Rules - seconds of decision
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Rules - seconds of decision |
| Original title | Rules of Engagement |
| Country of production | USA , Canada , UK , Germany |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2000 |
| length | 122 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK / JMK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | William Friedkin |
| script |
James H. Webb Stephen Gaghan |
| production |
Richard D. Zanuck Scott Rudin |
| music | Mark Isham |
| camera |
William A. Fraker Nicola Pecorini |
| cut | Augie Hess |
| occupation | |
| |
Rules - Seconds of Decision (original title: Rules of Engagement ; alternative title: Rules of Engagement - The rules of war ) is a war film by the director William Friedkin from 2000 . But this film also has strong elements of an anti-war film in that it addresses the suffering of the civilian victims during a so-called peace mission in a foreign country.
The film is based on a fictional script, even if the film - especially at the end - suggests that it would be based on real events.
action
The film begins during the Vietnam War in 1968. Between two parallel units of the US Marines and two groups of the Viet Cong there is a battle in the jungle. Lieutenant Hays Hodges finds himself in a hopeless position with his unit. At the same time, Lieutenant Terry Childers managed to capture the leader of the Vietnamese, Colonel Binh Le Cao, together with his radio operator. Terry Childers orders Binh Le Cao to stop the attack on his comrades. When the latter does not react at first, Childers shoots the radio operator, whereupon the intimidated Cao orders the immediate withdrawal by radio. Childers then releases Cao as previously promised.
28 years later, violent clashes broke out in front of the US embassy in Sana'a , Yemen . A unit of the US Marines under the command of Colonel Terry Childers is flown in by helicopter to secure or to evacuate the embassy. When they arrive on site, the situation is already extremely critical. A wild mob pelted the embassy with incendiary devices and tried to storm the building, which was taken under fire by gunmen in the crowd as well as with assault rifles from the surrounding buildings. The marines occupy the roof of the embassy and suffer the first casualties. Under heavy fire, they must remain under cover while the embassy staff is evacuated. After three Marines are already dead, and Childers himself and some of his men are injured, he orders his unit to open fire on the crowd in front of the embassy building, although there are also numerous women, children and unarmed people between the shooters. The result is a massacre that left 83 dead and over 100 injured. The images of dead women, children and old men go around the world.
Washington wants to National Security Advisor of the United States minimize the impact of this crisis as small as possible by rolls full responsibility for the incident on Colonel Childers and this as quickly as possible as a scapegoat by a military court wants to pass sentence. To this end, he destroys a video tape from a surveillance camera of the embassy, which could exonerate Terry Childers, and puts the ambassador, who is supposed to testify in the trial, under pressure.
Terry Childers asks his old friend Hays Hodges to take over the defense. Hodges fought with Childers in Vietnam and owes his life to him. He is now about to retire as a military lawyer. Hodges sets out to search for clues in Yemen and is confronted there with the gruesome sight of the injured and mutilated victims. On the other hand, he cannot find exculpatory evidence, and shaken he doubts his friend's innocence. Despite everything, he tries to prepare the defense as well as possible in the remaining time.
During the trial, the drama reaches its climax when Childers is accused of disregarding the Rules of Engagement . He lost his head and incriminated himself after Colonel Binh Le Cao also appeared as a witness to the events in Vietnam. The chances don't seem good for him, but the next day, after the closing arguments by Hodges and the military prosecutor, Childers is unexpectedly acquitted on the main count of 83 murder. Hodges appealed to the military's sense of honor not to abandon such a successful and highly decorated officer as Terry Childers, who can look back on around 30 years of service and in this case also primarily wanted to ensure the survival of their own soldiers. Ultimately, however, the decisive factor for the murder charge was the question of whether or not the crowd of demonstrators fired. Since the crucial piece of evidence, a videotape with recordings from a surveillance camera, remains undetectable, neither prosecution nor defense can ultimately clarify this central question, but Hodges can prove that the videotape must have existed.
The further development is addressed with short texts in the credits. According to this, Childers is finally honorably discharged from the army, the affair about the destroyed evidence is cleared up and the ambassador is convicted of false statements on oath.
In the film, Terry Childers' behavior is portrayed as certainly questionable, and this is taken into account with a conviction for minor violations of the peace . Some space is devoted to the suffering of civilian victims, but the film tells the story entirely from the perspective of the US military. It is crucial that the political leadership has put the soldiers in an awkward position and that the responsibility for the dilemma that has arisen cannot simply be passed on to them.
Reviews
Brigitte Witthoefft described the film in the magazine TV Movie 22/2000 as "annoying", "embarrassing, pathetic and clichéd". In the film service 21/2000 he was criticized as “annoying” and “out of date”. The magazine Treffpunkt Kino 9/2000 described the film as "disturbing" and "action-packed", the cast as "brilliant".
In the USA, the film was accused of racism ( "blatantly racist" ) against the portrayed Arab people who were only portrayed as violent ( "keen desire for violence" ). Hussein Ibish, spokesman for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee , called the film probably the most racist film against Arabs that has ever been produced in Hollywood ("probably the most racist film ever made against Arabs by Hollywood"). In an analysis of over 900 Hollywood films regarding the use of anti-Arab clichés, the author Jack Shaheen in his book Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People took the view that rules - seconds of decision-making belong to the "worst" top five.
“In front of the US embassy in Yemen lie 83 dead Arab civilians of all ages, shot by US soldiers with machine guns. The script wants to convey to the audience step by step until the finale that this apparent war crime was in fact necessary. Even little Arab girls, as it turns out in flashbacks, are terrorists and worthy of death. "
Awards
Blair Underwood won the Image Award . The film was nominated for the World Stunt Award .
background
The film was written by James H. Webb , who also worked on the script. Webb is a retired Marine ( officer with combat experience) and attorney now serving in the Senate as a junior senator for Virginia . The plot of the book originally took place in Latin America. Production company Paramount did not explain why the story was moved to an Islamic country. Brian Whitaker of the Guardian speculated that consideration was probably given to the 31 million Americans who were from Latin America.
The budget for the film was approximately $ 60 million. In the United States, he grossed $ 61 million.
Web links
- Rules - seconds of the decision in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Rules - seconds of the decision at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Rules - seconds of the decision at Metacritic (English)
- Rules - seconds of decision ( Memento from May 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) in the Dirk Jasper FilmLexikon
- Comparison of the cut versions RTL 2 from 12 - FSK 16 by Rules - seconds of the decision at Schnittberichte.com
Individual evidence
- ^ Brian Whitaker quotes Paul Clinton in the Boston Globe : The 'towel-heads' take on Hollywood. In: The Guardian , August 11, 2000.
- ↑ Mark Freeman: Rules of Engagement ( Memento of the original from December 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Senses of Cinema, August 2000.
- ^ Brian Whitaker quotes Hussein Ibish: The 'towel-heads' take on Hollywood. In: The Guardian , August 11, 2000.
- ↑ The 'towel-heads' take on Hollywood. In: The Guardian , August 11, 2000.
