'Sicario' is about how the Western world reacts toward problems outside of its borders. Should we become monsters in order to fight the monsters? It's not about the cartels. The movie could have been set in Africa or the Middle East.
Interpretation
The quote explores the moral dilemmas faced by the Western world in addressing external issues, questioning the means by which we confront evil.
Denis Villeneuve's quote delves into the ethical complexities of how societies respond to threats beyond their borders. It raises profound questions about whether the use of brutal tactics and becoming a 'monster' in order to combat real monsters is justified. The focus extends beyond the specific scenario of drug cartels to a broader commentary on global conflicts and moral choices, suggesting that such struggles can be universal and applicable to various geopolitical contexts.
In practice
During a panel discussion on international relations, one could use this quote to illustrate the moral complexities faced by policymakers.
I think I'm attracted to subjects that I'm afraid of. It's a way to approach things I am afraid of, things that bring fear in my heart, and try to understand them, try to deal with them. It's like demons. I try to approach it and understand it... I'm just visiting fears.
Cinema is an art form that is designed to go across borders. And as a filmmaker, the only way I can direct a movie is when I feel close to my culture.
As a director, you're a bit of a dictator. But I feel that you're a better director if you're open to other people's ideas. It means that it's tougher: you have to be in a choosing process; you have to put the ego aside. As long as everybody's aiming in the same direction... I'm open to my main partners in the film crew.
I've been dreaming to do sci-fi since I was 10 years old, and I said 'no' to a lot of sequels - I couldn't say 'no' to 'Blade Runner.'
If you don't deal with your shadows, you are condemned to repeat the same mistake over and over, as a human being or as a society.
One of the things that I've come to understand is that as I talk a lot about Picard, what I find is that I'm talking about myself.
We think that the world is limited and explained by its past. We tend to think that what happened in the past determines what is going to happen next, and we do not see that it is exactly the other way around! What is always the source of the world is the present; the past doesn't explain a thing. The past trails behind the present like the wake of a ship and eventually disappears.
The pathways that have led to our evolution are quirky, improbable, unrepeatable and utterly unpredictable.
I do not approve the extermination of the enemy; the policy of exterminating or, as it is barbarously said, liquidating enemies, is one of the most alarming developments of modern war and peace, from the point of view of those who desire the survival
Conservatives want live babies so they can train them to be dead soldiers.
The most unpardonable sin in society is independence of thought.
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