95. Erase And Forget; movie review

ERASE AND FORGET
Cert 18
88 mins
BBFC advice: Contains graphic images of real dead bodies and injury

I remember watching First Blood and being wowed by Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo and his single-handed ferocity.
It turns out that Rambo was based on a multi-medal winning special forces operative called Bo Gritz.
Actually, Gritz has myriad aliases as he explains during Andrea Luka Zimmerman's fascinating documentary on a man who is far more complex than his TV persona.
Gritz has been portrayed as a war hero, a presidential candidate, a rabid right-winger and a peace-maker during a hectic life.
Erase And Forget includes current words from Gritz on his life philosophy and explanations of headline-grabbing incidents from the past.
One such drama was an incursion into Loas, part-financed by Clint Eastwood, to rescue American captives who were never found and may not even be held prisoner.
Zimmerman's film certainly highlights contradictions within Gritz.
For example, he has been a representative of the far right and yet talks very much from a peace and love platform nowadays.
Erase And Forget combines news and movie footage as well as clips of Gritz being interviewed more recently.
He tells how he has killed 400 people during his lifetime and seems proud of his claim and he even seems to shrug his shoulders when reporting that, in recent times, two people have been murdered and one committed suicide with weapons which he owns.
He sees his vast arsenal as a symbol of the right for Americans to carry weapons and has no truck with those campaigning to amend gun laws.
And yet this entire documentary would strike most normal-thinking people as a 90-minute essay on why they should be banned.
It is a deep insight into an American psyche which may seem brazen but is probably more conflicted than the outside world always sees..

Reasons to watch: Fascinating biopic which re-ignites the gun law debate
Reasons to avoid: Gritz is a man of many contradictions

Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 7.5/10

Director's statement - Andrea Luka Zimmerman: "The film is about the ‘Age of Trump’ without ever mentioning his name, but the principles explored - about the boundaries of responsibility and the individual’s relationship to the state, for better or worse – are universal and are being tested daily across Europe and beyond."

The big question - Will Americans ever wake up to the idea that their obsession with guns is killing them?

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