Ang Lee’s film Billy Lynn’s Long Journey at Halftime in a Football Match, 2016, was somewhat surprised by the director’s choice of a theme that was rather uncharacteristic for him. A certain group of American soldiers serving in Iraq accidentally turned out to be the heroes of a spun, as is usual in the modern world of sensationalism,
more
Ang Lee’s film Billy Lynn’s Long Journey at Halftime in a Football Match, 2016, was somewhat surprised by the director’s choice of a theme that was rather uncharacteristic for him. A certain group of American soldiers serving in Iraq accidentally turned out to be the heroes of a spun, as is usual in the modern world of sensationalism, plot when a working camera accidentally filmed how one of the soldiers rushed to rescue a sergeant during a fight with militants. True, the sergeant still died, but the soldier Billy Lynn (greatly played by Joe Alvin), rushed to the rescue, declared a national hero, which he does not feel himself, and all of them have become another information occasion, which is completely shamelessly used to promote the theme of American patriotism and heroism of their soldiers. They are brought to America for Thanksgiving, dragged to an American-style lush but completely meaningless show held at half-time of a football game, while trying to sell their story to a producer, all this is clearly presented in a satirical manner. They went to serve not at all on the call of the heart, but because of financial difficulties and the general meaninglessness of life, so they do not feel comfortable in the role of such heroes, especially the main character, so everything does not go quite as the organizers would like. I like Ang Lee as a director, so I watched this work with interest, although I don’t think it’s very successful for him. I think that in America, especially in official circles, this film was hardly received favorably, not so and not so they would like to see their soldiers and their relatives (the main character’s sister is clearly against him returning to Iraq, and against this war), but the end of the film disappointed me, however, there were always flashbacks about military operations through the eyes of Billy Lynn, but the benevolent image of the deceased sergeant that surfaced in the end, I thought it was too much, although it fits into the general picture of sentimentality of Americans. And I can believe that they're going back there, even though they're practically suffering from military post-traumatic stress syndrome, and I'm seeing it on my friend's son -- first he's been to Afghanistan twice, where he's been pretty seriously injured, now he's just returned from Iraq, where he was training recruits, and he's disabled, thank goodness, no longer fighting. No conversations parents have no action, the wife is expecting a third child, he does not listen to anyone. I would not be surprised if he goes there again, the material side, of course, plays a significant role there, but he is drawn there. So decide for yourself if you'll watch this movie, but I don't regret watching it.
|