As I mentioned in a previous post, I didn’t get out to see any of the films at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (but I did take in a few of the parties!). This was due to several reasons which I mentioned before… especially the one where the couple of films that I really wanted to see were each $50 per ticket. No thank you. But one of the films that played that I was VERY interested in seeing but couldn’t get out to was My Enemy’s Enemy.
My Enemy’s Enemy is a documentary and the newest film from “Last King of Scotland” director Kevin Macdonald. The film looks at a topic I’ve been giving a lot of thought to recently. The synopsis looks like this:
My Enemy’s Enemy reveals an alternate history of the post-war world. This is a version of history where, in contrast to what we are all told, fascist ideology prevailed. The story of Klaus Barbie, Nazi torturer, American spy, tool of repressive right wing regimes, is symbolic of the real relationship that the “Western” governments had with fascism and makes us see the world as it is today – and the politicians that inhabit it – in a different way.
The film looks at how Barbie… a war criminal, become a secret ally and friend of the US government, and how the US helped him evade justice after WWII. The topic I’ve been thinking about recently isn’t Barbie himself… but the whole notion of “Necessary Evil”. Barbie was a monster, but he was a monster that served an important purpose for out benefit. Was it wrong of the US to benefit from him after WWII? I don’t know… in some ways I don’t think they were.
Modern Iraq is an eerie comparison. Sadam Hussein. I was watching a news talk show the other day where one of the professors pointed out that more Iraqis have died in the 4 years of the American invasion, than in all the 23+ years that Hussein was in power, and that number will probably continue to grow. He also pointed out that the middle east is now far more unstable than when Hussein was in power? He said: “Hussein was evil no doubt, but a necessary evil in a place where only someone like him could keep the region even remotely stable”. I’m not sure how I feel about the whole idea of “necessary evil” but this Barbie documentary promises to add a lot to that conversation. I hope to get my hands on it soon.
