Run Hide Fight

Is it possible to keep a movie review separate from the filmmakers and their problematic aspects? Definitely yes, or rather it is possible not to notice them at all if the given filmmakers don’t try to show off. Unfortunately, the creators of Run Hide Fight couldn’t help themselves. Through most of the film’s runtime, they serve up a formally solid genre flick that chugs along well enough, with a bit of suspension of disbelief, i.e. if we turn a blind eye to the lapses in internal logic in the interest of spectacle. At times, it’s even likably emancipatory and progressive, while the binding of motifs of social hierarchy from high-school movies with a feminine variation on Die Hard also works (if you want to root for it). Understandably, there is nothing here that is comparable to Van Sant’s Elephant, Villeneuve’s Polytechnique, Johnson’s The Dirties, Poppe’s Utøya: July 22 or any other film that deals more in depth with only going through adolescence in a group of classmates, whether that is something from the numerous Scandinavian productions on this theme or the works of John Hughes. Run Hide Fight rather ranks among the genre flicks targeted at teenagers, giving them not only a combination of (melo)drama and trash, but also an engaging context, such as in The Hunger Games, How I Live Now, Danny’s Doomsday and tons of niche teen content on Netflix. And in this context, Run Hide Fight works fairly well. Thanks to its brisk pace and excellent female lead, it succeeds in distracting from the conspicuously half-baked nature of the screenplay and the minor red flags on the viewer’s part that come up in several scenes that could raise questions about the filmmakers’ intentions in terms of ideology. _____ Except the filmmakers didn’t want to stick only to subliminal messages and laid their cards on the table in the most stupid way – with an ostentatiously bombastic agitprop song plonked down in the closing shots. Then it comes as no surprise that the producers include not only the ultra-conservative talking head Ben Shapiro, but also the controversial producer Dallas Sonnier, who does not in any way conceal his right-wing attitudes. The above-mentioned elevation of the work above personal attitudes is not meant as a call for self-censorship. On the contrary, it merely points out the fact that thanks to such separation of the work from its creator, we can enjoy Polanski’s films, because he doesn’t turn them into pamphlets aimed at absolving him of his guilt. After all, even thorough familiarity with Sonnier’s problematic personality cannot similarly tarnish the qualities of his best-known productions, the original projects of S. Craig Zahler. That is because they are not conceived primarily in ideological terms and, furthermore, with their complex and multifaceted morals, they fiercely subvert strictly conservative and other glorifying interpretations. _____ Run Hide Fight does not give voice to any extreme or ultra-right views. It “only” foists on viewers the alibi-esque attitudes of the American gun lobby, which continues to promote lax gun-control legislation despite the terrifying number of domestic terrorist attacks and school shootings. The antagonists, and the main female protagonist, are depicted precisely in line with the standard arguments of conservative commentators, with the talking heads of Fox News at the fore. They always repeat that the shooters were evidently mentally ill and that no one is to blame for their actions, while on the other hand, they like to use the slogan that the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Concealed behind these attitudes is an utter lack of interest in any sort of systemic solution at the expense of the current status quo. Run Hide Fight shows the same ignorance with respect to finding a way out of the crisis of violence and explicitly affirms these views. Therefore, one of the film’s juvenile terrorists takes the form of a ridiculously cartoonish madman, but it’s also why the central antagonist never reveals his intentions. None of them do, because the film’s creators have no intention of addressing the issue. Rather, they are content only with the excuse that he is a pompous sociopath who envies the popular kids for their sunny dispositions. The ideology is most conspicuously and atrociously manifested in the character of the terrorist-nerd. In the scene where he reveals his motivation, and especially in the protagonist’s reaction, the filmmakers deliberately downplay the issue of bullying, which was talked about as a systemic problem and trigger in regard to the Columbine shooting. After all, only the references to that massacre 21 years ago further confirm that the film’s creators strictly turn their gaze away from the breeding ground of contemporary violence in far-right ideologies and xenophobia. It would be desirable to refer to the above-mentioned limitations of Run Hide Fight in relation to other films on a similar theme and defend it as an escapist genre flick that doesn’t aim to say anything. But, again, its creators shoot themselves in the foot when, in an official statement from the Venice Film Festival programme, the director and screenwriter declare that, on the contrary, the film involved a discussion on a pressing current issue. With their genre fantasy completely cut off from reality, the filmmakers merely open themselves up to questions about responsibility, tact and the degree of empathy on their own part. (24/01/2021) (moins) (plus)