Black Hawk Down

Prije nekoliko godina, Three Kings je ponudio neobican pogled na moderni rat, ne samo kao socijalnu pojavu, vec i ruzan produzetak visoke politike i medijski dogadjaj. Na drugacijem nivou, vrlo je precizno pokazao kako stranci gledaju na americku armiju i Ameriku uopste. Black Hawk Down prati slicnu pricu, usmjeravajuci paznju na americke vojnike koji nastoje pomoci stranoj zemlji koja ne dozvoljava da joj se pomogne.

Ova istinita prica prisjeca se jednog groznog dana 1993, kada je kombinovana misija marinaca, rendzera i specijalnih jedinica u Somaliji krenula naopako. Za razliku od mnogih drugih filmova o americkom angazmanu u vojnim misijama daleko od kuce, Black Hawk Down polako objasnjava zasto su americki vojnici uopste isli do tog dalekog kutka Afrike. Vodje somalijskih paramilitarnih jedinica, u svojoj borbi za nadmoc, sprecavali su vlastiti narod da dobiju humanitarnu pomoc i 300,000 ljudi je umrlo od gladi ili metaka. Snage UN u tom regionu nisu ucinile mnogo da se ta situacija popravi, i u vrijeme kada prica pocinje, marincima je bilo dozvoljeno samo da posmatraju dok Somalijci pucaju na izgladnjeli narod i oduzimaju im hranu, govoreci kako hrana pripada tajanstvenom i mocnom vodji, Mohamadu Farah Aididu.

Misija zvuci jednostavno - uci, oteti zarobljenike i izaci u manje od 30 minuta. Kako danas znamo, misija je trajala 18 sati i odnijela toliko zrtava. Tokom rane faze misije, jedan od helikoptera "crni soko" je pogodjen i srusen na trgu oko dva kilometra od pocetne zone iskrcavanja. Ono sto slijedi je pravi ratni haos, gdje nista ne ide onako kako treba i, kako je lik kojeg tumaci Tom Sizemore sublimirao u jednu recenicu, "nista ne traje samo pet minuta".

Jedna grupa vojnika nastoji da provuce konvoj oklopnih vozila kroz labirint uskih ulica natrag u bazu, noseci zarobljenike i ranjenike, ali ih navigacija iz zraka uporno vodi pogresnim putevima. Drugi zure da dodju do oborenog helikoptera, ali ih zestok otpor somalijskih snaga znatno usporava. Da se stvari ucine nemogucim, jos jedan "crni soko" je oboren na drugom kraju grada. Ove scene spadaju u najbolje organizovane u karijeri Ridleya Scotta - na svakom prozoru, na svakom krovu, iza svakog coska je neki snajperista. Somalijci nisu narocito trenirani, ali su dobro naoruzani i odlucni, i daleko brojniji od americkih vojnika.

Scott je napravio film koji se mnogima moze ciniti kao uvodna scena iz Saving Private Ryan, produzena na dva sata. Slicnosti su ocigledne, ali je razlika u tome sto je Spielberg koristio taj stvarni dogadjaj kao odskocnu dasku za vlastitu fiktivnu pricu, dok Scott pravi cijeli film samo o ovoj jednoj misiji. Black Hawk Down je odlican film zato sto nam pokazuje sve - od operativnog centra gdje general donosi odluke, sve do ljudi na terenu, koji cuvaju jedni drugom ledja. Rijetko ratni filmovi koriste toliko vremena da pokazu ratnu hijerarhiju i proces donosenja odluka, sve vrijeme ne gubeci radnju iz vida. Da ne pominjemo to da je jos rjedje da film prikazuje samu radnju tako zivopisno, tako naizgled hladno i daleko, ali zapravo vrlo toplo i suosjecajno. Nema sumnje da filmu u prilog idu prilike u kojima se pojavio, ali njegova poruka doseze i izvan toga i, kao i poruke najboljih anti-ratnih filmova, sigurno ce odjekivati jos dugo.

A few years ago, Three Kings offered an unusual view of a modern war, not only as a social occurrence, but also an ugly extension of high politics and a media event. On another level, it very accurately described a foreigner's view of US Army, and America in general. Black Hawk Down follows a similar storyline, focusing on American soldiers trying to help a foreign country that does not allow itself to be helped.

The true story recollects one horrific day in 1993 when a combined mission of Marines, Rangers and Special Forces in Somalia went terribly awry. Unlike most movies about American involvement in military missions far away from home, Black Hawk Down takes the time to explain why the American soldiers were in that remote corner of Africa in the first place. Somalian warlords, in their ongoing struggle for power, were preventing their own people from receiving the international humanitarian aid and more than 300,000 people died, from starvation or bullets. UN troops deployed in the region did little to help the situation, and at the time where the story begins, Marines were only allowed to idly watch while Somalis shoot the starving population and take away the food, claiming that it belongs to the elusive and powerful warlord, Mohamad Farah Aidid.

The mission sounds simple - get in, get the prisoners, and get out in less than 30 minutes. As we know now, it took 18 hours and as many casualties. During the early stage of the mission, one of the Black Hawk helicopters was hit and crashed hard in a square about a mile or two away from the original deployment area. What ensues is a true combat mayhem, where nothing goes as it was supposed to and, as Tom Sizemore's character sublimed into one sentence, "nothing takes five minutes".

One group of soldiers tries to navigate a convoy of armored personnel carriers through a labyrinth of narrow streets back to the base, carrying prisoners and wounded, but the navigation from the air keeps sending them to wrong paths. The others are in a foot race to reach the fallen chopper, but considerably slowed down with a strong resistance from paramilitary Somali forces. To make matters impossible, another Black Hawk goes down in another part of the town. These scenes are some of the best orchestrated in Ridley Scott's career - there's a shooter on each window, on each rooftop, behind every corner. Somalis are not very well trained, but they are armed and determined, and they by far outnumber the American soldiers.

Scott makes a movie that may seem to many as an opening scene of Saving Private Ryan extended over dva hours. The similarities are obvious, but the difference is that Spielberg used that actual event as a springboard to his own fictional story, while Scott makes an entire movie about this one mission. Black Hawk Down is a great movie because it shows us everything - from the op center where a general brings the decisions all the way to the men on the ground watching each other's backs. Rarely does a war movie take so much time to show the hierarchy of war and the process of making decisions, while never losing sight of the action. Not to mention that it's even rarer that a movie shows the action itself so vividly, so seemingly cold and distant, but in fact very warm and compassionate. No doubt that the movie benefits from the timing of its release, but its message goes beyond that and, like the message of best anti-war movies, will surely resonate strong for a long time to come.