Vantage Point
Kaleidoscope
When studying journalism at university, my teachers always insisted that it was necessary to listen to both sides of a fact before writing about it. Well, two is the least you can think of, even if wee see in the end that the same generating fact can have infinite versions, since every person will see it according to his or her perspective. This is the most interesting in the movie “Vantage Point” (USA , 2008).
All the action of the film happens in downtown of the Spanish city of Salamanca (rebuilt in the studio, in Mexico), where a crowd awaits the arrival of the American president (William Hurt), which will propose to the leaders of all countries of the world a new approach to dealing with terrorism, seeking dialogue, rather than confrontation.
In the 23 minutes that elapse between the president’s departure from the hotel, the ensuing attack and a bomb explosion, different people are affected by the events: Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) and Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox), Service agents American intelligence, Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker), an American tourist who was recording everything to show his son, the spanish policeman Javier (Edgar Ramirez) and the terrorists Suarez (Saïd Taghmaoui) and Veronica (Ayelet Zurer).
At the end of this time, the clock runs backwards, and everything starts again, alwys from the point of view of one of the people involved. This trick to tell the story is repeated several times, so that the viewer learns all the secrets, tricks, lies, fears and motivations of each of the people portrayed.
The curious thing is that, as the individual optics are presented, the viewer becomes aware of new elements that are changing the image that was made of the characters in the initial moment of the story. It is seen that not always who seems innocent really is, who seems 100% guilty may be being coerced, and even the American president is not who he claims to be. Nothing is what it seems like.
From the versions presented, the film continues following a traditional narrative, with a game of cat and mouse where the chase takes place in real time, in the midst of the extreme confusion after the attack, with many shots, explosions, car chases and crazyness with all the characters giving the impression that they will destroy each other.
More than a simple action and suspense movie, “Vantage Point” is an interesting “do not judge by first impression” exercise. In addition to addressing topical issues, such as terrorism, the film also quietly poses some uncomfortable questions: who is interested in peace or the maintenance of terrorism, who is the one who finances and arms terrorists, etc.
Although it is a commercial entertainment work like any other, “Vantage Point” purposely leaves more questions than answers, and presents discreet criticisms about the aggressive American foreign policy and its supporters.
Would a peaceful world please politicians who use terror as a campaign flag, arms manufacturers with their fabulous profits, populist leaders who keep their followers full of hatred, and even the press itself? The answer, each one must have its own, because there is no one but endless standpoints.
This movie is available on the Amazon Prime Video platform .