Peter Berg’s LONE SURVIVOR based on a true story, gives us a view of war’s
brutality, tactical decision making, heroism and machismo – all very close up
and corporeal. The camera places us in the midst of the horror and camaraderie
of four Navy SEALS on a mission in Afghanistan to assassinate a Taliban leader,
Ahmad Shah, in late June 2005. I sit in a half-empty theater – an ice storm
swirling outside on this wintry day, wiping clean the tears flecking my glasses
wondering why I am emotionally perforated. I realize I am moved watching such
young men attempting to survive an undertaking gone awry, due to equipment and
communications break down; life and death determinations (which luckily most of
us rarely have to make) involving ethical and tactical judgments affecting not
only their lives, but radiating out to communities and families – war is
heartbreaking..
We penetrate the requisite male fuck-you banter (there are no
woman in this film) glimpsing each of the main character’s lives - family, children, upcoming weddings,
etc. yet these young men are steel hard, having been trained to kill for their
country. This is a propaganda film for The Navy SEALS and the “brotherhood” of
men who are the “elite corps” disciplined to carry out operations quick and
clean – no messy questions asked back home stateside – a place which seems very
far away psychologically and physically. The camera contrasts the minuteness of
man against the larger tapestry of Afghanistan’s breath-taking mountainous landscape - dappled with Taliban warriors whose
fierceness and savagery are both alien and a response to the many invasions
over the past decades into their homeland,
Mark Wahlberg plays Marcus
Lutrell and his well-acted “team” performed by Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch and
Ben Foster – four individuals who have bonded not only due to their rigorous
indoctrination process, but additionally through their exposure to risk and
isolation. A good part of LONE SURVIVOR contains an outnumbered fight-to-the–death gun battle; what made those
scenes so singular was the tracking choreography – we move from macro to micro
– we see an overview of strategy, and then the camera focuses directly into the
eyes, deep gashes, and bleeding wounds of the casualties shocking us to the
vulnerabilities of the flesh.
We also are made aware of the
Afghani’s own code of ethics – the villagers who risked their own lives to
fight the Taliban and help an American – the lone survivor. The movie glorified
bravery and courage but at the same time revealed the profound attachments that
are formed in combat. This is a war movie that does not show sweeping battles
but rather a small group of soldiers who won’t stop fighting no matter the
conditions and odds. We viscerally perceive humanity’s carnality and its
mortality in the fight for survival.
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