A Private War (2018)

(On Cable TV, October 2020) In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need war correspondents. In the meantime… we do—they’re the ones to go toward danger and tell us what’s really happening. A Private War does tell us quite a bit about the profession in portraying the life and death of Marie Colvin, a veteran foreign correspondent who found herself in many of the world’s hottest spots between 2001 and 2012. Rosamund Pike turns in an impressive performance as Colvin, frizzy hair, low voice and eyepatch adding much to a complex character study. The private war of the title refers to Colvin’s own struggles with what she was experiencing—trying to self-medicate through alcohol, eventually spending some time institutionalized in an attempt to overcome PTSD. And yet always returning to the hot spots despite the losses along the way. The film clearly frames itself as an elegy, and it does build to a seemingly inevitable death while covering the Syrian civil war. As an exploration of the work of a war correspondent, it’s gripping—thanks to good special effects, the film can afford to have numerous scenes taking us through unimaginable death and destruction. Still, much of the film revolves back around Pike’s performance: she’s utterly unrecognizable from many of her softer, gentler performances here and I suspect that the film will live on as one of her finest. It’s an impressive tribute to an impressive journalist, and it’s a shame that A Private War didn’t find a commercial audience upon initial release.