Monkey Warfare

In this time of oil dependence, global warming, and volatile Middle Eastern politics, the simple act of riding a bicycle can be elevated from an enjoyable, health-conscious pastime to a revolutionary act. This concept is reflected in countercultural movements such as Critical Mass bike rides, which take on traffic snarls and reclaim public streets for joyous mobs of cyclists; in music, through bands with names like This Bike is a Pipe Bomb; and in film, such as Reg Harkema’s MONKEY WARFARE, which claimed a Special Jury Prize for Best Canadian Feature at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival and recently screened at South By Southwest 2007.

MONKEY WARFARE follows Dan and Linda, two jaded ex-revolutionaries who spend their days wading through trash heaps and wandering garage sales for unnoticed treasures among other people’s cast offs. They make a living by auctioning off antiques they come across, effectively living outside of the system. Linda works part time stuffing envelopes for an ideologically vague non-profit organization. In their free time, they smoke a lot of pot. There’s an obvious history between them, one which goes mostly unrevealed, and like the rest of society they seem trapped amid their stuff and their habits. This changes when their “green bean” dealer is busted, and Susan, a young, revolutionary-minded firebrand pedals into their life peddling organic weed from British Columbia. Dan and Susan form a mutually beneficial friendship that borders on romance. Susan has the youth, enthusiasm, and marijuana that Dan has lost, and Dan has knowledge, insight into the revolutionary underground, and practical knowledge on bicycle repair that he’s more than willing to share with his new compatriot.

Harkema’s French New Wave influence is evident in his use of editing, interspersed jump cuts and on screen text, and in the way Susan and Dan’s relationship plays out in random meetings, on the street, in coffee shops and in bedrooms. Their relationship, and the film itself, is one of juxtaposed contrasts. Dan’s cynicism plays against Susan’s freewheeling idealism. She wants to change the world, to impact society, to right wrongs. Dan has been there, and only has a rented house full of revolutionary memorabilia to show for it. Upon learning that Susan has founded Spoke, a bicycle revolutionary group that lashes out against society via the destruction of the chariots of the oppressors–SUVs–Dan’s relationship shifts from one of attraction to that of parental concern. He and Linda begin to fret over Susan’s activities, fearing that her behavior will only bring trouble on herself, and by proxy, them. Susan’s rebellious nature eventually leads to a humorously familial argument wherein Dan and Linda reveal their past as active radicals. They come across like middle-aged parents futilely attempting to justify to their offspring that they were once young, hip and idealistic themselves, that they too once felt the burning desire to save the world.

Monkey Warfare is a small film, but it tackles its revolutionary subject matter like an anarchist facing off against a riot squad, a Palestinian child taking on an Israeli tank. It reveals the mental burden on those with the drive to seek societal change, and asks whether such changes are really possible. Its characters espouse revolutionary ideology and its soundtrack is a cross section of radical rock music; but it refuses to answer the questions it raises, to comment on whether radical societal change is possible or if revolutionary acts are justifiable. The film ends on a note of humor and cynicism that subtly calls into question its radical-minded urgency. It reveals that such struggles for human equality may well be eternal, but leaves the sense that there’s still importance in keeping up the fight or, at the very least, taking a bike ride once in a while.

-Jeremy Van Doren