“Green Zone” comes from the director of two of the Bourne series : “Bourne Supremacy”, “Bourne Ultimatum” – Paul Greengrass. Thus it is but natural that he bring to this film the tight story-telling and intense action that was so marked in those films. What is different here is the scenario – no hit-man turned fugitive here; Matt Damon (also the hero in those series) is honest Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller who has been entrusted the thankless task of combing potential WMD (Weapons of mass destruction) sites for lethal weapons. However after getting one too many intelligence reports about such potential sites, and having them turn out duds, he gets suspicious and helped by a local Iraqi informer launches a semi-investigation of his own. Do his worst fears come true ?
Here, I must say that I’m a big fan of the Bourne films, and eagerly await the next installment. Even though this film is very different from those, in it’s subject matter, the director does it justice. Damon as Miller is the quintessential soldier, brave and honest and almost unwary of the cynical games being played out in the upper echelons of power. He is out doing what he believes is his duty and trusts his countrymen to do the same. And Damon being Damon, with his integrity writ large on his face and honest, earnest mannerisms (indeed, what a perfect “good guy” !) makes a very believable hero; he’s got our support and our sympathy from the get go.
This film is based on the book by Rajiv Chandrasekaran “Imperial life in the emerald city”, and while I’m not sure how closely it sticks to the written word, it does make for an intense thriller. Both “Green Zone” and “The hurt locker” are war stories featuring protagonists caught in hard situations in Iraq. Both focus on the plight of soldiers and citizens caught in this war. Remarkable in this film is the portrayal of Freddy (played by Khalid Abdalla), an Iraqi citizen who comes to Damon with information about possible meetings of members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party. Damon as Miller must decide whether he trusts Freddy enough to put his soldiers’ lives in danger. And Freddy himself wants his country back, rid of it’s tyrants and dictators. A very moving scene is of Miller promising Freddy a reward for his services and a one-legged Freddy turning to him in frustration and anger, and jagged patriotism.
Green Zone makes a case for choosing leaders wisely. It paints the then government, represented here by Greg Kinnear, as the “bad guys”, and also brings to light the role of the government and a sedentary media who let themselves be led like sheep into an un-needed war. This film is about the betrayal of the people, of broken trust, of hundreds and thousands of honest soldiers who go out on their pariotic duty, buoyed by news made up by a few capricious, greedy people.
This is a film not to be missed.
