Posted on 01/20/2015 6:45:54 AM PST by LS
Edited on 01/20/2015 9:23:47 AM PST by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
As he had in "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima," Director Clint Eastwood continues his exploration of the soldier's mind and personality with "American Sniper." If you expect "Sand of Iwo Jima," you will be sadly disappointed. Eastwood's goal is less to explain why men become soldiers---especially in an all-volunteer force---or even why they fight than it is to understand what combat does to a person.
How many of you have grandfathers or uncles who served in WW II, yet rarely if ever speak of their combat experiences? It is this "silence of return" that Eastwood seeks to address, and in "American Sniper," he does it well. Bradley Cooper, as SEAL Chris Kyle, faces his demons, not in Iraq while he is engaged in brutal, one-on-one combat, but when he comes home to a loving and beautiful wife (played by Sienna Miller) and his children. While he repeatedly tells doctors and his wife that he is fighting to keep his family safe, in reality he is fighting to keep his comrades safe and blames himself profoundly when one of them dies. The scene in which he says he could have done more, or should do more, are eerily reminiscent of Oscar Schindler, lamenting that he could have saved ten more Jews by selling his car.
But this is, of course, one of the messages of Christian salvation. We can NEVER do enough. There will always be a mistake, a lapse in judgment, a missed shot. Perhaps the saddest thing about "American Sniper" is that in the end, it's not clear if Kyle truly understood that.
The film begins with a young Kyle shooting a deer and his father insists, "You have a gift." As a 20 year old, Kyle was a rodeo cowboy until he sees the explosions in Tanzania and Uganda set by al-Qaeda, and he determines to join up. Convinced to become a SEAL, Kyle suffers through BUDs training---which is depicted here far better than in "Lone Survivor," even though in "Lone Survivor" the training consumes almost 50% of the book while in "American Sniper" it is proportionately much less. He then distinguishes himself in marksmanship, and is assigned to "overwatch," or the sniper watching over troops on the ground. His very first mission involves an Iraqi mother and young son coming into a street some 200 yards from an advancing body of American troops. When she hands an RPG to her son, sending him to martyrdom, Kyle does not hesitate to pull the trigger, nor to dispatch the mom who tries to pick up the RPG herself and finish the job. Far from changing Kyle, one gets the sense that the incident taught him that "it can't get worse" in terms of his potential targets.
From that point, the combat sequences (Kyle served four tours totaling almost 1000 days) involve mostly a manhunt for “The Butcher,” a brutal child-killer and an Iraqi sniper, Kyle’s al-Qaeda counterpart”, who shoots one of Kyle's friends. (Note to soldiers out there: no matter what, never tell anyone you're going to get married when you get home. It seems to be the mark of death in any military movie). Eventually, with a shot of over a mile (!!), Kyle finishes "The Butcher." The final scene of chaos and carnage, shot during a raging sandstorm (and here Eastwood displayed sheer directing genius), finds Kyle finally saved by his brothers and returned home once and for all.
Eastwood's style can best be described by exaggerated understatement. He employs a paucity of music. Indeed, most scenes have no music at all, save the final credits. You MUST stay through the initial part of the credits, for in the last scene you will certainly feel the tears well up. But even then, Eastwood neither wants people bawling like babies or singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Rather, he wants an honest, thoughtful reflection on what combat does to men, regardless of the necessity for war. "American Sniper" is neither a cheerleader for our wars, nor their critic. If there is a message, it is: "Wars are bad. Make sure you win, and make them as short as possible."
Not for kids, the squeamish, or progressive/communists.
"Did Chris really kill the enemy sniper Mustafa?
No. In reality, Chris Kyle never actually encountered the enemy Iraqi sniper Mustafa, who he believes was killed by other U.S. snipers. Chris does make a 2,100-yard shot in the book, but it was to take out a random combatant on a rooftop who was about to fire an RPG at an Army convoy. "It was my longest confirmed kill in Iraq," writes Chris, "even longer than that shot in Fallujah."
This is an entirely reasonable modification for a movie. It simplifies the story and gives a face to a single enemy, without changing the meaning of the story as a whole. I'm okay with this change.
Interesting, but a far less entertaining scene.
I don't think it would have made a difference if the scenes of Kyle shooting Mustafa and the boy weren't included. The public interest would have been the same. I saw it a few days ago, and I will see it again this weekend.
You’d have to take that up with Eastwood and the screenwriter.
I would certainly like to talk with Eastwood. I would tell him how much I enjoyed the movie!
Me too. Spoke with his manager last year. What an ass. Of course, managers are paid to be asses. I was just trying to send him a copy of “Patriot’s History of the U.S.” and he told me “Clint doesn’t read.”
I’m pretty sure I read Patriot’s History. It was by a brilliant professor named Larry Schweikart. :)
Pretty average guy, I’m told, but I think he had some divine inspiration for that book. He told me he never writes words or phrases that you find in that book.
Almost done with our second movie, "Other Walls 2 Fall" about music vs. oppression throughout the world, mainly in the Middle East. That trailer is available at the same site under Projects: In production. LS
I’ll check it out!
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