Black Hawk Down (Ridley Scott, 2001)

After watching Black Hawk Down (Ridley Scott, 2001) for about a half hour, my prevailing opinion was that at what point in his career had Scott succumbed to this hyper stylization seemingly endemic to his films. I tried to quickly think of other films that he had done and my mind was blocked at Gladiator (2000) which also was chock full of hyper stylization. But then a quick tour of his IMDB page reminded me of Alien (1979), Bladerunner (1980) and Thelma and Louise (1991) and I remembered just how good he is as a director and how much he has given his audiences. So maybe the hyper stylization is just inherent to his later work. Why would Scott employ these techniques to his films? In my opinion it helps add weight to the subject of the film. By adding in these techniques the themes and subjects become more important. There is a self actualization which occurs for the viewer. Its as if while watching, the viewer keys into what they see onscreen and realize the importance of the content. Now I know some of you have to be asking what the hell is it that I am talking about. The hyper stylization that I'm speaking of plays out in the excessive use of slow motion camera, even still frame. The extensive use of extreme close up. Shots designed to remind you that you are watching a film. These would include when you see gratuitous shots of empty bullet shells falling to the ground. Shell upon shell drops to the floor, excessive in and of itself. But the dropping to the ground of these shells is synced to sound design as crisp and clear as you'll ever experience. These moments serve to remind you that you are watching something, probably something incredible that most likely you would never see in real life. This self reflexivity to cinema is prevalent in many of today's films and often times the lack of subtlety when employing it serves to disengage the viewer from a film, particularly when the narrative isn't strong.
This is where the films shines though, with a narrative that is powerful and compelling and one which raises more questions than it answers. The narrative gives us an accurate and detailed picture of a soldiers life, both prior to combat when loose camaraderie is necessary to the soldiers sanity and then when all hell is breaking loose, or when that camaraderie the soldiers have built gets put to the test on a second by second basis. The structure of the narrative works very well as the narrative has a definite lack of characterization, but in a soldierly world where each part is interchangeable and replaceable characterization isn't likely. So what is accomplished in structure makes up for what is lacking.
One thing the film is not lacking is amazing technical achievement. The cinematography is outstanding and the sequence of scenes and composition is not only remarkable for size and scope but completely realistic. The film also won Oscars for sound and editing and it shows in the film. The score is haunting and poignant, adding depth to the scenes where the narrative does happen to slow down. In fact this is another Scott trait as he employs a strong score in all his films.
The one thing which this film lacks to me, especially since it is a war film is a distinct lack of direct message. There are times when the film appears to be sending a strict anti war, anti US involvement in foreign affairs message and then at others a hard line pro US intervention one. This may be attributed to the fact that simply states if you root for our military you fall along the lines of pro-war and if you question our military action it places you exactly on the opposite side as anti-war. This lack of clarity hinders the film somewhat but also can be looked at as allowing the film to not be heavy handed, therefore more palatable to a wider audience. Also, the film gives an eerie window into further US conflicts and questions our role in such conflicts. Released in 2001 right after 9/11, the narrative raises questions about our role as world enforcer. Do people want us to help or would they rather find their own way? A question that we seemingly struggle with through today.
In the end this film is highly entertaining with some amazingly realistic and accurate depictions of war. You're not going to get much in the way of story, but that would not be the intent with this film.