274 - Citadel

Eavesdropping at the Movies · Feb 15, 2021 · 20m

John Smith's 16-minute short, Citadel, gives voice to the City of London - Prime Minister Boris Johnson's voice, specifically. Filmed during the first few months of lockdown in 2020, it builds an oppositional portrait of British life under Johnson's blustery leadership - it's Boris Johnson vs. the British people, and the City vs. the British people. But in tying Johnson to the City, it ignores his shockingly unsympathetic stance, for a Tory leader, towards business - summed up succinctly in his overheard comment in June 2018: "Fuck business". Late on, it depicts the British public as lambs to…