Jude Law Debuts ‘The Order’ at Venice Film Festival: FBI Hunts Domestic Terrorist

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Jude Law steps into the role of an FBI agent investigating the violent acts of a white supremacist group in “The Order,” which premiered Saturday at the Venice Film Festival.

Adapted from Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt’s nonfiction book “The Silent Brotherhood,” Nicolas Hoult stars as Robert Jay Mathews, the charismatic leader of what was regarded as the most radical hate group since the Ku Klux Klan. The group’s crimes, including bank robberies and armored car heists intended to fund an armed revolution, led to one of the largest manhunts in FBI history in 1983.

“What amazed me was it was a story I hadn’t heard about before,” said Law, who also produced the film. “It felt like a piece of work that needed to be made now.” He added, “It’s always interesting finding a piece from the relative past that has some relationship to the present day.”

Law traveled to Italy with director Justin Kurzel and co-stars Hoult, Jurnee Smollett, and Tye Sheridan for the premiere. Law’s character, Agent Huss, is an amalgam of various FBI agents, which was a deliberate choice to best position him within the narrative.

“He represents an awful lot of us,” Law said. “He felt his hardest work was behind him, and in fact, he had his biggest battle ahead of him.”

Kurzel, an Australian filmmaker known for his 2015 adaptation of “Macbeth” with Michael Fassbender, mentioned his long-held desire to make an American film in the style of dramatic thrillers from the 1970s, like “The French Connection,” “Mississippi Burning,” and “All the Presidents’ Men.” He aimed to infuse this film with the same classic simplicity.

Hoult acknowledged the challenge of telling such a difficult story and portraying complex characters, but he praised Kurzel for creating a safe and creative environment. Interestingly, Hoult revealed that on their journey to the Lido, he learned Kurzel had told Law to follow him around one day to help get into character. “The first time we spoke was in the first scene we interact,” Hoult said. “It gave a great energy.”

All the cast members were struck by the film’s modern-day parallels. Though they refrained from commenting directly on the upcoming U.S. presidential election, they hoped the film would speak for itself.

“The history of America is very complex,” Smollett said. “This level of bigotry is not new and has existed in our nation since it was founded. As artists, we get to hold a mirror up to society, explore the very complex sides of humanity, the ugliness, the darkness in order for us to learn from it and hopefully not repeat it.”

“The Order” is in competition at Venice, alongside films like “Maria,” “Babygirl,” “The Room Next Door,” “Queer,” and “Joker: Folie à Deux.”

Vertical Entertainment is set to release the film in theaters later this year.

Source: AP News