Covering the three titular killings of Tony Blair’s career, filmmakers Sanne van den Bergh, Daniel Turi and Greg Ward explore the fall of Old Labour, the abhorrent decision to lead the UK to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, which saw the death of countless thousands and the financial killing made as a public speaker and political adviser in the years that followed.
Produced, co-written and featuring George Galloway, this Kickstarter project was never going to be anything less than impassioned.
Having such a notable ex-MP steering the ship meant that while the documentary may be informative it is also un-tempered, the execution coming across something akin to the work of Michael Moore. There’s a charisma to
Striking within weeks of the Chilcot Report and the wholly divisive Brexit referendum the timing for this feature couldn’t be more perfect. It appears that a twenty-year roadmap to our current political malady and a nation’s disillusionment with the financial sector is laid out within this exposé. Teflon Tony’s dalliances with media moguls, banking behemoths and deadly dictators are recounted, reducing the man to a chameleon figure with a beaming grin and staggering net worth.
The filmmakers deftly handle the dynamic of news footage and contemporary interviews with notable figures including Francis Beckett, Noam Chomsky, Will Self and Rt. Hon. Clare Short. While the “new and unexplored ground” promised doesn’t quite live up to expectations there is still a great deal here to digest. With some occasional graphic footage of the horrors of war the execution of certain scenes is hard to swallow. Unflinching in its approach, this documentary illustrates the full extent of Blair’s ambitions and the grave consequences caused by his decisions over past two decades.
Unfortunately, of the three specific sections mentioned in the opening reel, the rise of New Labour in the shadow of Margaret Thatcher gets the least attention. The lack of balance in the subjects seems a pity, as the attention to detail laid out regarding the war and post-war are impressive, if far from exhaustive.
Overall, The Killing$ of Tony Blair manages an admirable barrage of shots fired into a political and economical ecosystem that requires more scrutiny from the public and greater consequences for those who abuse their position and power.
The Killing$ of Tony Blair opens in the UK, with a world premiere with Q&A at Curzon Soho, London July 27th. Followed by nationwide Q&A tour with George Galloway. Released on DVD & DIGITAL HD on 15th August 2016.
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