Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller
Academy Award Nominations: Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role (Bradley Cooper), Adapted Screenplay, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Film Editing
American Sniper is arguably the most talked about film of this awards season. Whether it’s being praised for its moving portrayal of the life of an American hero or being condemned for its biased depiction of the conflict in Iraq and the Iraqi people. I’m going to try to explore these issues so this may end up reading more like a political op-ed than movie review.
American Sniper tells the true story of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), an all American cowboy from Texas who is compelled to become a Navy SEAL after seeing the hardships America is facing from foreign countries. He goes through training, and along the way meets his wife Taya (Sienna Miller). When the pair witness the 9/11 attack on TV from their Texas home, they know that Chris must go fight for his country and suddenly he’s in the thick of the war. Chris completes four tours, all while his wife has their two children. During his stays at home, he finds it difficult to adapt to civilian and family life while Taya pleads with him to come back to their family and be a father to their children even if it means leaving the service. Chris has a hard time with this as well, and at the same time begins to face the moral dilemma of having a duty that revolves around killing people and watching his friends die in front of him.
It really is an interesting social question of how some people can see this movie as a poignant, patriotic film about an American hero and others as a harmful, misplaced propaganda. Truthfully I can see both sides, and if anybody watches the film with those goggles on, it’s easy to see where those feelings come from. For example, throughout the film, the soldiers repeatedly refer to the Iraqis as “savages” and there is all but one instance where an Iraqi is portrayed as resembling human qualities and even then the carelessness with which it is handled is rather shocking. On the other hand this is about war, and I am under no impression that a soldier’s first instinct is to be compassionate and politically correct to everyone in a war zone. Those people are over there away from their families because they want to do the right thing and protect their country, for which the United States is grateful.
I think the real question here doesn’t lie with whether the movie had a good message or not, but the moral responsibility of that message. Being a filmmaker is not the same as being a journalist. You don’t have to show all sides of an issue and you can tell whatever story you want. American Sniper is the story Clint Eastwood wanted to tell. The bigger question is whether large films like this have a moral obligation to address these issues, especially in a time when hate crimes and general Islamophobia is all too common, or if, as an art form, they have no such responsibility. I personally don’t yet have an answer to this question, but I think the issues it proposes are really interesting.
On a more lighthearted note, people have been laughing at the movie’s use of an obviously, distractingly fake baby during one of its most important storytelling scenes which really took away from the moment. If you don’t see this movie at all, please do yourself a favor and watch the fake baby scene.
Nicely done. I think you do a nicely nuanced job on the balance between cinema and journalism and on raising questions about the criticisms.
I came across this yesterday. A good example of how this inflames people: http://www.salon.com/2015/02/20/my_first_impulse_is_to_call_you_a_dumb_obama_ass_licking_ct_american_sniper_fans_tell_me_off/
I rarely go see war related films because I am a wimp when it comes to hat kind of stuff and I can’t handle it. However, I did go to see American Sniper in theaters and I am so glad that I did. This was one of the most intense, emotional, and powerful movies I have ever seen. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I started crying in the first scene and cried the whole time. The scene where Kyle is on the phone with his pregnant wife and a fire fight breaks out and she can hear everything nearly broke me. I could never imagine the terror that she felt when she heard her husband being shot at. While I can sort of see how people get upset over the way Muslims are portrayed, I also think those people are missing the point. It is war, and these soldiers are watching their friends die and being shot at, so obviously they are going to have anger towards the enemy, and in that type of situation everyone is an enemy. Anyway, I think Chris Kyle is an American hero and I loved this movie.
I saw this movie over winter break before it was released nationwide. I personally think this is one of the best movies I have ever seen. I think that the movie does not glamorize war but instead does the opposite. I realize he call the Iraqi people savages but this was in reference to the people shooting at Americans, and since when have we asked our solider to be English Professors. The movie is not about war but instead the effect it has on the individual. The mental problems they face after being deployed. So it will be interesting how the Oscars will award this movie. Good Job!!
I can’t wait to see this movie! I absolutely love how you said that being a filmmaker is not the same thing as being a journalist, and that the movie is portrayed on the side that Clint Eastwood wanted to tell. I think this is so important to note, because often times movies are only loosely based on true stories. As for the fake baby scene, I’ve heard numerous comments about it. For the movie being so serious (at least that’s how it appears to be) it seems like kind of a shame that the scene sticks out so prominently as being fake. I can’t wait to see this movie!
A few weeks ago I watched this movie with a few of my roommates because we were all dying to see it. I had already heard all the controversy surrounding it as well. On the one hand, the movie does rather carelessly handle the issue of representing the native people in an unbiased manner. On the other hand, why would a writer want to portray the antagonist of a movie in a good light. I thought your post was interesting a thought provoking. I liked the patriotic quality of the movie, but did think it came across as the slightest bit racist. The movie The Hurt Locker is able to show a human side of the people against which the protagonists fight. It is difficult, though, to criticize a movie such as American Sniper without being deemed un-American or ungrateful for the troops.