WORDS OF WAR

WORDS OF WAR is a dramatized documentary about the life of Russian reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who defied Vladamir Putin during the Chechnya war and exposed the brutal acts of his army for the world to see. The movie follows a roughly five-year period where Anna travels as a war correspondent, building rapport with the Chechen people and portraying their struggles. Meanwhile, she and the people close to her face intense scrutiny at home as Russia’s secret police look to silence her.

The movie begins in 2004 when Anna is poisoned on a plane and continues to be targeted while at the hospital where her records on file disappear. Her family quickly rushes her to a different hospital, where she can’t be so easily snuffed out by the secret police. A Christian nurse prays over Anna. Later, the nurse extols the greatness of God when Anna recovers.

Cuts to five years earlier, in 1999. Anna sits in a meeting with her newspaper editors along with a fellow writer who just submitted a story about a recently outbroken Chechen rebellion. The writer gives Russian President Putin some credit for how quickly he responded to those fighting to make the region independent from Russia. Anna can’t believe her ears. She calls the man’s story a spineless propaganda piece. The editors suggest she write a piece instead and offer to send her to the warzone so she can see what it’s really like. Anna accepts the offer, much to the chagrin of her family.

Anna’s first attempt to enter the war zone is thwarted by a group of rebels who shoot at her envoy before they can get close. However, she returns, and this time she’s able to make contact with some peaceful people from the region. After a verbal altercation with a Russian soldier, the people see that Anna isn’t like the rest of the Russians. So, they tell her their stories, which she includes in her first article.

Though the piece is a scathing criticism of Putin, her editor prints it, and Anna immediately begins to be monitored by the Russian secret police. The next time she tries going out into the battlefield, a Russian soldier beats her up and has her materials destroyed. Anna, however, remains undeterred and heads out again as soon as possible, eager to show the Chechens her work.

Meanwhile, Anna’s family begins to feel the impact of her criticisms of Putin’s regime. Her husband gets fired from his job and is unable to find a new one. Meanwhile, her son is angry she continues to risk her life and asks her to stop. Anna only gets more provocative as she interviews a Russian military leader, pressing him about the alleged torture the Russian army is enacting on the Chechens. The leader denies it and threatens Anna’s life as she leaves.

After her bold accusation, Anna is approached by a member of the secret police who warns her she’s going too far, and she needs to stop her work before it’s too late. Anna, however, remains committed to her writing and soon uncovers a story about mass graves being dug in the country to hide murders taking place off the battlefield. Her editor, however, refuses to let her go because she’s already scheduled to speak to the United Nations about the atrocities being committed by the Russians. She begrudgingly follows his command, but a contact in Chechnya digs up the grave and sends her proof of it to present in front of the UN, which she does.

When Anna returns home in 2002, she gets a call from the Russian police, but this time they need her help. A Muslim terrorist group of Chechen rebels has taken over a Moscow theater, holding 800 people hostage. The only person the terrorists trust is Anna. So, they demand she perform the negotiations.

When Anna enters the building, she’s able to get the terrorists to release all the children but is unable to make any more progress. As she leaves, the Russian military moves in and release a gas into the building, knocking everyone out and allowing the Russians to kill all 40 terrorists. However, 132 civilian hostages also lost their lives.

Shortly after, a similar situation occurs, and Anna is called in to be a negotiator at a school taken hostage. As she gets on a plane, the movie returns to the opening scene where Anna is poisoned on the plane. When she wakes up, she’s heartbroken to find that more than 300 people died as a result of the school takeover, nearly two-thirds of them children.

After the attempt on her life, Anna is more willing to listen to those in her life who speak of the danger she faces. Anna offers to slow down her critical writing to preserve her life. She makes the Russian secret police aware of this, but she had already done too much damage to Putin’s ego and the Russian-friendly regime in Chechnya. Two years after being poisoned, Anna’s bullet-ridden body is found in an elevator in her apartment building.

WORDS OF WAR is a well-made, compelling drama. It offers a look into the dangers journalists face in countries where there’s no true freedom of speech. The movie not only explores the dangers Anna faced, but it also explores the strain her reporting placed on those around her. At the same time, however, Anna’s story was certainly dramatized for the movie with multiple events either made up or altered. For example, she really didn’t have a contact with the Russian secret police the movie suggests. Also, the movie alters her involvement as a negotiator from what truly occurred. Finally, while the movie mentions the Islamic faith of the terrorists holding people hostage, it doesn’t focus much on the Muslim faith of the Chechen people. Reportedly, the two wars between Russia and Chechnya started out as a secular battle, even though the Chechen president leading the first war was a Muslim. The second war was more of a religious war, with radical Muslims leading the separatist rebellion. After multiple successes on the battlefield in 1999, Russian President Putin in 2003 appointed a more moderate Muslim politician who had switched sides to lead a pro-Moscow government in Chechnya. The president was assassinated by Muslim radicals in 2004, and his son replaced him in 2007 after he turned 30, a year after Anna’s own assassination. Ironically, the son’s government has become increasingly totalitarian and Islamist. The filmmakers behind WORDS OF WAR avoid dealing with the historical Islamic background of the Second Russian-Chechen War. Their movie is more focused on the dangers journalists face in places like Putin’s Russia and war-torn areas like Chechnya.

That said, WORDS OF WAR places a strong emphasis on morality. For example, although Anna was afraid for her life, she was committed to putting an end to war, no matter the cost. Furthermore, the movie shows her caring for other people and finding value in all human life, even when those around her think the Chechen people are not worth risking her life. Sadly, however, WORDS OF WAR is marred by a false portrayal of radical Islam, intense violence, strong obscenities, and two strong profanities. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises excessive.