Analyzing The Vietnam War Film 'Lone Survivor'

Theater 102
Fall 2014

Lone Survivor

The movie I chose to view for the first time is the American war film Lone Survivor, written and directed by Peter Berg starring Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, and Erica Bana. It is based on the nonfiction book “Lone Survivor” by Marcus Lutrell and Patrick Robinson about a war in Afghanistan where the United States Navy Seals counter-insurgent mission Operation Red wings failed and four-men Seal reconnaissance and surveillance team were tasked to track down Taliban leader Ahmad Shah. Shah had killed over twenty United States marines, as well as refugees and villagers, that’s when four United States navy seals went on the their mission which was Leader Micheal P. “Murph” Murphy,
snipers Marcus Lutrell and Matthew “Axe” Axelson, and communications specialist Danny Diets. This movie is based on a true story and did a great job on depicting the Red Wing Operation, I feel as it truly did justice. In the beginning you see a collection of shots of navy seals performing their very difficult daily routine and upon seeing you truly get a glimpse of realism and dedication of these hard working Americans. After that the screen goes all black and it goes into a setting of mountains and the desert, which I’m guessing was New Mexico because they shot there for forty-four days. During that scene it’s a long shot of just the desert but from far away you can see something getting closer and closer and then eventually it all comes together and it’s a helicopter and as the helicopter is zooming in you can also see how the camera is moving towards it as well straight ahead. Then it cuts into inside the helicopter where it is injured Mark Wahlberg and it is intercutting back and forth between the outside of the helicopter and the inside of the helicopter where it looks like Wahlberg is near death and he is holding on to stay alive while they are trying to save him. Wahlberg starts speaking in the background describing how he felt in that moment and what he was thinking. Then while the camera is close up focused on to his face it cuts into a scene, which is a flashback to 3 days ago where his journey all began. It starts off at Bagram Air Base, with some music called Waking up by Explosions in the sky in the background. Berg actually said in an article that he picked Explosions in the sky because “they have an emotional, tender quality to their music.” Which I agree that it fits with this scene because in this scene it is in the morning and the camera is intercutting back and forth between all the main four navy seals and pictures of them from back home and their families. Which explains why the song is called waking up because they are about to wake up, so that fits in perfectly and the tone of the song is very soothing and relaxing. Also they actually do a close up of a picture of the real main navy seals that the movie is based on. If we go a little bit more into the movie the movie changes up the scene by cutting it into an intense part in Afghanistan where right away you see Ahmad Shah leading his guys into a village with big guns and the families being terrified just by seeing them. The camera is focused on them and it seems like they are walking towards the camera and then the camera goes from right to left to focus on this man, which actually this man they focus it on ends up being a main character in the movie. Then the camera goes back left to right to focus on the Taliban leader and his group being demanding and frightening; and if you see the lighting they have it where the sun is really shining on them where it actually kind of would blind us because its so bright (This lighting is shown a lot throughout the movie). Which cuts to the Air base where the Navy Seals are in a meeting discussing about Ahmad Shah and how the mission is to “capture and kill Ahmad Shah.” During this it is intercutting back and forth between Afghanistan and the airbase and Taylor Kitsch, the team leader, is the one speaking explaining what needs to be done and the danger going on over there. Afterwards through the cutting in between scenes the main four guys Kitsch, Wahlberg, Hirsh, and Foster starts also speaking up talking about the routes they need to take, how long, the danger, and how they’ll communicate through this mission. So sad knowing that during these moments in Afghanistan the Taliban leader and his group are getting ready to behead someone. If you notice again the camera does a close up of the same man they did earlier in the scene and his reaction towards the beheading and the evil Taliban leader and also close ups of his child, which they end up being a big impact later on in the film. Facts about the actor contributions for the film Lone Survivor. Mark Wahlberg who play Marcus Lutrell he chose to play Lutrell after reading the script. He decided not to read the book version so he wouldn’t get into arguments with Berg because he said that there’s so many events and details that he would want to make sure none to be left out because for adapting a movie like this you always feel something is missing. Taylor Kitsch who plays Michael Murphy contributed by preparing himself by performing high-intensity workouts with body armor and long runs with a 40-lb. weighted vest. Emile Hirsh played Danny Dietz, he prepared by attending a 90-minute weight program for about four months and he ended up training six days a week, four to five hours a day. Ben Foster played Matthew Axeison he actually met with the fallen serviceman’s family and friends to understand the person he was portraying. More in the middle of the movie this part of the film really gets to your emotions that it makes you cringe. The Taliban’s are closing in on to them and they are brutally getting attacked. At a certain point where they finally thought they got away from the Taliban’s for a little bit, the Taliban’s keep on going and shooting them. The camera does lots of close up onto these four navy seals and their wounds and everywhere they are bleeding and beat up from. By their dialogue and the expressions on their face you can see they are freaking out and trying to stay alive, they have a strong aggressive tone to one another but they are like family for one another after everything they have gone through that deep down this is how they keep them self motivated and sane. The part that makes you want to cringe is when they have no choice and have to throw themselves off a cliff down to the ground, sadly when Wahlberg had Hirsch on his shoulders to fall together Hirsch gets shot and gets left behind on top while Wahlberg, Kitsch, and Foster are all falling down and the way they hit the rocks and hit the trees and hit the ground its like you can feel it on yourself, it is truly bone crushing. Everything is so fast paced at that moment that the camera is intercutting between the three man as they are getting beat up and when they get hit at a certain point the camera slows down just for that second or two to feel how much that must hurt. After all the bleeding from pretty much everywhere on their body and cracked up bones you can see their braveness in them to keep on going. Even how that part is so fast paced and a lot is going on and emotions are everywhere it all flows so perfectly the way every scene was shot and put together that it wasn’t overwhelming. If the director wanted us to feel how they felt, he definitely achieved that. Now towards the end Wahlberg is the only left to get through this and he is incredibly injured. As he finally finds some water you can see the expression in his face that he’s so happy to see water he throws himself into it to feel refreshed. A Pashtun villager, Mohummad Gulab, appears and Wahlberg is scared out of his mind but this is a good man that wants to help him. This is the same man that in the beginning of the movie they kept doing lots of closes ups of him. This is where he makes a big impact as well as his son. In this part the camera really focuses on Wahlberg’s face, Gulab, and the child’s face, which seems like they are doing close ups to show the fear in Wahlberg’s eyes, Gulab trying to show through him that he’s a good man, and the innocence of a child. After all that they take Wahlberg back into their village trying to help and save him. Later on while Wahlberg is in hiding the Taliban’s attack the village with explosives and shooting everyone trying to find Wahlberg. At the same time it is intercutting back to the Navy Seals ready to do anything in their power to save Wahlberg as they just received a note knowing he still alive. The Taliban man spot Wahlberg and Gullah helping him. All the shots are going left to right or right to left or intercutting throughout this chaotic battle. Wahlberg still stays strong and is trying to survive while a Taliban man is choking Wahlberg, Gulab’s son passes Wahlberg a knife and Wahlberg is able to kill the Taliban man. The way that was shot you could see the struggle he was in and also how a little child could have some braveness in him as well. At this point into the movie Military forces finally came in from up above shooting into the village trying to rescue Wahlberg. There are so many different camera angles and movement during these shots from up above and straight up and moving from up to down as finally military forces are coming on in. They were able to land the helicopter and get everything in control, and the music starts with that same soothing tone knowing that everything will be okay. A Pashtun villager put his hands up showing that it’s okay and pointing to where Wahlberg is. Wahlberg is finally taken into safety and you can feel all your emotions coming up. The part where Wahlberg wants Gulab to go with him and the child you can sense how much Wahlberg has appreciation for him. Thankfully to the Pashtun Villagers and their code of honor they stayed strong and protected Wahlberg. Then from up above, known as birds eyes, the camera is shooting down to the ground focusing on the helicopter finally getting ready to take off. We are back to how the movie started an injured Wahlberg in the helicopter and him doing over voice expressing his thoughts again saying, “he died up on that mountain” but “there’s a part of me that lived because of my brothers, because of them I am still alive.” Lone survivor was an astounding movie.
With it’s dramatic tone and realism. The structure of the movie was started by the end but then flashback to the beginning, which plays out in a linear matter and then leads back to the end of how the movie started and it all ties in together. The movie aspires you to feel exactly how these four navy seals felt and their struggle to stay alive, showing us how brave these man our and how they go through hell and back. It definitely succeeds, it made me cringe watching them get brutally hurt and you even get attached to the characters hoping for them that it turns out okay for them. The emotional reactions are sadness by everything they are going through, and hope, hoping they make it out alive and safe, relief for when they finally have help and a bunch of emotions at the same time. An element that probably was slight unsuccessful was that I read how the Taliban man were portrayed kind of cartoon villain liked which can be an insult, in my opinion I didn’t see it that way, but from another point of view it did seem to like cartoon villain. This film is very successful with how everything was shot and edit, I see why it took six months to edit this movie. I read in an article that Berg shot with 3 different cameras at the same time so there’s a lot of coverage. His first cut was two-and-a-half hours and the final length came in at two hours. Lone survivor really grasps how these Navy Seals or in fact anybody in the military forces really sacrifice their lives to fight for our
country.