Tonight I’m at the Directors Guild of America in Hollywood to watch a free preview screening of “Fair Game” thanks to Film Independent and their Filmmaker Forum. Usually I only see screenings at the DGA in April (ColCoa), but it was no problem coming here this October night (except for the door on the bus that refused to close for at least ten minutes – a source of amusement and annoyance). Although I arrived later than I planned, people were still in line to enter theatre one and I ended up in the general area that I like to sit.
The film, “Fair Game”, is based on events in which lying to deceive was the modus operandi and the truth was repelled and ignored. CIA agent Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) is a NOC (No Official Cover) covert leader with operations in Kuala Lumpur, Cairo, Amman et. al. who becomes responsible for finding the intelligence on Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) program. As part of this investigation, the CIA sent her husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn), to Niger to check on reports that Iraq had bought a large quantity of yellowcake (a powder formed from the processing of uranium ore) from Niger for use in its nuclear weapons. Wilson’s trip determined that no such sale had taken place, yet this truth was eventually sidestepped by the White House.
A portion of George Bush’s Tuesday 28 January 2003 State of the Union address is shown in which the “sixteen words” are stated – “The British government had learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” This false statement was the basis for sending Americans into a needless war in Iraq (and perhaps the start of Tony Blair’s fall from grace). Unforgivable. Wilson’s refutation of that statement resulted in a backlash from the US government against him and the outing of his wife as a CIA agent. The consequences of the revelation compromised not only Valerie Plame and her operations, but other agents with the same work cover and their operations. All of this because a decision was made to cover up the truth.
The tragedy of the situation was that the Iraqi scientists who could confirm that Iraq did not have a WMD program were not able to be retrieved from Iraq because Valerie’s departure operation for them was stopped. And besides would the United States actually find it in their interest to rescue people who could have debunked the country’s position regarding the reason for entering the war. I think not. What happened to the scientists in Iraq can only be imagined and despaired. Under this type of reality, Valerie and Joseph fight for the truth, while also fighting with each other. Despite White House efforts, the truth does come out. Unfortunately, Valerie’s (and other CIA agents) career is over and the unnecessary Iraq War continues, with causalities of all kinds. Joseph has vindication and the marriage with Valerie does remain intact.
Naomi Watts portrays Valerie Plame as a woman who is good at lying and deceiving in the name of her job, but who just might have a conscious on the cost those qualities have to others. I am not a Sean Penn fan, however he disappears within Joseph Wilson and displays a man determined to have the truth prevail. A treat to see Sam Shepard for a few minutes. Although the truth about the Iraq War has been known for some time now, it is enlightening to see the effects of deceit on an individual level as opposed to a national scale. Which makes everything that much more tragic.
The Q&A session with director Doug Liman was moderated by John August. During the discussion, Liman revealed that he had talked with some former colleagues of Valerie Plame for a more in depth understanding of the whole debacle. “Fair Game” was shot in forty-five days on a budget of twenty-two million dollars. And most of the film was actually shot on location. Liman also said that the Egyptian government hadn’t wanted the Egyptian actor who played the primary Iraqi scientist to act with the Israeli woman who played his sister. You’d think they were still at war. Where is hope?
Film Facts: Director/Cinematographer/Producer: Doug Liman, Writer/Producer: Jez Butterworth, Writers: John-Henry Butterworth, Joseph Wilson, Valerie Plame, Editor: Christopher Tellefsen, Musician: John Powell, Producers: Mohamed Khalaf Al-Mazrouei, Dave Bartis, Gerry Robert Byrne, Kerry Foster, Sean Gesell, Akiva Goldsman, Anadil Hossain, Bill Pohlad, David Sigal, Mari-Jo Winkler, Kim H. Winther, Janet Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Production Companies: River Road Entertainment, Participant Media, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ, Zucker Productions, Weed Road Pictures, Hypnotic, Fair Game Productions
Film Type: Action, Biography, Drama, Thriller, Cast: Naomi Watts (Valerie Plame), Sean Penn (Joseph Wilson), Ty Burrell (Fred), Sam Shepard (Sam Plame), Louis Ozawa Changchien (Nervous Analyst #1), Bruce McGill (Jim Pavitt), Brooke Smith (Diana), Noah Emmerich (Bill), Michael Kelly (Jack), David Denman (Dave), David Andrews (Scooter Libby), Iris Bahr (CPD Agent), David Warshofsky (Peter), Satya Bhabha (Jason Neal), Sunil Malhotra (Ali), Length: 104’, Languages: English, Arabic, French, Countries: United States, United Arab Emirates, Year: 2010
Film Trailer
United State release date Friday 5 November 2010
Images:
Left: Naomi Watts as Valerie Plame from the website movieplayer.it
Center: Graphic interpretation of “Fair Game” created by Adrean Darce Brent
Right: “Fair Game” poster from the website cinemablend.com
The film, “Fair Game”, is based on events in which lying to deceive was the modus operandi and the truth was repelled and ignored. CIA agent Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) is a NOC (No Official Cover) covert leader with operations in Kuala Lumpur, Cairo, Amman et. al. who becomes responsible for finding the intelligence on Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) program. As part of this investigation, the CIA sent her husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn), to Niger to check on reports that Iraq had bought a large quantity of yellowcake (a powder formed from the processing of uranium ore) from Niger for use in its nuclear weapons. Wilson’s trip determined that no such sale had taken place, yet this truth was eventually sidestepped by the White House.
A portion of George Bush’s Tuesday 28 January 2003 State of the Union address is shown in which the “sixteen words” are stated – “The British government had learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” This false statement was the basis for sending Americans into a needless war in Iraq (and perhaps the start of Tony Blair’s fall from grace). Unforgivable. Wilson’s refutation of that statement resulted in a backlash from the US government against him and the outing of his wife as a CIA agent. The consequences of the revelation compromised not only Valerie Plame and her operations, but other agents with the same work cover and their operations. All of this because a decision was made to cover up the truth.
The tragedy of the situation was that the Iraqi scientists who could confirm that Iraq did not have a WMD program were not able to be retrieved from Iraq because Valerie’s departure operation for them was stopped. And besides would the United States actually find it in their interest to rescue people who could have debunked the country’s position regarding the reason for entering the war. I think not. What happened to the scientists in Iraq can only be imagined and despaired. Under this type of reality, Valerie and Joseph fight for the truth, while also fighting with each other. Despite White House efforts, the truth does come out. Unfortunately, Valerie’s (and other CIA agents) career is over and the unnecessary Iraq War continues, with causalities of all kinds. Joseph has vindication and the marriage with Valerie does remain intact.
Naomi Watts portrays Valerie Plame as a woman who is good at lying and deceiving in the name of her job, but who just might have a conscious on the cost those qualities have to others. I am not a Sean Penn fan, however he disappears within Joseph Wilson and displays a man determined to have the truth prevail. A treat to see Sam Shepard for a few minutes. Although the truth about the Iraq War has been known for some time now, it is enlightening to see the effects of deceit on an individual level as opposed to a national scale. Which makes everything that much more tragic.
The Q&A session with director Doug Liman was moderated by John August. During the discussion, Liman revealed that he had talked with some former colleagues of Valerie Plame for a more in depth understanding of the whole debacle. “Fair Game” was shot in forty-five days on a budget of twenty-two million dollars. And most of the film was actually shot on location. Liman also said that the Egyptian government hadn’t wanted the Egyptian actor who played the primary Iraqi scientist to act with the Israeli woman who played his sister. You’d think they were still at war. Where is hope?
Film Facts: Director/Cinematographer/Producer: Doug Liman, Writer/Producer: Jez Butterworth, Writers: John-Henry Butterworth, Joseph Wilson, Valerie Plame, Editor: Christopher Tellefsen, Musician: John Powell, Producers: Mohamed Khalaf Al-Mazrouei, Dave Bartis, Gerry Robert Byrne, Kerry Foster, Sean Gesell, Akiva Goldsman, Anadil Hossain, Bill Pohlad, David Sigal, Mari-Jo Winkler, Kim H. Winther, Janet Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Production Companies: River Road Entertainment, Participant Media, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ, Zucker Productions, Weed Road Pictures, Hypnotic, Fair Game Productions
Film Type: Action, Biography, Drama, Thriller, Cast: Naomi Watts (Valerie Plame), Sean Penn (Joseph Wilson), Ty Burrell (Fred), Sam Shepard (Sam Plame), Louis Ozawa Changchien (Nervous Analyst #1), Bruce McGill (Jim Pavitt), Brooke Smith (Diana), Noah Emmerich (Bill), Michael Kelly (Jack), David Denman (Dave), David Andrews (Scooter Libby), Iris Bahr (CPD Agent), David Warshofsky (Peter), Satya Bhabha (Jason Neal), Sunil Malhotra (Ali), Length: 104’, Languages: English, Arabic, French, Countries: United States, United Arab Emirates, Year: 2010
Film Trailer
United State release date Friday 5 November 2010
Images:
Left: Naomi Watts as Valerie Plame from the website movieplayer.it
Center: Graphic interpretation of “Fair Game” created by Adrean Darce Brent
Right: “Fair Game” poster from the website cinemablend.com
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