American Sniper: A wolf in sheep dog’s clothing

[candelista]

By Matthew MacEgan
24 January 2015
World Socialist Website

Directed by Clint Eastwood; screenplay by Jason Hall

Veteran director Clint Eastwood’s newest film, American Sniper, brings the autobiography of Chris Kyle to the big screen. Kyle was reputedly the deadliest marksman in the history of the US military with approximately 255 kills, 160 of which were officially confirmed by the Pentagon. The film, an inept and cartoonish effort, follows Kyle as he serves multiple tours in Iraq following the 9/11 attacks in a story of xenophobic revenge and violence.
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Kyle’s skills as a marksman quickly earn him the nickname of “the Legend” and makes the Marines he protects feel invincible. Kyle’s task is generally to watch over groups of US soldiers while they move door to door in devastated cities like Fallujah where most people have been evacuated and all who remain are painted as sinister agents there to attack Americans.

Virtually every Arab in American Sniper, whether man, woman or child, is plotting to kill as many American soldiers as possible, whether they are charging with grenades in hand, burying land mines or hiding around corners with rocket launchers. To Kyle and his fellow soldiers, Iraq is full of “savages” who need to be wiped out. This term is used repeatedly.

The handful of Arabs who do not pose an imminent threat to the soldiers are still painted in extremely negative colors. One family Kyle and his outfit come across is headed by a father who wants $100,000 to help them find an Al Qaeda operative, and another family that invites the soldiers into their home for a meal has a secret cache of weapons hidden under a child’s bed. In the most disturbing scene the Al Qaeda operative in question uses a drill to torture and murder a young boy in front of his father who has agreed to aid the US troops. The Middle East is full of monstrous people who indeed seem “evil.”

Meanwhile Kyle is increasingly alienated from his wife, who tells him again and again that he needs to “come home,” both physically and mentally. A chance meeting with a soldier at an auto repair shop whom he saved from death on one of his tours drives home the idea. The US soldiers do not seem to be able to “finish it” in Iraq no matter how many of them sacrifice their lives.

Eastwood’s film relies on its audience knowing nothing about history, including the history of US support and financing for Islamic fundamentalism, and holding the most primitive, simplistic views. The viewer never learns why people are resisting the US in Iraq. In one scene, Kyle tells another soldier that “this [Iraq] is more than just this dirt.” The evil in Iraq could spread to San Diego or New York if they fail to stem the tide.

As is his wont, Eastwood permits his protagonist to commit any murderous act, including the killing of women and children, as long as he pulls a long face afterward and appears regretful. Cooper performs poorly and unconvincingly, but the material is poor and unconvincing. No one else fares any better. Clichés and stereotypes are the order of the day.

In American Sniper, there is hardly a hint of opposition to the Iraq war, one of the most unpopular in US history. The one fellow soldier who tells Kyle somewhat dubiously that he hopes they are accomplishing something in Iraq is shortly thereafter killed. Kyle later explains it wasn’t the bullets that did him in; it was the fact that he had questioned the troops’ goals and purpose.

Eastwood, who agreed to direct the film after Steven Spielberg bowed out of the project, claimed in an interview that, even though he is supposedly “antiwar,” American Sniper is not intended to support one or another political ideology.

“I was a child growing up during World War II,” he explained. “That was supposed to be the one to end all wars. And four years later, I was standing at the draft board being drafted during the Korean conflict, and then after that there was Vietnam, and it goes on and on forever… I just wonder…does this ever stop? And no, it doesn’t. So each time we get in these conflicts, it deserves a lot of thought before we go wading in or wading out. Going in or coming out. It needs a better thought process, I think.”

The director may be entirely sincere in the doubts he expresses about the efficacy of war, but his ideological cluelessness and the gravitational pull of reactionary social forces have produced a work that legitimizes and glorifies one of the great crimes of the past half-century, the illegal, neocolonial invasion and occupation of Iraq. Those who sent Kyle and others there deserve to face war crime charges.

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/01/24/snip-j24.html

[braddy]

1. "Cooper performs poorly and unconvincingly, but the material is poor and unconvincing."

"When Bradley Cooper earned a best actor nod for his performance in American Sniper, he became the 10th actor in Oscars history to score three (or more) acting nominations in consecutive years.

The nomination places him in the company of some of Hollywood's greatest thespians. The first actor to earn three acting nominations in consecutive years was Spencer Tracy, who won for leading roles in Captains Courageous in 1937 and Boys Town in 1938 after a 1936 nomination for San Francisco."

[candelista]

2. This isn't evidence of anything.

The Oscars are a super-politicized contest, as everyone knows.

What was your opinion of his performance? The phrase that comes to my mind is "one note."

[braddy]

3. So the Oscars are politicized into making Cooper one of the greatest actors of our time?

""he became the 10th actor in Oscars history to score three (or more) acting nominations in consecutive years. ""

[candelista]

4. I asked what YOU thought of his peformance.

It was actually the main thing I didn't like about the film. More than the Clintwoodian politics of the film.

[braddy]

5. And I responded with the reminder that you need to address the problem with this reviewer's

statement regarding a performance that has won the actor his third nomination.

[otis50]

6. I saw the movie this afternoon

I walked out more angry about the war in Iraq than I have ever been. However, I hate to admit, Bradley Cooper's performance was outstanding. I just wish he could have put his talents to a movie that was a more accurate depiction of the idiotic war.

[braddy]

7. Director Michael Moore "Awesome performance from Bradley Cooper. One of the best of the year."