THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ‘Civil War’
Hollywood’s newest dystopian war film, Civil War, perfectly captures the important role journalists play during times of conflict. In his quest to depict what the near future could look like if things don’t change in America, filmmaker Alex Garland tells the story of a team of journalists led by Kirsten Dunst’s Lee Smith. They are on a mission as they race against time to reach the White House before the rebel factions.
Kirsten Dunst plays the role of a renowned war photojournalist who believes in getting the work down no matter what. Thus, when she sacrifices herself to save one of her colleagues, fans are left shell-shocked. The actress has opened up about the reasoning behind her character’s actions and it all makes perfect sense now!
Kirsten Dunst’s Comments Explain Her Character’s Actions
Alex Garland’s Civil War comes at a crucial moment. The world is embroiled in regional conflicts, that get nastier every week, and the upcoming American Presidential elections that increasingly dominate news cycles. Amidst this backdrop, Civil War explores difficult themes.
However, at its core, the film deals with fundamental issues that war journalists face. The story of the young photographer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), and her idol Lee (Kirsten Dunst) comes to a cataclysmic end when the Western Forces reach the White House after tough battles.
The journalist contingent tags along, and is at ground zero to witness the bloodbath that takes place at the end. All along their journey, Lee taught the importance of documenting “the moment by any means necessary” to Jessie.
However, the ending sees Jessie recklessly coming into the line of fire to document a crucial moment but is saved by Lee who abandons her camera to sacrifice her life for the girl.
Dunst sums it up neatly: “Don’t become me. Don’t become hardened. Don’t lose your life.” She tells A24 (via Esquire),
“She sees it and hates it for her, because there’s part of Lee that’s like, Don’t do this to yourself. There’s part of Lee that becomes very protective of her because she knows the addiction to what they’re doing, this need to put themselves in the worst possible situations to tell the truth about what’s going on. There’s a real warning: Don’t become me. Don’t become hardened. Don’t lose your life.”
The war journalist, addicted to the adrenaline rush of capturing a raw moment, crosses into the line of fire.
Cailee Spaeny Talks about Civil War’s Ending
While shooting the finale of Civil War, both Cailee Spaeny and Dunst must have gone through a plethora of emotions given the fact that the scene was so hard-hitting. While not a single dialogue was uttered, the sheer silence and sentiments were enough to send goosebumps throughout the theatres.
Talking about her big sacrifice, Dunst told Entertainment Weekly that perhaps it was Lee’s maternal instinct that sprang into action.
“Lee saved Jessie’s life. It was her maternal instinct. This girl had gotten to her heart, and she did what she had to do in that moment.”
As for Spaeny, the Priscilla actress stated that she was very nervous before shooting the ending. She also added that despite no words being exchanged between Lee and Jessie, the sacrifice felt like the former’s way of passing on the torch.
“I always felt really nervous about the ending, because there was no dialogue and it felt really unspoken. You’re watching a transition right before your eyes. I think that is the moment that Lee is passing that torch on. Jessie’s now crossed over into the same zone as her hero. For better or for worse, this is her life now.”
She added,
“I think that last ending frame, with that Suicide track ‘Dream, Baby, Dream’ playing, and you see her make that switch, I think that was really beautiful. We didn’t know what it was going to be until it happened.”
What made the scene feel even more intense and realistic was the fact that Spaeny actually shot most of the photographs seen in the ending through Jessie’s lens. There’s just something about actors dissolving themselves into their characters!
Civil War is currently in theatres.
