A new film by Guy Ritchie, “The Covenant,” has premiered in Russian theaters. And the director himself is also new—grim and serious, but still rhythmic and driving.

Entering a creative period where there is no room for light-hearted humor, Guy Ritchie avoids his favorite mischievous techniques. Setting out to discuss solidarity, duty, and humanism, the director makes no jokes at all and does not use his signature editing. His new image—or, on the contrary, his true face instead of a permanent smile—makes you want to clench your fists and dig your nails into your palms. Is this bad? Hardly. Is it interesting? Undoubtedly.

2018. The 20-year U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan is nearing its end, which would culminate in the Taliban seizing power in 2021. At that time, over 50,000 local interpreters volunteered to help Americans in exchange for a guarantee of U.S. citizenship. Whether “The Covenant” (the film’s original title) will be fulfilled is known for sure, but Ritchie does not focus solely on interpreting American policy in Afghanistan, “which never succeeded.” He explores questions of humanity.

Based on true events, the story of Afghan interpreter Ahmed (Dar Salim) and U.S. soldier John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) once again reminds us that you have to deal with any problem yourself. This is most evident not in battles with the Taliban, but in interactions with the soulless bureaucratic machine. And even here, having given a definitive diagnosis of society, Ritchie manages to put on a first-class show with thrilling battle scenes.

Varvara Ulianenok

“Wrath of Man” – How Much Is This Guy Ritchie?

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The first act, the most vigorous, is traditional for a war film: the enemy is not asleep, danger is everywhere. In the second act, the most thrilling, the action movie turns into a gripping thriller. In the third, the most moving, it becomes a moral condemnation of a broken world order. Moreover, there is no dissonance between the different genre parts of the same script: Ritchie’s well-calibrated dramaturgy wins here as well. Thus, he masterfully combines action, the personal stories of the characters, and a fierce statement about injustice.

The sense of presence is conveyed by the camera work of the not-so-famous Ed Wild, who replaced Ritchie’s usual cinematographer, Alan Stewart. Wild produced many atypical visual solutions, quoting the work of British photojournalist Tim Hetherington, who died in the conflict zone, while composer Christopher Benstead’s “discordant strings” allowed viewers to literally feel themselves in the heart of the events.

The alternation of dynamic reportage-style shooting with epic drone panoramas—showing sparse vegetation-covered mountains and hills instead of the expected endless desert—mirrors the structure of the film “The Covenant,” in which events either speed up or slow down, keeping the viewer’s attention throughout the entire two-hour runtime.

However, despite the innovations, Ritchie has once again made an extremely masculine film about a world of men where only tough guys exist. The difference is that even under conditions where danger lurks at every step, the characters act according to their conscience. And this is truly mature, big cinema.

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