Review of 5 Days of War
5 DAYS OF WAR astounded me, especially considering its mere $20 million budget (per IMDB), lack of stateside publicity and disappointing marketing materials. (A badly Photoshopped poster and heavy metal-fueled trailer framing it as a run-of-the-mill blow-‘em-up.) The Georgian army apparently gave director Renny Harlin -- known for big-budget action flicks like DIE HARD 2 and CLIFFHANGER -- free use of their tanks, helicopters, jets, guns and even military personnel, contributing greatly to a gripping and vastly entertaining but still horrifying war film.
Documenting a five-day war in the summer of 2008 that few Americans were fully aware of due to round-the-clock Olympic coverage coming out of Beijing, the movie also serves as a worthy tribute to war correspondents who risk their lives to communicate urgent news to the world, a sacrifice all too easily taken for granted. Indeed, the film is dedicated to the more than 500 reporters who’ve perished in action over the past decade.
It begins with war correspondent Thomas Anders’ (Rupert Friend) and beau Miriam’s (a strangely bubbly Heather Graham) horrific ambush in Baghdad, then flashes forward a year to LA, when grungy camera man Laurens “Dutchman” Roemer (Val Kilmer) calls Anders about an opportunity. It concerns the tumult in a region of Georgia known as South Ossetia, situated on the Russian border. Russia invaded the former Soviet republic following its accusations that Georgia attacked separatists in South Ossetia. Russia’s invasion also took place as Georgia petitioned for NATO membership and shortly after Kosovo declared its independence.
Georgia’s rolling green hills, wind-blown fields and stark Wuthering Heights cliffs stand in stark contrast to the stereotypical Soviet-era imagery of blocky, concrete structures and a cold, gray climate. A modern presidential palace overlooks the pretty capital of Tbilisi, where attractive teenagers gossip in lush public parks. Modern techno plays in the background, the electronic melody juxtaposing with hints of ancient traditions and simply led lives.
The Dutchman compares war to an old toothless whore, as the reporters reminisce over Bosnia and other conflicts in a local tavern: they’re both disgusting, but they have their perks. It’s shortly afterward that Anders and British cameraman Sebastian (Richard Coyle) witness Russian fighter jets bombing a wedding to smithereens, and shrieks and moans fill the dusty air.
One of the survivors, a young American-educated schoolteacher named Tatia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), agrees to be the duo’s translator in return for helping her find family members separated from one another when the roads were shut down. “Where’s the U.S.?” she hisses. “We were there for you in Iraq!” In tiny Vaziani, they find her bruised and battered father and sister, the latter still in her bloody bridal gown.
But senseless violence soon takes over as soldiers and mercenaries wrest control the hamlet and round people up, Holocaust-style. As missiles scream overhead, old ladies are gunned down, farmers’ throats are slit and corpses are burned, all the while as the plunderers pose for snapshots. It’s a depressing commentary on humankind but, sadly, nothing this world hasn’t seen before. (Just usually scrubbed for American eyes.) Rather shrewdly, they leave churches intact (“Moscow doesn't want to risk church condemnation”) and clamp down on any news escaping. “We don’t need a PR disaster like the Americans have in Iraq,” a grunt mutters.
Discovered hiding in a greenhouse, Anders soon finds himself psychoanalyzed by a crusty, chess-loving colonel (Rade Serbedzija), while a tattooed psychopath (Mikko Nousiainen) threatens Sebastian with torture. Both seek the reporters’ memory card, containing footage of the horrors.
Meanwhile, the world spins on: the international media at first avoids the story, then reports only Russia’s perspective. And yet another “emergency meeting” of EU members is convened, to President Saakashvili’s (Andy Garcia) considerable outrage.
Rupert Friend, who looks a lot like Orlando Bloom, makes for a compelling, grief-stricken central character, and Doyle and Chriqui act convincingly traumatized as they journey across a smoldering terrain.
But both Andy Garcia and Johnathon Schaech (as a Special Forces captain) distract with uneven Georgian accents. Heather Graham and Dean Cain (as an American press liaison) seem like poor casting for their roles. And Kilmer’s joke making even as people perish around him eliminates any respect we may have had for his character.
The film succeeds also as an action adventure, from the balaclava-clad baddies and their tank pursuing a blood-smeared pickup to Captain Rezo’s spectacular takedown of a mega-chopper with his bazooka. Anders not turning to acknowledge an explosion behind him is, however, pure badass cliché.
Visuals include a crimson sunrise and clunking cowbells interrupted by tanks lumbering (surreally) into view; a frozen explosion in a camera’s lens; the skies’ instant fall to darkness; and a dead woman falling in slow-mo. Trevor Rabin’s excellent score is alternately mournful and foreboding.
I’m embarrassed to admit that the Russian attacks on a small town and the choppers’ lopsided face-offs with civilians remind me of the 80’s cult classic B-movie, RED DAWN. I also couldn’t help but imagine the bloodshed happening here -- an unlikely but still disquieting thought, and CNN would not hesitate to air it.
South Ossetia and neighboring Abkhazia continue to be occupied by Russia, with thousands of refugees still in makeshift camps. Several hundred Georgians and five reporters died in this short-lived war, horrors Georgians describe firsthand in the film’s most emotional segment, at the tail end.
Director: Renny Harlin
Cast: Rupert Friend, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Richard Coyle, Andy Garcia, Val Kilmer, Heather Graham, Antje Traue
Distributor: Anchor Bay Films