Black Hawk Down (2001)
Gritty, realistic and frantically paced, Ridley
Scott's war epic, "Black Hawk Down," is one of the few
pro-American films that also contends that war is hell
and that Americans soldiers can be flawed heroes.
Based on a true incident, where soldiers were sent
into Somalia during the Clinton administration in 1993,
the film revolves around one mission. The objective
is to extract some key persons out of a hostile territory
in the city of Mogadishu. But what is scheduled to be
a 30 minute operation turns into a mission of several
hours that finds several American soldiers dead and
hundreds of locals slaughtered in the fray. American
soldiers are trapped inside a hostile city, where many
citizens are armed and hate Americans, after 2 helicopters
are shot down.
It's strange what Scott does here because his film
seems almost plotless other than the simple war operation
itself. There are no love stories or overbearing subplots
to distract us, really. A couple of mild character expositions
set us up for some of the action that is to follow,
but that's about it. What we have here is, in a way,
the first 20 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" extended
into a 2 hour and 45 minute movie. This is not to denigrate
"Black Hawk Down." It is a masterpiece in its own right.
But what it is is an almost non-stop war action film
where you are there. You are stranded with these soldiers.
And it is modern. It is today. It is real. It takes
on even more relevance, of course, since it has come
on the heels of 9-11.
The actors in the film are phenomenal. No one outshines
Josh Hartnett however. If this were any other film,
I'd refer to the cute, young actor as Josh Hot-nett.
I don't want to do that here, though. His acting is
not only top notch, perhaps the best of his career,
but he also stands for all that is American here as
his character, Sgt. Eversmann, represents innocence,
honor, courage, idealism and heart. Hartnett's Eversmann
cries. That is so important here. His character is real,
ideal, a true soldier yet a man as well. Hartnett makes
Eversmann an every-man, or at least, the every man we
hope would represent our fighting forces. It's a boldly
drawn character and Hartnett fleshes him out as real
as real could be.
But the film has several stories of soldiers in
peril as it runs. Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Ewen Bremner,
Ron Eldard (who I thought was Tim Roth for the whole
movie), Tom Guiry, Jeremy Piven and Brendan Sexton III
all play soldiers involved in the battle. The most glaring
soldier though, after Hartnett, is Tom Sizemore. Hartnett's
"Pearl Harbor" co-star, Sizemore is still best known
for his role in "Saving Private Ryan." Sizemore is just
the perfect actor to embody a certain kind of American
soldier, you know, one of those mid- level officers.
Here he plays a Lt. Colonel. Sizemore rocks here. If
he is in every war movie that ever comes out, playing
this same sort of character, that would be okay with
me. Like Hartnett, he represents something very special
about the American military, this idea of a man with
courage and strength and goodness who is also real and
flawed and, perhaps, only of average intelligence. A
soldier smart enough to be an officer but perhaps not
a high ranking officer. The soldier next door.
Scott's direction is perfect here. The locale looks
washed out of color, as if everything were dirty with
sand. Cinematographer Slavomir Idziak does a wonderful
job of capturing the heat of the city. Scott's direction
of actors and action makes Jerry Bruckheimer's "Pearl
Harbor" look like the piece of shit that it is. Bruckheimer,
perhaps, got a lesson here as he produced this film.
Scott creates a war film that is both real and heroic.
His film represents exactly what we like to think of
America as: Good hearted and kind people sometimes called
in to do risky and unsavory work in order to help keep
the peace. The opening subtitle captions here let us
know that the ruling powers in Somalia are hoarding
food and whipping the citizens into submission with
hunger. We have a good cause here. We want to see American
soldiers succeed. Even they, like we, the audience,
only understand the basic rudiments of what they are
trying to accomplish. They act out of courage and goodness
and honor. They are flawed yet somehow, by the seeming
hand of God, make the right decision most times.
Again, in these days of post 9-11 patriotism and
racism, it is awesome to see a war film that isn't overt
propaganda. Scott simply tells the story and let's us
see first hand the true horror of war. American soldiers
die here but they are engaged in a war maneuver. Their
deaths seem honorable. The enemy here, in my opinion,
is not reduced to simple evil villainy. They are shown
to be, at most, misguided or myopic. Although the soldiers
refer to the native people in the derogatory (as "Skinnies"),
there is no overt racism. This is not a gung-ho war
picture about killing dark skinned peoples. This is
simply a film that expresses the harsh reality of modern
warfare as it also finds reason for it to exist in modern
times.
Scott's beautiful images are often so drenched
in blood and gore, that we cannot look. He has several
bodies blown apart with guts hanging out. There is a
surgery scene that is gruesome and unforgiving. And
yet every drop of blood in this film seems necessary.
We are watching extraordinary men in extraordinary situations
trying to cope and survive. We feel like we are among
them. When they fail, we know they have exhausted every
opportunity to succeed. The have done everything that
can be tried. We feel that we are in the presence of
true heroes.
"Black Hawk Down" is, without a doubt, the best
war film since "Saving Private Ryan." Testosterone driven
males may warm to the film's grueling pace and almost
non-stop war action. But those looking for a heart and
soul under the war, a glimpse into the reasons and consequences
of male egression, the testosterone, will find it. There
is a message here and it is more than simply "War is
Hell." Scott speaks volumes about modern warfare and
America's place in it. And he does it with nary a word,
without pontificating. The action speaks for itself.
Note:
Also with Sam Shepard, Zeljko Ivanek, and Orlando
Bloom.
Written by Steve Zallian and Ken Nolan. Based on
the book by journalist Mark Bowden.
Music by Hans Zimmer.
Filmed in Morocco.
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