Notts Anti-Militarism

The latest film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, director of Amélie, is a wacky caper about a group of oddball characters who decide to take direct action against the arms trade. In it, the products of one Nottingham-based arms company – Heckler & Koch – make a brief appearance.

Micmacs follows the fortunes of hapless video store clerk Bazil, who decides to take revenge on two arms companies – one that made the landmine that killed his father, and the other that made the bullet that nearly killed him.

Despite the heavy subject matter, this is a light-hearted, comical film. Bazil is aided by a crew of misfits, who use salvaged junk and circus skills to pit the unwitting arms dealers against each other.

In one scene, the activists have stolen a briefcase containing a sample from one of the arms companies. Back at their junkyard lair, they open it to reveal… a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun.

Given that six activists are currently facing criminal charges for taking direct action against Heckler & Koch, it seems fitting that it is an H&K weapon that Jeunet uses to depict the lethal wares of a greedy and immoral arms company – an arms company that is ultimately brought down by direct action.

Micmacs is playing at Nottingham’s Broadway cinema until Thursday 18th March.