Directed by Yung Chang, This Is Not a Movie is a compelling documentary about the life and times of the British journalist Robert Fisk. He has been a journalist for more than forty years covering some of the most violent conflicts in the Middle East, doing which, Fisk was known to have reported from the frontline including Lebanese Civil war, Soviet Afghan war, and Israeli Palestine wars. It trail’s Fisk as he visits conflict regions, meets with critical people, thinks back on his years of ferociously rejecting the established order, and, which is a rarest of such opportunities, showcases the true life of the journalist whose job involves the ethical lines that are fatally crossed.
The most notable of these is how the practice of journalism is becoming relevant within the matter of fake news and the digital era in general in This Is Not a Movie. As Richard about three decades ago observed, engaging in direct reporting, taking notes in a notebook and confronting the elite – all this is completely different from making rapid television news filled with sounds. The film does not in any manner hesitate to present Fisk as a controversial personality and some people adulate him as a brave person who tells the truth while others find him mired in controversies due to his views and statements.
What intrigues me about This Is Not a Movie is its brutal and honest depiction of journalism as a little bit more than a job, as a way of life: a constant fight for the truth, even when faced with bullets, propaganda, and manipulative politics. The zeal of Fisk for his work which often leads him to complete dangerous tasks makes the film quite inspiring and complex, particularly in an era when the media comes under fire for practicing skewed approach and misinformation. It is as mesmerizing a treatise upon the profession of remorse-resisting journalists under conditions of contemporary armed conflict as it is a treatise a critical appraisal of the press and its responsibility with respect to the construction of knowledge of global violent events.
