A 2006 film with dark political satire by Robert Howard, starring Donald Sutherland and Ralph Fiennes. It explores themes of revolution, terrorism, freedom and memory, playing on many real historical examples.
Opening in a land aptly named Everycountry ruled by Maximilian II ("Baby Max") (Tom Hollander), son of a Mussolini-like dictator, it revolves around Joe, a prison guard (Ralph Fiennes) and imprisoned dissident writer Thorne (Donald Sutherland).
Thorne speaks with Joe, impressing him by his idealistic convictions, protesting his treatment by refusing to wear a prison uniform and using his own feces to write on the walls. Maximilian II, or Junior, is shown to be dangerously unstable, running the country's film industry and churning out cheap action movies.
Publicity of Thorne's protest raises opposition, and Baby Max orders him tortured into a false confession on live TV. It backfires when Thorne blinks Morse code to say it's been forced. In the end, he is released and made a member of Parliament, on the lines of Nelson Mandela.
Unfortunately, it soon becomes clear Thorne is even worse, and he institutes a new dictatorship, which Joe soon opposes as well.
This film contains examples of:
- 2 + Torture = 5: The new regime apparently mandates vegetarianism, and forces dissidents in the re-education camps to recite: "A dry crust of bread is better than nothing, but nothing is better than a big juicy steak. Therefore, a dry crust of bread is better than a big juicy steak." Plus of course "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down."
- Call-Back: "Nothing is better than a big juicy steak."
- Four Terms Fallacy: People are taught in the reeducation camps that:
But nothing is better than a big juicy steak.
Therefore, a dry crust of bread is better than a big juicy steak.
- Full-Circle Revolution: People become disgusted with the new regime, overthrowing it also.
- Kangaroo Court: When the rebels storm the palace, Thorne gives the dictator "Baby Max" and his wife a show trial of perhaps ten minutes. He's the judge, while one of the others is the prosecutor. Naturally, he gives them both the death sentence and carries it out himself.
- La Résistance: Citizens for Justice and Democracy, an opposition movement that become terrorists due to government repression. When they take over, it doesn't go well.
- Meet the New Boss: "Under the old regime man exploited man, but since the revolution it's the other way around."
- Mind Screw: Either Joe imagined most of the movie before he got put into the reeducation camp and then prison, or the regimes are very good at covering their tracks. Also, the reeducation itself.
- Persecuted Intellectuals: One of the signs the new regime is as bad as the old one is that they round up intellectuals and send them to re-education camps.
- Rebel Leader: Thorne, who began as a dissident playwright, headed the opposition, and was imprisoned for sedition. Inside he becomes steadily more extreme. After he wins, his regime becomes even worse, reminiscent of Mao, Khomeini & co.
- Rebellious Rebel: Joe becomes one of these when he realizes that their Rebel Leader is more than just a Well-Intentioned Extremist but a Knight Templar.
- Regime Change: The dictator is killed and his regime overthrown, but the revolution turns out just as bad or worse. Later it happens again, with the dictator's nephew installed.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Like many Real Life examples, they are no heroes themselves upon taking power. Even before taking power it is specifically mentioned that they bomb soft targets and impose "order" by force in lawless areas, collecting "taxes" by kneecapping people who refuse it, possibly referencing tactics of the IRA in Northern Ireland. After they're in power, of course, things go even more wrong.
- Russian Reversal: Joe acidly remarks to Thorne: "Under the old regime, man exploited man, but since the revolution it's the other way around."
- Shout-Out: Tons of them.
- Maximilian I resembles Mussolini, Thorne resembles Karl Marx, his writing on the prison walls with feces resembles the IRA "dirty protest", "Baby Max" is a probable reference to Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, son/successor of Haitian dictator Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, his obsession with movies (and use of national resources to make really bad ones) appears to reference Kim Jong Il's history, and his overy long and ridiculous array of titles directly reference those of Idi Amin.
- The reeducation camps are much like those various communist regimes used, the reference to separating children from their parents and imprisoning intellectuals may refer to the practices of the Khmer Rouge and the clothing women are made to wear is very similar to that of Islamist Iran.
- Thorne's death scene is a visual reference to "The Death of Marat", and Joe's situation at the end explicitly echoes that of Rudolf Hess.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: "I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of such a unit, sir." (That is, Battalion Six, an elite anti-terrorist army unit.)
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: Referenced in the reeducation camp slogan of "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down" and explicit with the revolution's (claimed) egalitarian goals (though as with most such regimes they end up very unequal).
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: The Citizens for Justice and Democracy fought a mad dictator, but used terrorist tactics themselves and turned out even worse in power.