Director Zack Snyder has robustly defended his new film, ‘The Last Photograph’, against accusations of fascism and homophobia, controversially stating he made “the gayest movie ever made”. The action-thriller premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it has received significant online backlash and critical scorn.
According to Variety, Snyder acknowledged the “incredibly charged” discourse surrounding his films. He recounted waking up to his X feed, which included comments like “Zack Snyder is a fascist,” “Zack Snyder is a homophobe,” “Zack Snyder is a bisexual,” “homoerotic,” and “transphobic.”
Snyder’s Defence Against Critics
In response to the strong reactions, Snyder articulated his perspective on the violence depicted in his work. He argued that the violence towards women and men in his films is equal, with “nobody spared — men, women, children, everybody.” He further elaborated that the intent behind this violence is to show that “violence doesn’t work and doesn’t get anything done,” resisting attempts to superimpose a moral meaning onto it.
Snyder described ‘The Last Photograph’ as a “small movie” made independently, which he views as a way of processing the death of his daughter, Autumn, who took her own life in 2017. He and his wife, Deborah Snyder, who produced the film, left ‘Justice League’ during post-production to grieve this loss, leading to subsequent changes to that film.
Despite the serious themes, Snyder also touched upon his distinctive directorial style, stating his love for “kitsch” and “the highest-art version of kitsch.” He finds it difficult to make a straight drama without incorporating a melodramatic side, which he considers “the interesting side.”
‘The Last Photograph’: Plot and Critical Reception
‘The Last Photograph’, which Snyder had been planning for two decades and shot in just 32 days, mostly in Colombia, has been met with harsh criticism. Little White Lies described the film as an “unforgivably dreadful, turgid slog” and “morally vile, intellectually void, badly made and interminably dull.” Forbes noted that critics scored the film worse than Snyder’s previous release, ‘Rebel Moon’.
The film follows Ethan Black (Stuart Martin), a former DEA operative now living as a shepherd in Iceland, who discovers his brother and sister-in-law, Catherine, have been murdered in an unnamed South American country. Triggered by a newspaper photograph of Catherine’s execution-style death, taken by conflict photographer Joe Wallace (Fra Fee), Ethan embarks on a quest to find his abducted niece and nephew.
The plot, loosely drawing parallels to John Ford’s ‘The Searchers’, sees Ethan and Wallace, described as a “battle-scarred, heroin-shooting war photographer,” journey upriver. Critics have highlighted the film’s controversial portrayal of its setting and characters, with Ethan depicted as a “Christlike figure” engaging in extrajudicial actions in a landscape populated by what are described as “sinister city of used or lecherous sex workers and decadent genderqueer brothels, and a jungle of paedo crime lords, vicious militia factions and toothless jungle priests ritually brutalizing women.” Wallace, frequently shirtless and “quite shredded for a heroin addict,” is shown as detached from the moral implications of his photography, even documenting children being headshotted.
Implications for Leeds and Yorkshire Audiences
For Leeds and Yorkshire audiences, as with a general UK news audience, the debate surrounding Zack Snyder’s latest work highlights ongoing discussions within the film industry regarding artistic expression, critical reception, and audience interpretation. The strong reactions, both from critics and online communities, exemplify how new releases, particularly from well-known directors, continue to spark widespread discussion beyond the confines of traditional film reviews, often touching on broader cultural and social themes.
