StarringNicholas Cage as Yuri, a Ukrainian arms dealer
Bridget Moynahan as Ava Fontaine, a model
Jared Leto as Yuri's brother Vitaly
Ethan Hawke as Interpol agent Valentine
Ian Holm as Simeon Weisz, a rival arms dealer
Running Time 123 minutes
Geographical Themes
Conflicts
Causes and impacts of the small arms trade
Exploitation of developing countries
Entertainment Value 8/10
You do have to listen quite carefully to this movie to fully understand everything that happens; it's not a movie that you can watch whilst studying! It's also a little slow to begin with but once you get into it it's really interesting and there are some great edge-of-your-seat scenes. I would say the genre is action/thriller. There are some pretty violent scenes, some swearing (f**k and sh*t), use of drugs and some sexual scenes so I would recommend this movie for A-level or even GCSE but perhaps only selected clips for KS3.
Educational Value 8/10
This is a great movie to raise awareness of the small arms trade and the role it plays in fueling conflict around the world, particularly in developing countries. It portrays the way that arms dealers manage to exploit loopholes in arms laws, their interaction with high profile government members, which makes it difficult to prosecute them, and the vast amounts of money that can be made. There are some parallels with the real life arms dealer, Leonid Minin. He is mentioned in these teaching resources by Oxfam, which would make a great accompanying learning activity for this movie.
Notable Quotes
'There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That's one firearm for every twelve people on the planet. The only question is: How do we arm the other 11?'
'Every faction in Africa calls themselves by these noble names - Liberation this, Patriotic that, Democratic Republic of something-or-other... I guess they can't own up to what they usually are: the Federation of Worse Oppressors Than the Last Bunch of Oppressors. Often, the most barbaric atrocities occur when both combatants proclaim themselves Freedom Fighters.'
Also See...
This page (warning spoilers) for a detailed review of the movie