Black Hawk Down
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Written by: Mark Bowden (book), Ken Nolan (screenplay)
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Sam Shepard

Some people are big war movie buffs, and some people aren’t; I would say I fall into the latter category. As snobby as this sounds, the glorification of war and the depiction of needless violence as it has so often happened throughout history is not something I consider myself a fan of. But then again, it’s one of those things that you are often unable to stop yourself from watching, when given the opportunity.

At the moment, there is a wave of war movies in theatres that are obviously a direct result of the terrorist attacks in the U.S. and the American desire for patriotism and pride. Black Hawk Down is caught up in the midst of all this, and could easily be mistaken to be just another “American propaganda” flick. This is fortunate for the producers of the film who are raking in a fair amount of cash based on the sudden appeal, but it is unfortunate in that many viewers may be mislead or may make incorrect assumptions about the film.

So let’s just get one thing straight: this is not your typical heroic American war movie. The subject of the film refers to an event that is not a particularly proud one for the American military, and one that was largely kept under wraps until reporter Mark Bowden wrote about it some four years later (thus providing the source material for this movie).

In late 1992, The United Nations and the U.S. decided to send troops into Somalia in order to assist a nation that was being torn apart by civil war. As far as the public knew, their involvement was strictly a humanitarian mission to bring food and supplies to the many who were starving. However, there was some covert military missions going on, as the U.S. tried to bring to justice a man named Mohamed Farrah Aidid, who was the leader of a powerful Somalian subclan, and who was identified as being largely responsible for the food crisis in Somalia. The events depicted within the film tell the story of a military raid intended to capture some of Aidid’s high-ranking officials. The raid was supposed to be quick and easy (less than an hour to be precise), but unfortunately, things did not go according to plan.

We do not get a full sense of the political background to this whole scenario. We know only a few tidbits that are flashed in the opening captions of the film, and what is heard through the voices of the characters. But this reflects the limited knowledge that most of the participating soldiers had about the situation in Somalia, and this is a movie told from their point of view. What’s more, I don’t think Black Hawk Down is intended to be a completely accurate re-enactment of one particular day in history. Rather, I think it is meant to be taken in a more general context, leading us to the realization that this kind of chaos is happening all the time in other parts of the world, even when we aren’t aware of it.

As with most films based on a true story, we have a pretty good idea of what is going to happen, but this doesn’t eliminate suspense; if anything it creates it. A tremendous sense of dread tied my stomach in knots as the overconfident American troops converged on hostile territory. I knew that the situation was going to quickly unravel around them, and the anxiety that knowledge created had me on the edge of my seat.

Ridley Scott has become known for directing commercially successful movies that also have artistic merit to them, and Black Hawk Down is no different. There are some points when he gets carried away with silly slow motion shots, trying to unnecessarily force little artistic moments here and there, but generally he is to be commended for bringing style and execution to a film that could have easily been just another uninteresting Bruckheimer explosion-fest.

As we know, Ridley Scott is also not one to shy away from potentially disturbing images. With that said, you probably will want to have an idea of what you are getting into, prior to viewing this film. Black Hawk Down strives for realism, and succeeds better than any other war film I have ever seen. (Yes, better than Saving Private Ryan even.) This movie is a cinematic tour-de-force if ever there was one, and it is very gruesome and very violent. Your senses will be assaulted for a good two hours as you are submerged directly into the thick of the action. Black Hawk Down is certainly not for the faint of heart, but its graphic nature is precisely what makes this movie so interesting. I really felt like I was there, and that kind of authenticity is not easy to create on film.

Black Hawk Down touches on details that are often glossed over in other war movies.For instance, it really hits home just how young and inexperienced the soldiers are. Although they’ve been through extensive combat training, they have never once fired a gun at a real-life human being before. They feel fear and they struggle with their desire to help comrades and their natural instinct to recoil from the horrors of the battlefield.

One of the things that conflicts with the film’s realistic portrayal is the casting of familiar actors in the various military roles. Specifically, Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner and Ewen Bremner all come into this film fresh off their appearance in the irrefutably unrealistic Pearl Harbour. However, unlike in Pearl Harbour, actors really take a backseat to action in Black Hawk Down. There are so many characters, and the events in the film become so overwhelming that we lose awareness of the big names up on screen. They all become virtually nameless soldiers. Some would say that this is just an excuse to avoid character development, but I think that it only makes the experience that much more genuine.

A related complaint that many people had about the movie was that the first half-hour is pure fluff, disguised as character exploration. We are exposed to endless examples of clichéd male bonding played out to a feel-good Top 40 soundtrack. True, this is a little unsettling for people who do not want to see another stereotypical war drama, but by the time the credits roll at the end of the film, it is easy to excuse, and perhaps even defend these early scenes. After all, how can we fully comprehend the shock of war without first identifying with the characters, laughing at their dumbass jokes, and sharing familiar North American cultural quirks with them?

In the end I think Black Hawk Down can only be evaluated based on the effects of its visceral images and gritty cinematography, and there really is a point to all the blood and guts.

First of all, don’t misinterpret this film as a tribute to American soldiers or a celebration of courage and honour. There are some actions that could potentially be seen as heroic, but you won’t come away feeling proud of anyone’s accomplishments, and I don’t think you are supposed to. In the few instances when the characters try to rationalize and spout off philosophical ideas about war, they say just enough to sound genuine, but not enough to sound preachy.

Black Hawk Down, for the most part, simply wants to show us how grotesque and ugly war is, and allow us to draw our own conclusions. Because the events in the movie feel so real, the emotions that it draws from us are also real, but it is up to us to sort out these emotions.

Some people may not take anything away from this film other than an appreciation for the relentless action, but personally I found the film to be a reminder that (a) war is not a glorious thing, (b) The U.S.A. is not invincible, and (c) war is going on all over the world, even when we’re not aware of it, and probably always will be.

Black Hawk Down is a unique film experience that will change you, even if just in some small way, and I believe that is the ultimate triumph for a film. This movie is anything but your standard piece of Hollywood fluff, and to jump to such a conclusion would be a terrible mistake. — Sean