terror"] is something that's commanding so much of our lives, shaping so much of our culture, turning this massive political wheel. I was wondering what this new game was all about. But then 7/7 hit that with a fairly large impact, in that we were suddenly seeing all these guys with a Hovis accent. Suddenly you're not dealing with an amorphous Arab world so much as with British people who have been here quite a long time and who make curry and are a part of the landscape. So you've got a double excavation going on.[6]
Chris Morris explained that Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain were brought into the project as "experts in the school of male psychology, plus they have technical expertise and experience of comedy dialogue."[7] Armstrong and Bain provided the first script, which Morris subsequently rewrote and edited.[7]
Morris suggested in a mass email, titled "Funding Mentalism", that fans could contribute between £25 and £100 each to the production costs of the film and would appear as extras in return.[8] Funding was secured in October 2008 from Film 4 Productions and Warp Films, with Derrin Schlesinger & Mark Herbert producing. Filming began in Sheffield in May 2009, with scenes being filmed the City Centre, Meadowhall Shopping Centre and the district of Meersbrook.[9][10]
Morris has described the film as a farce, which exposes the "Dad's Army side to terrorism".[11] During the making of the film, the director sent the script to former Guantánamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg. Begg has said that he found nothing in the script that would be offensive to British Muslims. Riz Ahmed also contacted Begg, to ask whether the subject matter was "too raw". When the film was completed, Begg was given a special screening and said that he enjoyed it.[12]
The film's music supervisor was Phil Canning.[13] The song "Avril 14th" by electronic musician Aphex Twin plays during the film's ending credits.[14][15]
Release
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2010[16] and was short-listed for the festival's World Cinema Narrative prize.[17][18] Introducing the film's premiere, Morris said: "I feel in a weird way that this is a good-hearted film. It's not a hate film, so I would hope that aspect would come through."[19]
The UK première took place at the
Despite its acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival, Four Lions failed to find a distributor in the U.S. for nine months, until the newly formed
Four Lions was released in the UK on DVD and Blu-ray on 30 August 2010, and in the U.S. on 8 March 2011.[26]
Reception
Critical response
Four Lions received positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 83%, based on 139 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The site's consensus reads, "Its premise suggests brazenly tasteless humor, but Four Lions is actually a smart, pitch-black comedy that carries the unmistakable ring of truth."[27] Metacritic gives the film a score of 68 out of 100, based on 28 critics.[28]
Upon its screening at Sundance, the Los Angeles Times and The Hollywood Reporter gave the film positive reviews, the latter describing the film as "a brilliant takedown of the imbecility of fanaticism" drawing comparisons with This Is Spinal Tap (1984) and The Three Stooges.[31]
Amongst the reviewers that gave the film negative and mixed reviews were Nigel Andrews of the Financial Times, who called the film a "spectacular miss"[32] and The Guardian's Jeremy Kay, who wrote "as a satire on terror, Four Lions seems to be a missed opportunity".[33] Andrew Pulver, also writing for The Guardian, gave the film a more favourable review, stating that "Chris Morris is still the most incendiary figure working in the British entertainment industry".[34]
Box office
Despite an initial release on just 115 screens across the UK, the film was successful at the box office on its opening weekend, generating the highest site average of all the new releases (£5,292) and making a total of £609,000. According to the Official Top 10 UK Film Chart (7–9 May 2010), Four Lions was placed at sixth, behind
As of 8 August 2010, Four Lions grossed £2,932,366 at the UK box office.[37] As of 2013, Four Lions' worldwide gross was $6,149,356.[38]
Accolades
Time magazine rated the film as among Top 10 movies of 2010.[39]
The lead actors,
At the
.See also
References
- ^ "Key Concepts : The British Film Industry: Four Lions (2010, Warp Films)". 17 May 2010.
- ^ "Four Lions (2010) - International Box Office Results - Box Office Mojo".
- ^ Richardson, Jay (25 January 2009). "The prolific writing trio behind Peep Show and The Thick of It tell why they're pushing the mainstream so close to the edge". The Scotsman. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
- ^ Chris Morris (25 November 2007). "The Absurd world of Martin Amis". The Observer. London. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
- ^ Fraser, Nick (24 January 2010). "Four Lions: How satirist Chris Morris fixed his eye on ideology and bombers". The Observer. London. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ Brooks, Xan (1 May 2010). "Chris Morris: 'Bin Laden doesn't really do jokes'". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
- ^ a b c Wray, Daniel Dylan (30 July 2020). "'I Was Told It Was Career Suicide' – The Oral History of 'Four Lions'". Vice. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ Moats, David (13 October 2008). "Chris Morris announces Jihad Film / Needs money". The Quietus. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
- ^ "Chris Morris directing something on The Moor this lunch". Sheffield Forums. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
- ^ "Set Shot From Chris Morris' Four Lions". Bleeding Cool. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
- ^ Roberts, Geneviève (6 January 2009). "Wannabe suicide bombers beware: Chris Morris movie gets go-ahead". The Independent. London. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
- ^ Akbar, Arifa (30 April 2010). "The Diary: Moazzam Begg; Justin Adams and Juldeh Camar; Lisa Jewell; Election Drama; Colm Toibin". The Independent. London. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
- ^ "Phil Canning". bfi.org.uk. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
- ^ Al Horner (14 April 2017). "Aphex Twin's 'Avril 14th': How Drukqs' piano lullaby became a runaway pop culture hit". Fact. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
- ^ Beta, Andy (3 November 2015). ""avril altdelay" by Aphex Twin Review". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
- ^ "Chris Morris's terrorist comedy premieres at Sundance". BBC News. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
- ^ Aftab, Kaleem (25 January 2010). "First Night: Four Lions, Sundance Film Festival". The Independent. London. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
- ^ "2010 Sundance Film Festival announces films in competition". Sundance Film Festival. 2010. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
- ^ Wilkinson, Amber (17 February 2010). "Roaring into controversy?: Chris Morris on his inspiration for suicide bomber comedy Four Lions – and why he isn't worried about the press". Eye For Film. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
- National Media Museum. Retrieved 24 March 2010. [dead link]
- ^ "Four Lions Sundance diary". The Guardian. London. 6 February 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
- ^ Chang, Justin (24 January 2010). "Four Lions Review – Read Variety's Analysis of The Movie Four Lions". Variety. New York. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ "Chris Morris Four Lions UK Premiere BIFF 2010". YouTube. Retrieved 14 May 2010.[dead YouTube link]
- ^ Walters, Ben (10 November 2010). "Chris Morris pushes Four Lions but America fails to bite". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
- ^ "Chris Morris Interview". The A.V. Club. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ^ "Four Lions (2010) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
- ^ "Four Lions". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Four Lions". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ Sandhu, Sukhdev (6 May 2010). "Four Lions, review". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
- ^ "Four Lions: film review and trailer". Daily Express. London. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
- ^ "Sundance 2010: 'Four Lions' is scary funny". Los Angeles Times. 26 January 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
- ^ "Sundance film festival". Financial Times. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
- ^ Kay, Jeremy (25 January 2010). "Chris Morris's Four Lions: a mixed dish that fails to satisfy". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
- ^ Pulver, Andrew (25 March 2010). "Four Lions review". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Gant, Charles (11 May 2010). "Four Lions has roaring weekend at UK box office". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ "Four Lions screenings doubled despite calls for ban". BBC. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ "UK Box Office: 6 - 8 August 2010". UK Film Council. 6–8 August 2010. Archived from the original on 16 August 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
- ^ Four Lions at Box Office Mojo
- ^ "The Top 10 Everything of 2010". Time. Archived from the original on 12 December 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ "British Comedy Awards 2010". The BCA. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ "Film Awards Winners in 2011". Bafta. Archived from the original on 10 January 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
External links
- Official U.S. website
- Four Lions at IMDb
- Four Lions at British Comedy Guide
- Chris Morris's Four Lions: exclusive clip from the 'jihadist comedy' (guardian.co.uk)
- Podcast interview with Chris Morris (daily.greencine.com)
- "'Four Lions': Al-Qaida in Clown Suits". All Things Considered. 1 November 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
- "A Comedy About Terrorists?". Tell Me More. 12 November 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2011.