David O'Connell5 Days of War
July 20th 2011 04:06
By his own admission, director Renny Harlin’s first ‘meaningful’ film is a true horror story, depicting as it does the bullying Russian invasion of Georgia over five days in 2008. 5 Days of War (2011) reveals how innocents were massacred while the rest of the world turned a blind eye to Russia's amoral quest for access to Georgia’s valuable oil lines whilst tarting up their story with justifications that even some of the world’s most reprehensible dictators would blush at.
Harlin’s film takes us behind enemy lines with a journalist, Thomas Anders (Rupert Friend) and cameraman, Sebastian Ganz (Richard Coyle) who head from Iraq where a tragedy claimed a colleague to Georgia where they hear rumblings of trouble to come. Soon they're in the direct line of fire, attempting to document the carnage and smuggle footage out which might convince the world to open their eyes to the plight of a besieged and helpless nation on the verge being desecrated for its rich, natural resources.
This is a worthy representation of a disturbing injustice that shamed many world governments who at the time would rather concentrate on the pomp and ceremony of the skilfully orchestrated harmony procured by China’s extravagant staging of the Olympics.
Harlin’s film is no Salvador (1986) but dramatic scenes of bombing attacks on defenceless villages and their horrific aftereffects are very realistically handled. There are some welcome establishing scenes too - before the chaos begins – which seek to shed an illuminating light on the richness of Georgian custom and tradition and the despairing vulnerability of this proud nation as it’s put to the sword by a vengeful neighbour.
It’s just a shame that, in general, the cast proves to be a little underwhelming and distractingly mediocre at times. Friend remains our main focus of attention and he’s a strong though far from dynamic lead. Yes, we’re gradually convinced of the veracity of that haunted look that settles in the eyes of Anders but not the sense of fevered outrage that should accompany it.
The exotic cast of support players feel like ciphers settling into position, with an out of shape Val Kilmer especially extraneous as a renegade American photographer who enters the fray intermittently without adding a single useful moment. Coyle is the weakest link of all; he just doesn’t cut it as Anders‘ loyal cameraman and offsider. Only Andy Garcia, who initially seems ludicrously cast as the embattled Georgian President, brings any real weight to scenes in which he implores the world to take notice whilst counteracting the devious underhanded shifting of focus and blame by the Russian government.
5 Days of War opens in limited release in Australian cinemas on Thursday, July 21.
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