The mob is the weapon

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's Top 50 TV Shows of 2021.  

#49 : Four Hours At The Capitol

Jamie Roberts’ film, covering January’s failed insurrectionist coup, had one huge advantage over most documentaries; almost everyone there was filming it. From the police officers’ bodycams to gurning selfie footage from the insurrectionists, Four Hours at the Capitol could take you right inside the terrible events of 6 January. At its most intense, when we watch a mob try to beat an officer to death, it stands as some of the most claustrophobic television ever broadcast.

Do I need to explain what this is about?  I suspect not.

It's a wild, nay insane, ride which is scarcely believable but mostly pretty well known - although I wasn't aware of "the battle for the tunnel", which features some extremely claustrophobic scenes, with most of it taking place in a ten foot wide corridor.  And this is also the point where the mob get hold of the officer - and boy is that scary footage.  You feel like you're milliseconds from savage anarchy and then, suddenly, the whole thing de-escalates quite strangely (but very thankfully).

Most of the film follows a linear timeline of the events on the day, but there's an interesting decision to allocate about 10 minutes at the end to the after-effects for a very small group of individuals.  I suspect the idea was to demonstrate that there were ongoing repercussions, but it obviously only barely scratches the surface - it almost feels like there's another whole film there, so it might have been better not to try,

The film is well put together - there is an awful lot of on-the-spot footage involved so the editing process for this must have been an absolute nightmare.  And it's all mixed together with a load of talking head interviews from all sides which are presented in a non-judgemental style - you are basically invited to make up your own mind, although I imagine very few people will change their views as a result of watching this.  The tenuous grasp on reality that is displayed by some of the interviewees is astounding and a lot of people interviewed also show signs of PTSD - but not so many on the side of the invaders, a lot of whom either still consider themselves on the side of the righteous or seem to think it was all some kind of a game. 

The whole thing is not exactly the best advert for the good old U S of A - it's quite surprising that more people weren't killed or severely injured.  I'd have to say that the police remained remarkably calm in the face of severe provocation whilst being totally outnumbered - although you can't help but wonder how they would have dealt with the mob if different skin colours had been involved. 

What it is a good advert for is the Capitol - it's a lovely building, particularly the rotunda.  American democracy also comes out of it pretty well - the determination of those caught up in the whole thing to proceed with the ratification of the vote is admirable.  It would have been great if they'd manage to snag Donald Trump or Mike Pence for an interview, but I fear that was never going to happen.

All in all, this feels more of an essential watch than an enjoyable one - and timely, coming as it does in the week in which Trump announced he will seek re-election and is allowed back on Twitter for however long that lasts.  I can't say I "enjoyed" the film or would particularly "recommend" it, but it was most definitely a fascinating watch.

At time of writing, it's available to watch on iPlayer - and it feels like the sort of thing that won't hang around for too long, so get your skates on people!

#48 - An enjoyable "not my sort of thing"
#50 - Either I or it ran out steam towards the end