Under Fire

This is one of those movies which starts out with good intentions, but somehow misses the mark at the end. Nolte is an adrenalin-junkie journalist on a mission to shoot (with his Nikon) the leader of the Sandinista rebels in the Nicaraguan war. Shades of El Cid. The rebel leader, Rafael, is dead, but Nolte photographs him to make him look alive. This has the desired effect, and the rebel forces are revitalised. Nolte, however, has to come to terms with both compromising his integrity, and the burgeoning relationship between himself and Cassidy, Hackman's former lover.

Cassidy and Hackman give performances which one has come to expect from artistes of their calibre, but for me, the real star of the movie is the music. It was worth the second trip just to revel in what must surely rank as one of Jerry Goldsmith's masterworks.

As a Nicaraguan-American who lived there during the opening thunderclaps of the full scale Sandinista revolt, I must say I was extremely impressed with this movie as a whole. Although it takes a slight turn to the political left, it manages to keep the story on an even keel and not embelish so.

It is interesting that by far the truest insight is delivered by the cynical French opportunist. Tyranny and oppression lay on both sides of the political fence. If the right hand doesn't get you, the left one will. When the FSLN took power in 1979, they immediately announced their communist regime much to the chagrin of the populace (personally, I believe in this crazy little thing called "freedom").

The people who were just liberated from 40 years of right wing (US supported) tyranny, now had it from the (Soviet supported) left, and then some. Proof of this was the mass exodus of Nicas to other places, and the (US backed, of course) "Contra" rebels, made up of former Sandinistas who immediately took up arms against their former comrades, and fought for a proper democracy, which was finally achieved when the USSR folded its cards in the late 80s.

Nicaragua was then free.

This film was a surprisingly quality portrayal of the difficulties faced by those in underdeveloped countries too often overrun by corrupt regimes.

It is presented through the eyes of a photo-journalist (played by Nick Nolte) & his contacts, as they pursue the news stories we in supposedly advanced nations, witness each day on our television screens. Of course, it is subjective but presented with an appropriate sense of the drama & courage that's needed to bring such coverage of gross injustice to the detached conscience of those whose governments often make insensitive contributions to the peoples, mainly peasants & the oppressed. These poor & downtrodden people cannot speak for themselves & rely on such photojournalism to be their mouthpiece to the wider world. It has applications far beyond Nicaragua, across all continents, for human rights' abuse was rife 20 years ago when the film was made, & is today, & likely will be far beyond.

Unlike too many modern movies that are action-filled with special effects but largely without plot, this movie does deliver. The central figure portrayed engages in a series of hit & run encounters with the authorities & its mostly ruthless army of foot soldiers. He & his associates live on their individual & collective wit's end. Within seconds, the victims can go from pursuer to the pursued. Let alone the predicament that local peoples find themselves in, for they would rarely if ever, be accepted into the supposedly developed nations whose propaganda currently rules the world, no matter how unjustly or offensively or insensitively it is applied.

Likewise, the survival of the photojournalists & their associates, are caught in dilemmas of conscience. For the oppressed peoples they dare to cover the struggles & injustice & suffering of, seem to be meat in the sandwich of leaders who use & abuse such locals, as puppets. Journalists often depend on the contacts they form, however transcient their interaction. The woman who beckons him into a backyard sanctuary; the woman who refers a request for directions to the authorities; a priest tortured & suffering unjustly while sharing a jail cell; the occasional compassionate soldier with heart enough for his potential victims vs dictatorial unjust judgements; people willing to bravely die for their cause in the name of their causes of their heart. Such as these present unpredictable twists adding to the unfolding drama, where war is being found & fought on many levels, personal & within or beyond organisations.

As such, "Under Fire" gives the viewer a reality in which to help a viewer to understand much more than it presents, or dares to represent. The roles of friendship, empathy & compassion present in many unlikely forms, so too, the consequences, even fatality, from the slightest failure to read the signs or sense danger, while the ruthless pursue goals without concern but for their hierarchy of self-made regulations & adherence to them.

All up, a quality movie not to be missed, and one which is likely to linger & enrich your appreciation of war correspondents of integrity & conviction, willing to lay their lives on the line.

A version of this comparison has already been posted over at "Salvador" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091886/

Salvador is Olvier Stone's best work and James Woods' finest performance. Perhaps my only regret about this movie has to do with it not going nearly far enough in depicting the brutality of the US client regime in El Salvador. But this observation does not count, as it doesn't have anything to do with the film as presented. A critique of Salvador would do much better to note that there are very few films about the political situation in Central America, period. Persons who are interested in the subject matter might do well to compare this Stone effort with the much earlier Under Fire (1983), a film which boasts superlative performances by Nick Nolte and Gene Hackman. Under Fire is perhaps one of the most under appreciated films, not just of the 1980s, but of all time. Both Under Fire and Salvador are head and shoulders above Ken Loach's limited tale of a Nicaraguan refugee's individual trauma - Carla's Song (made much later in 1996). Both earlier films were made at the time Central America was a major obsession of the Reagan Administration (which went so far as to suggest AK-47 toting Sandinistas were about to invade the Texas border). On account of this background alone, the respective cast and crews of both films deserve the sort of praise we should usually reserve for true artists rather than Hollywood's employees.

Both Salvador and the much earlier Under Fire are very close in their subject matter: portraying disinterested journalists who only after becoming aware of the gravity of the situation in which they find themselves turn unsympathetic towards clients of the American Empire. The sort of journalists which have been entirely purged from the corporate-owned "mainstream" or "embedded" press in the United States (and the EU too).

Both films do an outstanding job of noting the protagonists' rivals in the form of spin doctors for the regime whether from the US State Department or the corporate media. Characters like Salvador's ANS reporter Pauline Axelrod (played by Valerie Wildman) force us to recall the perverted scribblings of James Lemoyne (New York Times), the godfather of Embedded American Journalism; his students honored in that tribute to the corporate press, Welcome to Sarajevo (1997). Call that film for what it is: the anti-Salvador.

Under Fire goes much deeper than Stone's film in questioning the ethics of journalism and the sort of circumstances which compel individuals to look at the bigger picture. The depiction of the conflict between Hackman and Nolte, on both personal and professional levels, makes it a very rewarding film. Salvador's portrait of a troubled has-been photojournalist who undergoes a sort of radical shock therapy in a war zone is different, but certainly no less interesting.

I have to give the decisive edge to Under Fire for drawing much more attention to the nature and breadth of the foreign support upon which the corrupt Central American dictatorships relied. Salvador has a US helicopter turn up in the middle of a battle, an ambassador portrayed as indifferent, and that's about it. Under Fire, in contrast, has excellent performances by a young Ed Harris and Jean-Louis Tritignant as pro-regime killers, roles which draw attention to the nature and morality of those embattled dictatorships.

Salvador counters with a much more interesting profile of some of the members of the so-called "government" and its military. In Under Fire, we just see Anastasio Somoza depicted as an insignificant car salesman type in the background who also happens to be the latest heir to the dynasty which ruled over Nicaragua for much of the 20th century. This was a wee bit dissatisfying.

The major differences between the films are technical and stylistic. Some may prefer Stone's use of tight editing and rather fanciful action sequences. I personally preferred Under Fire's determined efforts to bring out as much stark realism as possible on screen especially in the battle scenes, which are among the most authentic attempts to portray urban and guerrilla warfare in the history of cinema. No, it's not as pretty as Tom Cruise dropping bombs to the accompaniment of Kenny Loggins, and any film which reveals as much deserves special praise. One wonders if "Under Fire" or "Salvador" could be made in Hollywood today.

A 9/10 for Salvador and a 9/10 for Under Fire, and again hats off to all associated with films which one can hardly imagine being made in this Orwellian or "embedded" age.

Some reviewers compare this film with Oliver Stone's fine Central American film, Salvador (1986). That's a legitimate comparison, but my feeling is that films should be primarily judged on their own merits. In that sense, Under Fire succeeds superbly, not least because of the first-rate staging. The peasant favelas are real slums, desolate, degraded, and perfect backdrop for the grassroots revolution underway in 1970's Nicaragua. It's easy to see why the Sandinista revolt would succeed even against the armed might of an American sponsored tyrant (Somoza). The movie makes a point of showing ready peasant support for anti- government personnel and even non-government journalists like the Americans. However, more contrast between the despoiled favelas and Somoza's swanky uptown precincts would have been even more powerful. Still, Somoza's gilded mistress, Miss Panama, does speak volumes.

The story itself is well-woven into the larger political backdrop, no easy accomplishment. At first, the three American journalists take their new Nicaragua assignment as just another war to cover and maybe a chance to win a few more awards. Russell (Nolte), in particular, can't seem to get beyond his camera shutter. To him, the human drama unfolding might be on a planet far away, while he snaps one frame after another. But then he is a journalist, with a set of professional ethics. If he takes sides in any dispute, then his work can no longer be trusted. Same for print journalist Alex (Hackman) and interviewer Claire (Cassidy). So the conflict between natural empathy for the downtrodden and oath to the profession sets up the basic conflict. Russell, in particular, is pinned on the horns of the conflict when rebels ask him to fake a photograph of their iconic leader, Rafael. I needn't reveal how the conflict plays out, except, crucially, it does resolve in a credible manner.

The acting is also first-rate. Too bad the three principals were passed over for Oscar nominations. In my little book, Nolte particularly shines in an understated role that could easily have gone over the top. And happily Cassidy's Claire avoids any hint of glamor, yet still manages a magnetic presence. At the same time Hackman has perhaps the most difficult role. His Alex must waver between friendship with Russell and attraction to Claire, while having to choose which political side he's on. Nonetheless, he brings them off persuasively. Still, I certainly don't envy Harris' thankless role as the unscrupulous opportunist, Oates. Apparently he thinks just being an American in a Third World country excuses everything.

Note in passing, the aerial leaflet drop, the only way, I suppose, the rebels have of mass communication since the government controls the media. And shouldn't overlook the two vintage rattletraps our journalists are stuck riding in. The tin jalopies get shot, cannonaded, slammed, and still they roll over debris strewn streets like real troupers. So, hats off to Detroit's finest!

Anyway, the movie's an expertly produced thriller of some depth. Too bad it's drifted into relative obscurity now that the political fires have lessened over time. One thing for sure—I'll bet Spottiswoode's film never screened in Reagan's White House.