LONE SURVIVOR: ode to to bravery & courage
LONE SURVIVOR: ode to to bravery & courage
Starring:Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Eric Bana, Jerry Ferrara, Ali Suliman, Yousef Azami
Directors: Peter Berg
Adapted from the memoir "Lone Survivor,The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10" which Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell co-wrote with British novelist Patrick Robinson, LONE SURVIVOR is an ode to to heroism, courage, sacrifice, survival, and mercy which is not strained, but given freely, twice blest. The specific quality of mercy or pity in the film is called pashtunwali, a remarkable code practised by the Pashtun tribals in Afghanistan. Pashtunwali's key characteristic entails offering hospitality to whoever is considered as a guest regardless of race, religion and economic status.
Like the all-encompassing chador worn by conservative Muslim women or Navroz which continues to be celebrated by Iranian Muslims, pashtunwali is the pre-Islamic tradition which sheltered Osama Bin Laden after the Twin Towers fell.This is the same protection that is given in 2005 to American Marcus Luttrell (Wahlberg), whom we see ,as the movie begins, flatlining after being rescued by his fellow-countrymen. The story then flashes back three days prior to the start of the ill-fated mission with archived training footage from the US Navy.
Operation Redwing had begun with the departure of four U.S Navy Seals ( Wahlberg, Kitsch, Foster and Hirsch ) departed on a clear night in early July for the mountains of northeastern Afghanistan, on a reconnaissance mission to find an Al Qaeda leader and Taliban commander responsible for murdering U. S Marines. Luttrell’s concept of the mission was clear: “This was payback time for the World Trade Center” . Intriguingly, when the four Navy Seals argue about the fate of three Afghan goatherds, Luttrell presents what is "standard operating procedure" for US soldiers in combat ( U.S. Rules of Engagement forbid the killing of civilians ) as a moral dilemma: should they kill them or set them free?
Later, Luttrell feels guilty about letting them go. When we see the posse of Taliban waiting to ambush the American quartet, it is obvious that one of the goatherds must have informed them of the position of phirang enemy ( or Great Satan as some Islamists like to call the USA). In the extended and fearsome shoot-out that ensues, only one of the four emerges alive. Sixteen more soldiers from the commanding officer (Eric Bana) to a young rookie serviceman perish when insurgents shoot down their rescue helicopter.
The viewer will note how the gravely wounded Luttrell is prepared to die ( "meet the Reaper" as he puts it, invoking the Scriptural name for death) even as he spends four days in the care of the kindly Pashtun tribal Mohammad Gulab who protects him from the pursuing Taliban. Luttrell is saved from beheading in one highly tense sequence; in yet another filmi ( i.e. improbable scene) Luttrell kills a Taliban attacker with a chaku slipped to him by a little boy. It should be noted that a cinematic adaptation will invariably take liberties with the facts, even so in the brief shots of women covered from top to toe, the film shows how the Taliban's ultra-strict interpretation of the Koran piggybacks on tribal notions, especially those with regard to "honour" and women. Good Pashtun men must realise that bad tradition is a natural enemy to progress. What does the Taliban care if nine out of ten 15-year-old girls are illiterate? Or that 4.4 million women out of 5.8 million are without access to healthcare?
Productionwise, the camerawork is remarkable in its lensing of the rugged landscape and the beautiful sun, as beautiful as the rugged toned bodies of the soldiers at Bagram base. The script also depicts the cruelty of the Taliban for whom beheadings are just part of an ordinary day's work. Gung ho young viewers might chafe at the extended time given to the camaraderie at base camp, at the bullying of rookies, the gum chewing or jokes about accents. Certainly, Lone Survivor takes its time in building up to the gut-wrenching encounter between adversaries. When that happens, viewers will wince at the impact of bone on stone as the Americans plunge down the rocky hillside ( kudos to the stuntmen) in stark contrast to the agility of the goatherd who leaps nimbly and the excruciating manner in which bullets rip into hip, shoulder, stomach, foot, fingers. There is nail biting tension as the out-numbered Americans engage and struggle to fend off the Taliban and buy time to be rescued.
In my review of 12 Years a Slave, I had noted the weak character of a basically decent man who lacks the wherewithal to stand up for human rights. In a timely reminder of the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan later this year, Lone Survivor honours the guts and bravery of Afghan villagers as they stand up against the Taliban.
