Check it out... if you're interested in a startlingly brutal, honest war film, that contains social commentary on the value of conflict and the patriotic self-worth that is imbued within modern American and Western culture
Skip it... if you seek a war film which honours and seeks opinion from both sides of the American-Iraqi conflicts, or detest the simplistic and rough visceral style of Clint Eastwood
"Eastwood most certainly captures the dark and gloomy vibe of the characters effectively, and delivers perhaps the most emotionally resonant film of the year."
Contemplate the conflictions occurring all over
the planet. Contemplate those who are dying in the name of a higher belief; in
defense of their liberties and freedoms; in defense of their own being. Now try
and answer, with crystal clear conviction, the following question:
Where is the line between good and evil drawn?
Clint Eastwood's second 2014 feature film, after
the disappointing and highly underdeveloped Jersey Boys, seeks to answer this
difficult and oft-times morally insensitive query. And whilst it initially
greets us with characters, especially our central protagonist, who believe the
world is black-and-white and only contains good and evil, Eastwood and
screenwriter Jason Dean Hall seem far less biased in their standing. Whilst
patriots and those who seek to supposedly defend the honour of the great nation
of America would vouch for the description of virtuous, righteous and ethical
to belong to their homeland, and detrimental, immoral and malicious to belong
to its enemies; namely Middle-Eastern citizens, Eastwood and Hall understand
that there is both good and evil on each side of any war, conflict or
disagreement. Despite our own prejudice, it is hard to deny that there is both
upstanding individuals and immoral people that lie on both sides of any
military action. That's why the Eastwood flick American Sniper is so poignant;
despite our own protagonist's one-sided view of the world, the film shifts its
perspectives constantly, allowing us to see the brutality of both American
soldiers, those who the film follows, and their enemies, those including
members of the famed terrorist organisation Al Qaeda and various civilians
drawn into the engagements by force.
The film depicts the life of Chris Kyle, a real
life American sniper who is currently accredited with the "honour" of
being the deadliest soldier of such position. We see the various moral dilemmas
he faces throughout his time during the Middle-Eastrn war, post 9/11, and the
various struggles he puts his wife through as she worries for his mental
stability, as well as his physical being. Eastwood and Hall take a simplistic
story, and shift it into a tale of distorted camaraderie and patriotism. For
those with half a brain who can decipher the idea that whatever the characters
may be doing is not necessarily condoned by the filmmakers and actors, American
Sniper will undeniably be a harrowing glance into the uncompromising dedication
and partiality that is common all throughout not only the ranks of American war
forces, but war forces from all over the planet. It's a slow-burning,
mentally-demanding escapade that contains both heart, emotion, drama and brutal
action.
When we first meet Chris (chronologically), he is
a child, being taught to defend himself by his father. That if anyone is to
mess with him, he is to fight back; to defend not only his physical being, but
the honour of himself, his friends and his family. Chris is taught from an
early age that if someone enacts first, then it is his duty to retaliate. When
Chris feels compelled to join the American military forces as a sniper, his
reasoning beckons towards his misled and patriotic upbringing; one that many a
child goes through. That their country is the most prosperous, giving and
beautiful country that the world has to offer. He believes that Middle-Eastern
militants are the instigators of the war to come, and that it is his duty to
put them down. He cares not for their individual stories, nor does he hold a
grain of sympathy for their situations. Whilst he is, to an extent, morally ambiguous
in relation to the killing of a child, one that was threatening to kill a group
of marine officers, he understands why he needs to do this, and supports his
own hard but understandable decision. That child was threatening to undo what
he would consider good work by his men; his brothers in arms are far more
valuable than the child which has a grenade in his tiny, insignificant hands.
So he shoots. He fires on men, women and children. He gives the impression to
his fellow soldiers and officers that he is mentally adept. That his mission
and kills were all in the name of the great nation of America.
Underneath this exterior though, a shallow one at
that, what we witness is a man conflicted by his own actions. Every time he
pulls that trigger and takes the life of someone, Eastwood and Hall emphasize
it. They don't dress up the situations and individual kills as anything
glamorous or honourable. Chris' comrades accredit him with being
"epic" or "badass", but we understand that he shuns these
titles. He holds distaste for the designation of "legend" that he is
gifted. Part of this inner-detriment is gifted to us thanks to the performance
of Bradley Cooper; a performance which one can very easily herald as one of the
strongest of the year. It has heart and quiet at its core, the loud and
vehement battles and firefights contrasting against Cooper's quiet and
emotional performance, one which never seeks to draw attention to itself.
Whilst there are moments where Cooper's dialogue is completely indecipherable
thanks to his heavy slur, for the most part, what he provides here is the
anchor for this incredible picture. Also constituting to this character is the
aforementioned screenwriter Hall, who is never overtly sentimental with his
writing, the character of Kyle never truly malicious but always somehow
hostile. Whilst we feel the characters pain, turmoil and tribulations deep in
our heart, and we root for Kyle to succeed in his endeavors and for him to make
it back to his family after each individual tour, we also witness his hostile
and dangerous attitude towards those who he determines the enemy. The
"evil", if you will.
Going back to that question from earlier; where
is the line between good and evil drawn, except in the context of Chris Kyle?
For Chris, it's very clear; the admirable
lifestyle of the American way needs to be protected from the vitriolic
damnation that the enemies of his nation threaten. It doesn't matter your
individuality; if you're an Iraqi and you're in Kyle's way, he doesn't care at
all for your being. It is all about protecting his brothers in arms, and
ensuring their progression throughout the brutal war that entails after the
dreadful 9/11 attacks. Strangely enough though, the thing that Eastwood taps
into most of all throughout the running time is the distressing feeling that
little to no progression is physically being made. As Kyle and his units
advance through blocks of housing estates, clearing out both good and bad, we
never get to see any drastic development in terms of the war on terror. There
is a cliched central antagonist at the middle of the film; a rival sniper who
seeks to take out Kyle, but he feels like a diversion from the true reality of
the picture, that reality being that no matter how many Al Qaeda members Kyle
shoots down, two more will pop up in that person's place. A child will grow up
without a father, and the hostility formed towards the country responsible will
be irreversible.
What about another question? Where is the line
drawn between self-defense and slaughter?
As Kyle and his comrades make their way through
the dusty, atmospheric streets of various Middle-Eastern cities (these streets
expertly concocted thanks to the gorgeous production design and location scouts
on offer), they eliminate hundreds of men, women and children. They seldom
contemplate the gravity of their decisions, rarely reflecting on their actions,
and more so focusing on the next time they may be forced to pull the trigger.
Could you claim called self-defense if you show hostility towards a body of
men, various armored vehicles and a tank that are headed towards your front
door? None of them appear to be your own nationality, and they all hold
weapons. They're threatening yourself, your neighbors and other countrymen of
your like. As much as we want to believe that our first world soldiers are the
heroes, the civilians who have to endure the warring around them undoubtedly
differ from that opinion. These Western soldiers only bring pain and
destruction, all of such straight to their door. Can we call it self-defense
that we go over into a foreign country to hunt down members of a terrorist
organisation, but kill and destroy the lives of random civilians who appear
threatening from first glance all the same? As upstanding human beings, should
we consider this morally acceptable?
American Sniper never definitively answers these
questions. All Eastwood and Hall give you is Kyle; a man of great ambition,
whose simplistic outlook on life, nationality and patriotism is somewhat
infuriating but understandable. At least by the end of the film we get to see a
changed man; someone who understands the destruction the push of his finger can
cause, both physically and emotionally. That comeuppance is refreshing, and
provides satisfaction for both the casual and thinking viewer.
On a technical front, American Sniper is
adequate, if not polished in a number of key areas. It is edited with little
finesse, and the final action sequence of the film is largely incoherent, not
only thanks to the use of dust implemented, but by the increasingly
incomprehensible editing. In other scenes, the cutting between two individual
shots is either late or slow; for example, Kyle fires his gun, but the
individual who is shot goes down seconds later, which happens to be an awfully
long time for a man only five or so metres away from Kyle at the time. It's
distracting, and that constitutes a blatant negative. That said, whilst both
the editing and the cinematography, the latter being very dirty and constantly
moving, are lacking in overall technical prowess, they do perform their job
with a certain amount of proficiency and effectiveness. It's not the most
elegant of films in terms of its look, but for a film set in the places it is,
that may be for the best.
American Sniper also runs into problems in terms
of its poor portrayal of time passage; an issue which was found within The
Theory of Everything as well. Over the duration of the picture, it is estimated
that nearly a decade and a half passes. Eastwood never truly establishes this
time passage in a discernible and natural way, and only through subtitles do we
get a grip on how long each tour lasts, or how long Kyle spends at home. This
coupled with a romance which is prominent within the first forty-five minutes
that develops at an immensely fast pace leaves the viewer feeling confused as
to what has occurred and what hasn't in a single duration of time. Other issues
arise in terms of the score for the film, primarily composed by Joseph S.
DeBeasi, which contains little more than dull, thumping synthetics and shallow
brass, both of which contain absolutely no imagination. There has to be a
better way to build tension than applying "music" which contains no
more than ambiance and electronics, all of which are consistently looped to
provide no variation.
All of that said, Eastwood most certainly
captures the dark and gloomy vibe of the characters effectively, and delivers
perhaps the most emotionally resonant film of the year. Every second of
American Sniper has something of value, whether it be the relationship formed
between Chris and his wife Taya, the war efforts in the Middle-East, or the
inner-conflicts that occur within Chris. This is a rough, brutal and honest
film, and one that suitably depicts Chris in a harsh but realistic light. It's
easy to "honour" an American hero by painting him in colours that
resemble little of what he or she was actually about, his beliefs obscured by
what the producer or studio believes will connect best with the viewer. Eastwood
and Hall could've gone the route of providing an artificial, heroic
protagonist; one that contained a universal sense of morality. But what they
actually do is far more respectable to the individual in question. They deliver
his story with sincerity, whilst also throwing a light upon the misled
attitudes of many that inhabit the first world today. American Sniper is a
cautionary tale that warns us against blindly rushing into the battle without
individual thought or understanding; know that those you face are not just
stereotypes, and that you understand the gravity of murder.
So answer me one more time, with all this in
mind; where is the line between good and evil truly drawn?
8.4
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