Black Hawk Down is the true story of a battle in Mogadishu, the longest sustained ground battle that America has been involved in since Vietnam. What started out as an aid relief mission for the starving Somalians turned into an unexpectedly violent clash of military might. Director, Ridley Scott, not only does justice to the horrific battle by showing us the action, but actually manages to take us right in and witness the horror and desperation from a soldiers eye view. Thankfully we don't have to endure another 'America saves the world' type saga, as the Somalians are depicted as intelligent people trapped in a difficult situation where fighting is a way of life.
We follow a team of elite soldiers on a mission to capture some of Mohamed Farrah Aidid's accomplices. But what in the briefing room seemed like a straight forward plan to be completed in an hour or so, proved to be anything but when it became apparent that almost everybody in the city had a machine gun or rocket launcher hidden away somewhere. As the soldiers were brought in by the helicopters, two of them were shot down and rescue missions to evacuate the wounded and surrounded men was anything but easy.
What sets Black Hawk Down apart from a lot of other films in this genre is the way that the story isn't seen through the eyes of the same few characters and focusing on their own personal battles and fight for survival, it gives us the view from all angles. The action is frighteningly real and the massive budget is very evident if you take a moment to step back and remember that this is a recreation. The fact that this recreation shows the mistakes and infallibility amidst the chaos, is what makes it so memorable, we find out who is to blame and nothing seems to be covered up.
The non-stop carnage is incredibly well filmed and we find ourselves getting lost amongst the gunfire and exploding rockets, with all the action happening so quickly there just isn't time for the often heard speeches that start with 'when all this is over…' There are moments of improvised surgery which will have many looking away, but it is expected when so many soldiers are getting shot. At the beginning we're informed of the situation by subtitles which is useful because it isn't a particularly well known encounter. The final outcome was 18 dead U. S. soldiers and up to 1000 dead Somali rebels. The film has had some criticism for ignoring the role of Malaysian forces, 113 of their troops were in the thick of the action and this was largely overlooked.
The question of the West's foreign policy on intervening in other countries matters is brought to light, but the film manages to keep a fine balance of differing perspectives and gives no heavy-handed moral judgment. Whether the UN should be intervening isn't really the point behind the film, it's more documenting what happened rather than whether it should have ever happened in the first place.
It has been compared to the opening scene of the D-Day landings graphically depicted in Saving Private Ryan, and rightly so. The difference is that the energy and tension is carried on right through the film and it seems as if the chaotic slaughtering will never end. As the troops eventually retreat from the city, a poignant moment occurs when an elderly Somali man is seen carrying an severly injured child across the street, once again showing the human toll and emphasising the point that the enemy is as human as the people at war with them.
Black Hawk Down is a must see war film that holds no punches but does nothing to glamorise or sensationalise the drama.
With thanks to the Warner Village Cinema at
Clifton Moor Centre, York.
