Black Hawk Down is known as a controversial film with delicate subject matter as its central focus. The plot is taken from author Mark Bowden’s account of the events surrounding the efforts of the U.S. Military to capture the Somali military leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid, in the capital of Mogadishu before it ultimately descended into an all out war zone. The resulting mission which had intended to be a stealth get in and get out operation, had ended up becoming a battle that cost the lives of various U.S. Soldiers and Mogadishu citizens. The events were marked as a pivotal feat of outside military involvement and changed the course on policy and what would shape significant events to come.
The film’s initial depiction of the burgeoning battle to be, gives context to what had occured before, the destitute conditions of its citizens, caused by the famine by control of their leaders and which starts America’s involvement to extract Aidid under the command of General Garrison (played by Sam Shepard). The film gets to the proceedings pretty quickly and all the more there is that inevitable feeling of unease as the soldiers make their way to the town centre of Mogadishu, the scene itself is paced very well and makes it all the more disturbing when the mission goes horribly wrong.
The majority of the film is essentially the battle itself, soldiers are separated, various bullets, rockets and other arsenal, all create this crescendo that drowns the characters as they struggle to survive and complete their mission and that is primarily the film’s strength. The film deftly captures the brutality of warfare and even the confusion of it all, I think that the lack of character development that has been noted in reviews, I think strongly makes the film’s point. The chaos that emanates, pushes characters aside for little time to quickly focus on others which creates a disorentating effect that is not so much distracting as authentic. There are big names amongst the cast, and although they play soldiers of certain rank, none of them think to grandstand and instead play secondary to the story itself.
I think Ridley Scott made a commendable effort of depicting the events as brutal and disorentaiting. The film may not be everyone but one can’t deny how well-executed the film is and with a noble cast of actors that commit themselves to the best of their ability. So, as a war film goes it’s well put together and as a statement of war, it’s effectively sombre.
4/5
Filmlife 