by Nune Gazdhyan
Features Editor
“Three Kings” directed by David Russell, is a disturbing, dark comedy about war, politics and the media all collaborated and depicted during the Persian Gulf War.
It features how war affects and changes the lives of civilians and soldiers, which is well organized through the eyes of four American soldiers, who start out looking for riches but instead find their hearts. This movie does not spare the audience from the grim aftermath of war. This is hard to swallow, and it is not for sensitive audiences.
The beginning of the movie is very disorganized. It depicts American soldiers in a bad light as they party, more like fraternity boys instead of soldiers, upon hearing that the war was over. Since the war was mostly fought through hi-tech machinery and by hi-tech specialists, many of the soldiers looked more like sitting ducks.
As Iraqi soldiers surrendered to the Americans, a map is discovered stuck “where the sun does not shine” in one of them. It was rumored that the map contained the location of one of Saddam Hussein’s bunkers full of seized Kuwaiti riches, including several million in gold boullion, which is at a nearby village.
The chance of easy riches brings the four main characters, Captain Archie Gates (George Clooney), Army Sergeant Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg), Staff Sergeant Chief Elgin (Ice Cube) and Private Conrad Vig (Spike Jonez), together as they plan a heist to visit the village, take the gold, go back to America and “quit their day jobs.”
The opportunity to leave camp also gives Gates the chance to get away from reporter Adriana Cruz (Nora Dunn) whom he is suppose to accompany and assist. There is a strong implication in the movie about the media war and what it takes to be the first reporter on the scene for breaking stories. Although at the end it is her reporting that gets the soldiers off the hook, the whole media war could have been more apparent throughout the movie. The role of the media in the movie also acknowledged that television news coverage has profoundly changed the way the public reacts to war.
As the four soldiers set off on their mission, the pace of the movie picked up. The men ride through the desert in their Humvees blowing up bombs incorporated into Nerf Footballs. They even planned a drill to embed their roles once they found Hussein’s bunker.
Upon entering the village reality sets in as the soldiers witness Iraqi guards torturing the villagers and denying them food. The American soldiers did not even faze the Iraqi guards. It did not take much time for the Americans to discover the bunker along with the harsh fact that these villagers needed their help or else they would die. The greed-driven mission turns into a moral dilemma: Do they take the gold, or should they try to help these Iraqi villagers? The invincible bunch decided to accomplish both.
The decision to take action and get rich lead to laughs as well as heart-wrenching scenes.
Often scenes depicted comedy and tragedy incorporated into one. Such scenes were more disturbing than funny and made one realize how indifferent people can be to violence and how it is mocked when it is on the big screen.
The violent events in the movie, especially one scene in which a young mother gets shot in the head, while her daughter attempts to fight off the Iraqi soldier to get to her, are presented in slow motion through the eyes of one of the characters which made the acts appear more realistic and personal.
When all is said and done only three of the four soldiers survive to be identified as kings, hence the title, “Three Kings.” However, all four soldiers learn some hard truths, politics and experience the tragedy of war first hand.
Overall, the movie entertains those who are obsessed with war movies, it also educates on the politics involved.
Russell knew when to incorporate laughter and when to make an anti-war statement. He knew how to make the audience cringe at the violence. He made “Three Kings” build on every aspect of suffering and dilemma that is a result of war. He ensured that when the movie ended, that the audience left with something to think about.
