Three Kings

A few years ago the American Government expressed concern that the Middle East conflict was going to become their new Vietnam, leading to speculation that a whole host of new war movies were going to be released. Arguably the most famous of these is the 2009 Best Picture Winner The Hurt Locker. Others include Brothers starring Tobey Maquire and Green Zone starring Matt Damon. Today's movie also takes place in Irag, though technically it is set during the Gulf War. I present to you, the 1999 movie Three Kings.

Directed by David O. Russel (The Fighter), Three Kings stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Spike Jonze. It features a group of soldiers who discover and subsequently plunder a stockpile of Iraqi gold. Well directed, nicely acted, and with some unique and downright inspired cinematic tricks, it's straight-up first class cinema, so lets see what it has to offer.

The movie opens, predictably, in Iraq, where we find 4 soldiers, Troy Barlow (Wahlberg), an office worker with a wife and daughter, Chief Elgin (Cube), an airline baggage handler, Conrad Vig (Jonze) a jobless redneck who idolises Barlow, and Archie Gates (Clooney) a Special Forces Major who is fed up with the war, and keen to leave the army in pursuit of other goals.

While disarming and searching a group of Iraqi soldiers, Barlow and Vig discover a documents that one of the men has stashed in his pants. Having gone to such extreme lengths to conceal it, the men believe the information it contains must be of highly discernible value, so they decide not to inform their superiors, and try to translate it themselves. Unfortunately Gates enters, but does not report them. Instead, he tells them that the map is of Saddam's bunkers, where a myriad of goods stolen from Kuwait are hidden, including millions of dollars worth of gold bullion.

The 4 off them set off for the bunker, where they find the gold. Under the cease-fire instated by President Bush, they are able to 'liberate' the gold without any hostilities. Sadly, as they are about to leave, a woman who pleads with them to help the rebels is shot by one of Saddam's Republican Guard. Unable to simply walk away, a gunfight ensues. None of them are hurt, and during the pandemonium they manage to free a group of rebels and their leader, and escape just as Iraqi reinforcements arrive.

After stumbling into a minefield, the group become separated and Troy is captured. Deciding that simply making off with the gold is not the right thing to do, Gates, Vig and Elgin regroup and set out to rescue Troy, and get the rebels safely across the Iranian Border.

The movie is much like that of Platoon or Saving Private Ryan. It's a gritty depiction of the brutality of modern warfare. What makes this one so edgy is the focus it has on the non-combatants. Yes, we witness soldiers being injured and killed, but we see far more of the repercussions on the innocent victims. Jean-Paul Sartre once said 'When the rich wage war it's the poor who die', and this is exactly what we see here. It's an insight into a country on its knees, and a demonstration of how war truly affects the proletariat. What starts out as a mission motivated primarily by greed slowly become one of compassion and comradeship, where 4 men become an unlikely band of Samaritans. Watching their story unfold is equal parts inspiring and horrifying.