Dead Man’s Wire

The captivating true-life tale of Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård), who held his mortgage agent at gunpoint while pleading his case to the American nation through the media. Gun Van Sant presents us with a complicated ‘hero of the people’, simultaneously foolish and righteous, in a mad world.

“The revolution will not be televised,” declared Gil Scott-Heron – except, for three days in 1977, it was. Disgruntled Tony Kiritsis took extreme action against the mortgage company he believed had tricked him out of a piece of real estate for its own gain. He kidnapped Richard Hall (Dacre Montgomery), wiring him to a loaded shotgun. Proclaiming himself a hero, Kiritsis addressed demands via telephone to the police and the media – especially Fred, a smooth radio DJ (Colman Domingo).

This ‘hero’’s judgement may be clouded by a strong dose of delusion and paranoia, but his cause, nonetheless, is just. Gus Van Sant (Elephant, IFFR 2004), in one of his most sheerly entertaining films, shows us this situation from every ethical angle – including a chilling depiction of the hostage’s father, as portrayed by Al Pacino. Van Sant’s gift for pastiching the audiovisual forms of yesteryear is on full display.

Dead Man’s Wire delights in showing us a spectacle in which the mass media can no longer fully control the ‘live’ material it transmits. Chaos – and the possibility of unleashing Kiritsis’ subversive message – reigns for a fleeting moment.

– Adrian Martin 
 

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