White supremacism finds fertile ground in Venice film 'The Order'

By Crispian Balmer

VENICE (Reuters) - "The Order", a movie about a violent, white supremacist movement in 1980s America is worryingly relevant today and shows the need to be on constant guard against bigotry, the film's star Jude Law said on Saturday.

The movie, making its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, is based on true events, depicting the charismatic, radical-right leader, Bob Mathews, who wanted to create a homeland for whites by sowing terror in the United States.

Law plays a veteran FBI agent who moves to the U.S. Pacific Northwest hoping for some peace and quiet after a troubled past battling the Mafia, only to stumble on Mathews' gang as it staged bank heists to build its war chest.

"Sadly the relevance I think speaks for itself ... It felt like a piece of work that needed to be made now," said Law, a prolific British actor who also serves as a producer on the film, which was directed by Australian Justin Kurzel.

"The film is about an ideology that's incredibly dangerous and how it can quickly take seed," Kurzel told a press conference. "What was shocking to me, and I think to all of us, was that there were so many comparisons (with today)."

The ideology that motivated Mathews was similar to that of the extremist Proud Boys group, which led the storming of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021 in an effort to overturn the 2020 electoral defeat of former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Mathews, who is played by British actor Nicholas Hoult, attracted misfits and dropouts to his cause, creating a dedicated family of followers who bought into his vision of racial division and hate.

Hoult said what was worrying as he studied for the role, was that he could not find any specific trigger for Mathews' bigotry, such as a violent childhood.

"The scary thing about him ... was that he could be quite disarming ... and could probably put you under his spell."

As preparation for the film, director Kurzel asked Law to trail Hoult for a day, like his FBI character might have done. Hoult said he never realised he had been followed and was only told in Venice.

"I just found out on the boat here," he said, adding that he did not speak or meet with Law for the first four weeks of the shoot to help create division and tension between them.

Black actor Jurnee Smollett, who plays one of the FBI team tracking Mathews, said it was important that filmmakers continued to shine a light on deep-rooted U.S. racism.

"We get to explore the very complex sides of humanity, the ugliness, the darkness, in order for us to learn from it, and hopefully, to not repeat it," she said.

"The Order" is one of 21 movies competing for the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, which will be awarded on Sept. 7.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Helen Popper)