Nathan Henry
July 2, 2015
Film Analysis Essay
American Civilization
The
Lone Survivor
The film “The Lone
Survivor” is an account about the Navy SEALs (U.S. Navy Sea, Air, and Land
Teams of the Navy Special Warfare Command) and the conduct of Operation Red Wings,
a reconnaissance mission to locate a High-Value Target Taliban facilitator in
Afghanistan in the summer of 2005. The movie highlights the story of the four
man SEAL Team. The book was released in 2007 while the movie of the same name
was released in 2013. The central message, the effectiveness of the
communications, the film’s appeal to emotion and reason, how events of the time
affected the characters, and the benefit of the medium of film will be
discussed.
The central
message of the film is the hardship endured and fortitude of the SEAL Operators
while facing ethical dilemmas and physical challenges. A total of nineteen
Americans service members were killed in action in the course of this operation
but the film follows the story of the four men who went on the mission and how
Marcus Luttrell survived and was eventually rescued. The film gives the viewer
an inside view, with some Hollywood dramatization, of what started as a low
profile reconnaissance mission and turned into a small unit action that
resulted in three awards of the Navy Cross and a posthumous award of the Medal
of Honor for Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy. During the mission, many ethical
challenges were faced such as what do with the villagers when they where
discovered in the mountains. They also faced many physical challenges such as
the hike over the mountains or fighting their way down the mountain with
numerous injuries.
The film medium is a highly effective
method for communicating the message of this story. While the book of the same
name portrays the events in great detail of the operation, the film shows the
viewer, graphically, the hardships endured by the men and women of the U.S.
Armed Forces and the ethical dilemmas they face while conducting operations. Some
things can be conveyed in film whether in television shows or movies, that
cannot be in books. In the movie, you can get a physical sense of how
characters are feeling. In a book, you get a sense of the characters but in the
movie you can visually see emotions such as pain or happiness. This is unique
to film because in books you can become attached to characters, but in film you
can visually go on the mission with the SEAL team and become consumed with
their journey. In Lone Survivor the
viewer becomes attached to the team as they start their mission. While their
mission continues throughout the movie the Taliban attacks their team. This
film is strong in communicating its message and appeals to the viewer’s
emotions the longer that the film is watched.
The
film appeals to the viewer’s emotions and reason in multiple ways. The producer
attempts to display for the viewer the emotions that the SEALs depicted go
through over the course of the mission. Marcus Luttrell and his peers
experience courage, fear, love, compassion, and many emotions throughout the
film. The film appeals to reason through the explanation of why the mission was
important and depicts the evil that the Seals were confronting by showing the
graphic fight scenes and the beheading of innocent people by the villain, Ahmad
Shah, the militia leader.[i] The movie also appeals to
the viewer’s emotions with the telling of the story and tradition of the Afghan
people to protect those in need. Marcus Luttrell is discovered and protected by
some local Afghan villagers who oppose the Islamic fundamentalists trying to
impose their will and Sharia law on the locals.
This film shows major a difference about the time
period that can be compared. Although the time period of the film is 2005 the
Afghan village is very primitive compared to Bagram Air Base, the base that the
Americans were living on. In the Afghan village they were living in mud
buildings and did not have running water or electricity. This shows the culture
of the area that they live in and gives a small insight of how they live. In
the beginning of the movie the viewer gets a small view of the airbase that the
Marines and SEALs were living on. They had buildings with running water,
electricity, computers and many other modern conveniences. The comparison
between these two shows the differences between the two cultures as well. The
Afghan village and people lead a much more primitive life than the Americans.
The
American public is the targeted audience for this movie and the book as well.
The movie provides an example to the average American who has not served in the
military or deployed overseas of conditions faced by our military service
members. While these hardships and ethical dilemmas can be discussed in the
book, the film shows a graphic example that appeal to the emotions of the
viewer.
In
this film adaptation of the book The Lone
Survivor, many new perspectives are available to the viewer. The
effectiveness of communication is increased with the film as it appeals to a
broader audience than the book alone. A much larger portion of the population
watches movies than will read a book and this allows the central theme, the
film’s appeal to emotion and reason, and how events of the time affected the
characters to be expressed through the effectiveness of the medium of film. The
differences between the cultures can be clearly seen and the visual effects on
the characters can all effect the viewer’s emotions during the film.
Works Cited
Lone Survivor
(2014). <www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/lone-survivor.php>.
Operation Red Wings June 28, 2005.
<www.navy.mil/oh/mpmurphy/soa.html>.
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