Tears of the Sun (2004)

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua | 118 minutes | action, thriller | Actors: Bruce Willis, Monica Bellucci, Cole Hauser, Eamonn Walker, Johnny Messner, Nick Chinlund, Charles Ingram, Paul Francis, Chad Smith, Tom Skerritt, Malick Bowens

Antoine Fuqua is, as he himself indicates in the audio commentary of the blu-ray disc of ‘Tears of the Sun’, a director with a message. Not because he wants to be pretentious, but there always seems to be a message in his stories, he explains. And it is true that ‘Tears of the Sun’ has more to say than a standard action or war movie. This film has a social awareness and an eye for the (problems of the) indigenous people that are often missing in these kinds of films, in favor of an exciting rescue story full of action and sensation. At the same time, ‘Tears of the Sun’ also regularly wants to be an ordinary Hollywood action film and these qualities turn out to be somewhat uncomfortable dance partners.

Here, protagonist Bruce Willis is not (usually) the joking action hero from the ‘Die Hard’ movies, but rather the thoughtful, stoic man he previously played in ‘The Sixth Sense’ and ‘Unbreakable’. The music with which he is introduced upon his arrival on an aircraft carrier is therefore suitably dark. Fuqua explains on the blu-ray that Bruce is not the action hero we all know here, but should actually represent a kind of (Colonel) Kurtz (from ‘Apocalypse Now’): in other words, a thinker and a troubled man.

Lieutenant Waters (Willis) is a soldier with a lot of experience, but one who (now) only follows orders and does not go outside his book. That creates a dilemma when the doctor he must rescue, Dr. Lena Kendricks (Monica Bellucci), refuses to accompany her Nigerian patients. It is at this point that the film’s social conscience emerges, already referenced before the opening credits with the quote from (presumably) Edmund Burke: “All it takes for evil to triumph is the inaction of good people. .”

A cynical, patriotic reading might see this quote (and its application to the film) as legitimizing American “foreign policy,” or more specifically, the 2003 invasion of Iraq (the year this movie came out) in particular. , which makes ‘Tears of the Sun’ almost like a propaganda film. But it can also be understood as a genuine empathy for victims of human injustice – in this case torture and murder – and the will to help these people. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle. In any case, the attention for the innocent victims in this civil war – and therefore for victims in comparable situations – is certainly commendable. The genuine sympathy and attention, however, seems to be at odds with the demands of the plot and action movie clichés, which keep cropping up just before the bond with these victims can develop properly.

For example, it’s good that Willis’s character gets into a state of conscience, but the moment when this comes – when he sees images of an already expected situation and after he has just left a large group of people freezing cold in the jungle – is slightly unbelievable. But apparently the film needs to speed up and then there is no time for many nuances or subtleties. The beret-wearing rebels are also portrayed very much as bloodthirsty film villains, and the end of the film is destroyed by unnecessarily whipped up heroism.

At the same time, the film also does a lot of good. The scenes and shots in which the Nigerian refugees are portrayed clearly show sympathy and understanding (for their fate) and at various moments the film is unusually tense; like after about twenty minutes when the refugees are not allowed to move in the jungle because the armed rebels have approached a few meters from their position. One of the biggest challenges is to keep quiet a crying child who has caught the attention of the pursuers. These moments in the film are almost unbearably exciting. Just like when our heroes come across a village that is being ethnically “cleansed” by the rebels and they try to limit the damage and save a few more lives. The rest of the film is a somewhat uninteresting chase game, but in the last act, when the heroes are overtaken by the bad guys, and are greatly outnumbered in terms of numbers and ammunition, the ending turns out to be quite surprising. Fortunately, it is not the case that a few men can keep the entire enemy army at bay, and it turns out that most American soldiers, with whom the viewer has a connection to some extent, are simply mowed down. That gives this part a bit more realistic touch. It even seems that Antoine Fuqua’s original intention was not to let anyone survive, but of course no movie studio would have agreed to that, so there’s another handy, deus-ex-machina-esque, solution coming up. But the rawness of what immediately precedes it does indicate what Fuqua was actually about. Maybe one day he will make a film in which he can fully express his vision.

Although Monica Bellucci has been completely miscast as the voluptuous, yet inspired doctor in distress – who, of course, despite the serious matter, the generous cleavage has to be extensively portrayed a few times – Bruce Willis turns out to be an actor again to be admired. building for this kind of action movies. The many shots of his contemplative face and his camouflaged but always tough bald head alone are captivating, and under his guidance this adventure remains worth watching. Willis’ presence is almost enough to make us forget the weaker elements of the film. Almost, because ‘Tears of the Sun’ unfortunately oscillates too much between good intentions, unnecessary or hasty plot twists, and genre conventions, and is ultimately a case of neither meat nor fish.