“Black Hawk Down”
(USA 2001) *****
Directed by Ridley Scott
The greyish blue images revealing a landscape populated by stick-like figures at the beginning of “Black Hawk Down” could have easily represented an arena of starving slaves or a outer space desert of skinny aliens, but director Ridely Scott (“Alien”, “Gladiator” and recently “Hannibal”) intent this time is to show the true state of under-nourished and starving Somalians in the October of 1993. The sounds of an eerie tune add to the certain desperation and hopelessness. Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer – Bruckheimer made millions from commercial flicks like “Pearl Harbor” and “Armageddon” – abandon their usual commercial fictional fare to embark on the creation of an uncompromising riveting anti-war film “Black Hawk Down”. Based on the actual event of the blotched American mission as documented by journalist Mark Bowden in his book of the same name, the film is a harrowing account of what good soldiers go through to learn the important lessons in life. Their mission was to abduct two top lieutenants of the Somali warlord, Mohamed Farrah Aidid, as part of a strategy to quell the civil war and famine ravaging the land.
“Black Hawk Down” contains excruciating lengthy scenes involving violence and gore. The documentation of the 18-hour non-stop ordeal the soldiers go through in the district of Mogadishu is punctuated with flashes of graphic horrors. Think Spielberg’s unforgettable opening D-Day landing sequence in “Saving Private Ryan” running two hours. Scott gives images of open wounds, torn guts from strewn bodies and as if that is not enough, includes one of a soldier placing a severed hand into his pocket. A Somalian carrying a dead son or a crying child besides a corpse are other powerful images used by Scott to strike a disturbing note. There is no crazy protagonist (Martin Sheen in “Apocalypse Now”) or fictional narrative. This is hard-core reality. And Scott creates a feel of real time invoking still, a greater realism of the fear of battling an unseen enemy in a foreign land. Scott resorts to old-fashioned filmmaking with minimal computer generated effects. The aerial shots of the city and the tracking camera movements illustrating the deployment of units put the viewer in the picture. The downing of the helicopter (hence the film title) is breathtakingly filmed. Yet, Scott’s most powerful images are those of a sniper rushed by a raging Somalian mob and of a pilot waiting to be captured.
No punches are spared. Just when the viewer feels that it is time to relent, Scott ups the angst in the film’s most brutal scene where a medic places his hand into an open wound of a fellow soldier, trying to find the artery that needs to be clamped to halt the bleeding. He says to the soldier holding the wound open, “No morphine here as it lowers the pulse”.
The blood and grime obliterate the actors’ faces often rendering them unrecognizable but performances are top-notch. Though the film hinges briefly on the account as seen through the eyes of Sgt. Matt (Josh Hartnett), Hartnett with his clean cut looks make a credible idealistic Ranger whose mettle is tested under pressure. Of the huge supporting cast comprising Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, Sam Shepard and others, Ewen Bremner (“Snatch”, “Trainspotting”) stands out as the fumbling, terrified Spec, Shawn Nelson. His comic relief, (tripping on the sidewalk and losing his hearing) provides a welcome break from the nastiness at hand. The often under-rated Eric Bana also shines as the gung-ho hero of the lost squad.
The camaraderie of the soldiers, rivalry between units (the Rangers and Delta Force unit) and U.S. patriotism are given the token nod. But, noticeably missing in Scott’s film are the staples like character development and the politics of war. There is no one hero, no protagonist to root for. These are real youth, enlisted to fight for God and country. Ken Nolan’s script skims the surface of motives behind the mission leaving out as much of the politics as possible. If there is any fault in the movie, Scott plays it formulaic at the end. The injection of a bit of melodrama as a pilot (Ron Eldard) looks at a photograph of his wife and daughter just before being struck by the butt of a rifle and some trite dialogue about heroism almost spoils the atmosphere so carefully created in the rest of the film.
“Black Hawk Down” is one great helluva compelling movie. It moved this reviewer to tears – twice, in the beginning and again at the end. Once when I watched the innocents – these perfect young elite soldiers, with their bravado and ideals going to fight – and again at the end when I realized that it is the same men, some of whom have lost their lives, if not their minds or parts of their bodies in a mindless war. “Black Hawk Down” begins with a quotation from T.S. Eliot: “All our ignorance brings us closer to death.” If the film offers some consolation, it is found at the film’s end as Scott resorts to Hartnett’s voiceover in relaying an effective message about heroes fighting a war in a distant land.
– Gilbert –
