A war photographer, Lee goes to Sicily instead of going back home in New York to forget about being taken hostage in Libya. On the way, she crosses paths with her former lover and mentor Albert and tries to help Hafsia, a young Tunisian migrant escape to France. Lee realizes Hafsia has a striking resemblance to a Libyan girl Lee photographed just before, the incidental meeting evokes her memories about time of detainment in Libya…
There's minimalist filmmaking that's quietly intriguing, and then there's emotional detachment that's stultifying to the point of being nap-inducing. War Story falls into the latter category.
Mark Jackson's War Story functions as a languid visual essay that passively contemplates Lee's warped psychological state, while avoiding any exposition of the events that triggered her present state of mind.
Jackson's spare, quietly powerful sophomore feature demonstrates an impressive control of mood and tone and the ability to tell a story largely without words.
Mark Jackson's direction strips much of the agency from any character's grasp by insisting that their dilemmas can only be revealed with stone-faced austerity.
So often does Catherine Keener play snappish or smart-mouthed characters that it's startling to see her behaving so tired and ragged throughout much of War Story.
In Keener's hands, the collapse feels urgent but not unhinged, and Lee's trajectory from steely and determined to openly distraught lends an otherwise meandering film a strong core.
