(USA, 123 min.)
Written and directed by Peter Berg
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben
Foster
 |
| Taylor Kitsch as Mike Murphy and Mark Wahlberg as Marcus Luttrell in Lone Survivor |
Based on the failed mission “Operation Red Wings” which
tasked four members of SEAL Team 10 on June 28, 2005 to kill Taliban leader
Ahmad Shah, Lone Survivor is an
under-the-radar drama that could take audiences by surprise when it opens in
January. Awards prospects might not be the in the sights of this
late-in-the-game player, yet Lone
Survivor should provide solid drama and inspiration for those looking to
avoid both art-house award season fare and the annual glut of “January
releases”. This true-life story is a compelling and inspiring film, and a
sturdy effort from writer/director Peter Berg (Battleship, Friday Night
Lights).
Mark Wahlberg stars as Marcus Luttrell, the lone survivor of
“Operation Red Wings” who lived to tell about the fight he and his brothers in
arms held when they were ambushed and vastly out-numbered by Taliban forces. Luttrell
and three other SEALs—Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile
Hirsh), and Matt ‘Axe’ Axelson (Ben Foster)—find themselves in a precarious
situation when they’re faced with death as a consequence of doing the right
thing. The SEALs are holed up in the forest outlying the hiding spot of Ahmad
Shah and, while they’re waiting for the opportunity to kill, a trio of goat
farmers stumbles upon them. The farmers seem harmless, for they’re just an old
man and two boys. However, the SEALs know that letting them go will inevitably
signal their presence and blow the mission.
Having gone dark—due to covert reasons and consequences of
shoddy communication—the SEALs must debate the options amongst themselves. The
three passersby would be collateral damage and save the mission, but they’d be
direct violations of the rules of engagement and bring an inevitable firestorm
as fallout of the media coverage of Shah’s death. The also poses obvious
ethical quandaries—can a SEAL kill an innocent to complete a mission? Can a
soldier break legal and moral rules in the fight for justice?
The questions arise more directly and less provocatively
than they did in last year’s Zero Dark Thirty, as the SEALs debate aloud the issue that Kathryn Bigelow dramatized
through visceral scenes of torture that were shrouded in moral ambiguity. Lone Survivor, then, is sure to avoid
any controversy that befell Zero Dark Thirty,
especially since the SEALs take the high road more explicitly than Jessica
Chastain’s noble Maya ultimately did with her investigation. Consequently, Lone Survivor might not incite as
necessary a debate about America’s presence and tactics in the Middle East, but
a much different story is being dramatized in this case. They have vastly
dissimilar objectives, so the only noticeable difference between Lone Survivor and Zero Dark Thirty is that which separates Berg and Bigelow as
filmmakers. (There really is an art to what Bigelow can do.)
Lone Survivor is
less about interrogating the brutality of war and more about celebrating and
upholding an idea of fraternity that is the base of American wartime ideology. Lone Survivor is, above all, a story
about the bond that exists between soldiers as they fight in the name of free
America. As the four SEALs defend themselves to the death, Lone Survivor illustrates how each hit absorbed by a soldier is
felt by the members of his team. Lone
Survivor looks like a war movie, but it feels like a western as our four
all-American heroes stand their ground in the rocky terrain and trade fire with
some villainous outlaws. It’s a story of strength and honour, and of upholding
a moral authority even if it brings dire consequences.
Lone Survivor
thankfully returns the code of honour to the Afghan citizens in the town near
the brutal confrontation that leaves Murphy, Dietz, and Axelson dead and
Luttrell severely wounded. Luttrell is discovered by a villager, who protects
him from the Taliban army under the pre-Islamic code the Pashtunwali, which
requires one to protect person his enemies. It’s a necessary turn of
representation, as the SEALs of Lone
Survivor essentially trade fire with a bunch of cunning and bloodthirsty
Afghans for the first three-quarters of the film. Lone Survivor shows a moral authority that exists in various
corners of the globe.
The film’s strong sense of honour has an undeniable whiff of
good-old American patriotism, though, as Lone
Survivor’s dramatization of the SEALs’ last stand feels like a gripping and
realistic depiction of war. The action is stark, visceral, and surprisingly brutal
as the violent depiction of the SEALs’ deaths refuses to shy away from what
they endured. Rather than cut from the deaths of these three men, Berg and
editor Colby Parker, Jr. hold on the SEALs as the final kill shots rip into
their bodies. It’s a tough film to watch, but the graphic nature of the film is
essential to honouring how valiantly these gunslingers fought in their final
hours. Lone Survivor pays a fine
tribute towards the fallen SEALs with its rousing score by Explosions in the Sky and with the cinematography by Tobias A.
Schliessler that mixes Saving Private
Ryan-like grittiness with sweepingly elegiac shots of soft light enveloping
the SEALs’ final mission.
The film is especially affectionate towards its four heroes.
Top-lined by a strong Mark Wahlberg, the four actors pay tribute to the fallen
SEALs by underscoring their humanity: the SEALs are stealthy warriors, yet the
actors show them to be as flawed and as vulnerable as the ordinary folks
watching the tale that unfolds onscreen. These soldiers grit their teeth and
stand tall like John Wayne, but they also shed tears for the families they’ll
never see again. Lone Survivor is a brutally
stark film, but an inspiring one at that.
Rating: ★★★½ (out of ★★★★★)
Rating: ★★★½ (out of ★★★★★)
Lone Survivor opens in theatres January 10th.
