A group of four young radicals form a revolutionary cell in Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves. In the aftermath of mass student protests, Giutizia (Charlotte Aubin), Tumulto (Laurent Bélanger), Ordine Nuovo (Emmanuelle Lussier Martinez), and Klas Batalo (Gabrielle Tremblay) move in together in a dingy apartment, as they plan their violent revolution against society. However, as these four twenty-somethings increasingly flirt with terrorism, the question is asked whether they are fully committed to their cause.
Filmmakers Mathieu Denis (Corbo) and Simon Lavoie have created a highly political film about disenfranchised youth, preparing their revolution against society. Through manifesto-like passages and nude monologues, Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves makes no bones about its ultra-leftwing radicalism. The film delves a little bit into the backstory of the four protagonists, while also showing the various degrees they are committed to the cause, with Ordine Nuovo seemingly being the most radical of the bunch.
With a running time of over three hours, Those Who Make Revolution is presented in a roadshow format, complete with opening overture and an instrumental interlude in the middle. The film is also shot in multiple aspect ratios, ranging very wide to a 1.33:1 ratio. Content-wise, Those Who Make Revolution can be a challenging watch, especially if you don’t fully support the film’s politics. I also don’t know if the film really needed to be three hours long, with me really starting to feel the length by the end. While there is a certain artistic merit to the film, Those Who Make Revolution ultimately takes way too long to deliver the message it is trying to give.
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