SALON

Friday, May 31, 2013 12:00 AM UTC

Pick of the week: Inside an “eco-terror” cell

Pick of the week: Rising indie star Brit Marling plays an undercover agent in the anarchist left in "The East"

By

Topics: Movies, Our Picks, Our Picks: Movies, Terrorism, Eco-Terrorism, Earth Liberation Front, The East, Zal Batmanglij, Brit Marling, Thrillers, Editor's Picks,

Pick of the week: Inside an Ellen Page and Alexander Skarsgård in "The East"

In the new indie thriller “The East,” Brit Marling – a tall and severe-looking blonde who’s carving out an unconventional career as an actress and screenwriter – plays a secret agent named Jane who is sent undercover into an organization widely seen as a terrorist group. From that familiar genre-movie setup, “The East” pursues its own path: Jane tells her boyfriend that she’s flying from Washington to Dubai, but instead she leaves the airport, changes from business wear into scruffy clothes and makes her way here and there via bicycle and freight train and ride-sharing, eventually landing in a rural commune near Pittsburgh.

“The East,” which is co-written by Marling and director Zal Batmanglij, adroitly suspends judgment both about Jane (who renames herself Sarah) and about the anarchist or “eco-terrorist” collective she penetrates, which is presented neither as a creepazoid cult nor as unambiguously heroic. Ultimately I think the story could do with a clearer and more passionate point of view; it’s as if the icy, rational detachment Marling projects as an actress also defines the worldview defined by the script and Batmanglij’s directorial choices. But at its best “The East” comes close to being the morally murky film about anti-corporate resistance that we (or at least I) have been waiting for.

Jane/Sarah does not work for any government agency, but rather a Blackwater-like private security firm whose mission is defending its clients from hacking, vandalism or espionage that might affect profits or drive down stock prices. As her coolly maternal boss (Patricia Clarkson) reminds her, it isn’t their job to protect anyone who hasn’t paid handsomely for it, and the only reason they ever share intel with the FBI is to limit their exposure to prosecution or lawsuits. So she essentially represents no values whatever, not even right-wing or jingoistic ones, beyond the pure acquisitive hunger of capitalism. When she eventually meets the underground collective who call themselves The East, on the other hand, its members are driven by an almost biblical sense of morality. They invade a CEO’s house and flood it with his own company’s toxic sludge; they dose everyone at a pharmaceutical industry shindig with a lucrative new antibiotic that has alarming side effects.

Ultimately, I guess Marling and Batmanglij want to argue in favor of a middle-ground reformist social policy that’s somewhere in between the absolute nullity of corporate whoredom and eye-for-an-eye vendetta campaigns derived from half-baked philosophy seminars. That’s politically reasonable and all, but it also means that the journey we take during “The East” is a lot more interesting than the destination, and it conveys a false impression of what the film is actually about. Seeking revenge on evil corporations is essentially a metaphor; this movie, like Batmanglij and Marling’s earlier mind-bender “Sound of My Voice,” addresses more mysterious topics like the perversity of group dynamics, the limits of human knowledge and even the nature of religious conversion or awakening.

In “Sound of My Voice,” Marling played a Los Angeles cult leader who claims to be a damaged prophet from the future. (Come to think of it, she’s supposed to be sick because she grew up on the poisoned planet that lies a few generations ahead of us.) A couple who join her group, convinced that she’s a huckster and seeking a journalistic scoop, are swept into a romantic triangle with Marling’s Maggie, who is both seductive and manipulative whether or not she’s a time traveler. In the end, Marling and Batmanglij felt honor-bound to resolve the mystery with a standard science-fiction resolution – or, to be fair, with two competing possible resolutions – when the power of the film lay in its mood of menace and its (sorry!) epistemological uncertainty.

One could say that uncertainty is even more on the surface in “The East,” even if the film’s atmosphere is not quite so claustrophobic. Jane is apparently a Christian conservative who finds herself alternately seduced and repulsed by The East, an Earth Liberation Front-type group that claims to be leaderless but nonetheless clusters around the handsome and charismatic Benji (Alexander Skarsgård). While this is not a perfect portrayal of the anarchist underground, a world I have personally encountered at arm’s length, at least it’s free of the usual clichés and reflects some actual understanding and research. Marling’s best scene comes when Jane pulls a discarded apple out of a trash can in front of the horrified Clarkson and eats it, to demonstrate how The East has forced her out of the Matrix-bubble of consumerism and waste.

A strong ensemble cast is headed by Shiloh Fernandez, Toby Kebbell and Ellen Page, as a relentless little firebrand named Izzy who never hesitates to stand up to Benji and turns out to have her own highly personal agenda. If The East has some off-putting groupy-group rituals – wearing straitjackets to dinner and feeding each other with wooden spoons; playing games of Spin the Bottle that stop just short of group sex – they’re nowhere near being the Manson family. The group’s loyalty and affection for each other are unforced, and while there are certainly potent intra-group dynamics, no one is prevented from leaving. (Indeed, the group periodically disbands and reunites on a voluntary basis, an anarchist nuance I’ve never seen captured in a movie before.) Their corporate targets are carefully chosen, and in the greater moral balance, the group’s crimes are distinctly small potatoes.

Indeed, I would say the central question of “The East,” which is almost but not quite the truly terrific movie that Batmanglij and Marling are going to make one day, is that of how to manage the cognitive dissonance between competing worldviews: the purely instrumental one held by the soulless slaves of our corporate overlords or the (perhaps) overly idealistic one held by the doomed, ragtag forces of resistance. It’s not that the movie fails to take sides, or argues some bogus moral equivalence; Jane/Sarah makes decisions that endanger both her livelihood and her life, and as flawed as Benji may be, he possesses the genuine gift of prophecy (again, like Marling’s character in “Sound of My Voice”). It’s more that the filmmakers close out this oddly inspiring yarn of apocalypse and paranoia with a note of false reassurance. Yes, the world is fundamentally screwed and most people are apathetic or paralyzed. So start ringing doorbells!

“The East” opens this week at the AMC Lincoln Square and Sunshine Cinema in New York and the ArcLight Hollywood and Landmark in Los Angeles. It opens June 7 in Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Calif., Toronto and Washington, with wider release to follow.

Andrew O

More Andrew O'Hehir.

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

7 motorist-friendly camping sites

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Sponsored Post

  • White River National Forest via Lower Crystal Lake, Colorado
    For those OK with the mainstream, White River Forest welcomes more than 10 million visitors a year, making it the most-visited recreation forest in the nation. But don’t hate it for being beautiful; it’s got substance, too. The forest boasts 8 wilderness areas, 2,500 miles of trail, 1,900 miles of winding service system roads, and 12 ski resorts (should your snow shredders fit the trunk space). If ice isn’t your thing: take the tire-friendly Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway — 82 miles connecting the towns of Meeker and Yampa, half of which is unpaved for you road rebels.
    fs.usda.gov/whiteriveryou


    Image credit: Getty

  • Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest via Noontootla Creek, Georgia
    Boasting 10 wildernesses, 430 miles of trail and 1,367 miles of trout-filled stream, this Georgia forest is hailed as a camper’s paradise. Try driving the Ridge and Valley Scenic Byway, which saw Civil War battles fought. If the tall peaks make your engine tremble, opt for the relatively flat Oconee National Forest, which offers smaller hills and an easy trail to the ghost town of Scull Shoals. Scaredy-cats can opt for John’s Mountain Overlook, which leads to twin waterfalls for the sensitive sightseer in you.
    fs.usda.gov/conf


    Image credit: flickr/chattoconeenf

  • Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area via Green Road, Michigan
    The only national forest in Lower Michigan, the Huron-Mainstee spans nearly 1 million acres of public land. Outside the requisite lush habitat for fish and wildlife on display, the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is among the biggest hooks for visitors: offering beach camping with shores pounded by big, cerulean surf. Splash in some rum and you just might think you were in the Caribbean.
    fs.usda.gov/hmnf


    Image credit: umich.edu

  • Canaan Mountain via Backcountry Canaan Loop Road, West Virginia
    A favorite hailed by outdoorsman and author Johnny Molloy as some of the best high-country car camping sites anywhere in the country, you don’t have to go far to get away. Travel 20 miles west of Dolly Sods (among the busiest in the East) to find the Canaan Backcountry (for more quiet and peace). Those willing to leave the car for a bit and foot it would be remiss to neglect day-hiking the White Rim Rocks, Table Rock Overlook, or the rim at Blackwater River Gorge.
    fs.usda.gov/mnf


    Image credit: Getty

  • Mt. Rogers NRA via Hurricane Creek Road, North Carolina
    Most know it as the highest country they’ll see from North Carolina to New Hampshire. What they may not know? Car campers can get the same grand experience for less hassle. Drop the 50-pound backpacks and take the highway to the high country by stopping anywhere on the twisting (hence the name) Hurricane Road for access to a 15-mile loop that boasts the best of the grassy balds. It’s the road less travelled, and the high one, at that.
    fs.usda.gov/gwj


    Image credit: wikipedia.org

  • Long Key State Park via the Overseas Highway, Florida
    Hiking can get old; sometimes you’d rather paddle. For a weekend getaway of the coastal variety and quieter version of the Florida Keys that’s no less luxe, stick your head in the sand (and ocean, if snorkeling’s your thing) at any of Long Key’s 60 sites. Canoes and kayaks are aplenty, as are the hot showers and electric power source amenities. Think of it as the getaway from the typical getaway.
    floridastateparks.org/longkey/default.cfm


    Image credit: floridastateparks.org

  • Grand Canyon National Park via Crazy Jug Point, Arizona
    You didn’t think we’d neglect one of the world’s most famous national parks, did you? Nor would we dare lead you astray with one of the busiest parts of the park. With the Colorado River still within view of this cliff-edge site, Crazy Jug is a carside camper’s refuge from the troops of tourists. Find easy access to the Bill Hall Trail less than a mile from camp, and descend to get a peek at the volcanic Mt. Trumbull. (Fear not: It’s about as active as your typical lazy Sunday in front of the tube, if not more peaceful.)
    fs.usda.gov/kaibab


    Image credit: flickr/Irish Typepad

  • As the go-to (weekend) getaway car for fiscally conscious field trips with friends, the 2013 MINI Convertible is your campground racer of choice, allowing you and up to three of your co-pilots to take in all the beauty of nature high and low. And with a fuel efficiency that won’t leave you in the latter, you won’t have to worry about being left stranded (or awkwardly asking to go halfsies on gas expenses).


    Image credit: miniusa.com

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Related Videos

Comments

 19 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Let's Stop Screwing Around and Impeach James Clapper: After lying to Congress about all the different ways the NSA's spying on us, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lies about how he lied. Call the White House at 202 456-1111 and Tell Obama to Get Rid of Clapper
493 points494 points | 24 comments
vote
Let's Stop Screwing Around and Impeach James Clapper: After lying to Congress about all the different ways the NSA's spying on us, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lies about how he lied. Call the White House at 202 456-1111 and Tell Obama to Get Rid of Clapper
386 points387 points | 30 comments
vote
Yes, there is a better search engine (1998)
93 points94 points | 26 comments
vote
Machiavelli doesn’t belong to the 1 percent | "The Prince" is oft-quoted on Wall Street, but its author was a hero of the working class who despised elites
91 points92 points | 33 comments
vote
Let's Stop Screwing Around and Impeach James Clapper: After lying to Congress about all the different ways the NSA's spying on us, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lies about how he lied. Call the White House at 202 456-1111 and Tell Obama to Get Rid of Clapper
85 points86 points | 9 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Joker": Laughing at life's deepest sorrows