Eye in the SkyIn war, is the killer the soldier who pulls the trigger, or the officer to orders him to do it? Eye in the Sky is a political thriller about drone warfare and the collateral loss of life that follows. The film focuses on several people across the globe engaged in a joint British-American capture operation that escalates into a "shoot to kill" strike on a radical terrorist cell in Kenya. What initially is planned to be a blow against terrorism becomes morally complicated when a young Kenyan girl named Alia (Aisha Takow) gravitates into the prospective blast radius of the operation's missile attack, confronting those remotely looking down on the scene from the comfort of their command posts to consider whether the ends justify the means.
|
|
Eye in the Sky is a rare political thriller that creates tension almost exclusively through incidental means. With rare exceptions, the action is viewed through the robotic eyes of cameras affixed to cutting edge drones, and the survival of the terrorists and civilians caught in the crossfire is decided on from people thousands of miles removed. The operation is spearheaded by Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren), who is driven to bring two British nationals who have become radical extremists and terrorists to justice by any means necessary. She operates from a subterranean command center, and keeps Lieutenant General Frank Benson (Alan Rickman) in her corner to deal with the politicians as needed to authorize what moves from a capture mission to a tactical strike. While the British military handles the intelligence, the Americans supply the ordinance to "prosecute" their targets. From his operating center in Las Vegas, Nevada, 2nd Lieutenant Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is the man given exclusive control to pull the trigger on firing one of a pair of "Hellfire" missiles into the sortie from his "eye in the sky" unmanned aircraft. Prior to the operation escalating--and demanding a reinterpretation of the rules of engagement--the intended operation was to observe a set of "most wanted" terrorists through surveillance equipment and drones, and then order local Kenyan Army soldiers to move in and arrest them. Due to a gap in the operation's intelligence, they fail to identify that the terrorist Powell has been chasing for upwards of six years--a native British woman named Susan Helen Danford (based on Samantha Lewthwaite)--was already present at their originally intended target zone, and they have to wait until they obtain positive identification before they can execute their operation; this makes calling in the Army more problematic after they change their location. Powell almost immediately begins pushing for a tactical strike, and Benson follows suit to compel the responsible members of the British government witness to the unfolding events to comply.
More than half of Eye in the Sky concerns the push-and-pull arguments for or against the strike, with some--like Powell and Benson--advocating unequivocally for the attack, while others--like Brian Woodale MP, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Jeremy Northam)--flounder between two equally dangerous political choices. What becomes evident after the original goal of the operation collapses and the decision to launch a tactical strike is offered up as an alternative are the true motivations and moral characters of all parties concerned. Shortly after Eye in the Sky begins, Powell discovers that a key informer has been killed by the Kenyan terrorists known as "Al-Shabaab", underscoring a personal need to see her mission accomplished out of retribution. Conversely, Benson's morning is anachronistically consumed with buying a doll from a toy store--an incongruous activity for a high-ranking officer that ambiguously hints at either a capacity to disconnect his personal life from his very difficult professional one, or even a lack of genuine personal investment in his role in the unfolding counter-terrorist operation. Benson's audience at "COBRA" (Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms) is composed of Woodale as well as Attorney General George Matherson (Richard McCabe) and Angela Northman MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa (Monica Dolan), the latter of whom consistently offers objections to launching an attack of any sort on a friendly nation outside of wartime with the possibility of any collateral damage. While Powell constantly pushes her staff--including Major Howard Webb (John Heffernan) of the Army Legal Services Branch and her Risk Assessment Officer, Sergeant Mushtaq Saddiq (Babou Ceesay)--to legitimize her hot-blooded urge to execute her mission, Benson's colleagues are threatened by the potential negative propaganda from perceived military negligence, and constantly seek approval from various bureaucrats--including Foreign Secretary James Willett MP (Iain Glen) and even US Secretary of State Ken Stanitzke (Michael O'Keefe)--hoping (or praying) that someone will say "no" and take the burden off of their shoulders. While the British politicians are all but paralyzed to act out of fear from negative publicity (presented as moral objections), the Americans seem too quick to dismiss the aftermath, implied to be out of a willingness to let the Brits take the fall in their place. The prevailing message is that despite all of the perceived checks and balances, the real dangers of the strike are known only to the military members immediately involved, and these "leaders" who have the authority to decide its acceptability do so from a position of relative ignorance, far removed from fully comprehending the scope of their decision.
One of the greatest challenges to the ongoing "War on Terror" is how to adopt a position of moral authority in the face of unfeeling and unscrupulous guerrilla warfare, including mass shootings and suicide bombings. Eye in the Sky raises ethical questions about the nature of drone warfare, specifically how it represents those who employ said technology. It is a fact that using drones to execute tactical strikes avoids putting soldiers lives at risk in the field, but at the same time, it threatens to diminish the reality of killing a target remotely. Eye in the Sky never suggests that the skilled soldiers--like Steve and his rookie colleague, A1C Carrie Gershon (Phoebe Fox)--treat their jobs with anything less than absolute seriousness, although the same might not be said for Powell, who seems quick to fudge the "CDE" (Collateral Death Estimate) to sway her government to authorize an attack. While the British and American military debate the legitimacy of their drone strike, Alia enjoys the simple pleasures of her life in Kenya, though she struggles to comprehend the tenets of Sharia law that runs rampant in her neighborhood. She spends her time at home--next door to the terrorist base of operations--twirling her hula hoop and studying math, and sells bread on the street corner for extra income for her family. Her father describes the members of their village as "fanatics" because of their radical interpretation of their faith, and cites the dangers of her twirling her hula hoop in front of his customers. The audience of Eye in the Sky is forced to consider that Alia's family might have resisted hostile attitudes about the brutality of the West before to the devastating missile launch that marks the film's climax, but not after. This is where Eye in the Sky offers its most understated but crucial message about the unspoken "cost" of making a decisive military action. The strike will likely be the catalyst that drives the surviving members of Alia's family further into radicalism, and subverts the moral legitimacy of fighting a war against terror by accepting that some lives ultimately amount to little more than "acceptable losses" for those not personally involved in the devastation.
Recommended for: Fans of a thought-provoking political thriller that raises questions about the moral implications of drone warfare and international exceptionalism in comparative peacetime. Eye in the Sky is sure to stir conversations in its audience after the credits roll and encourage debate about the merits for or against making impossible decisions where innocent lives hang in the balance.
More than half of Eye in the Sky concerns the push-and-pull arguments for or against the strike, with some--like Powell and Benson--advocating unequivocally for the attack, while others--like Brian Woodale MP, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Jeremy Northam)--flounder between two equally dangerous political choices. What becomes evident after the original goal of the operation collapses and the decision to launch a tactical strike is offered up as an alternative are the true motivations and moral characters of all parties concerned. Shortly after Eye in the Sky begins, Powell discovers that a key informer has been killed by the Kenyan terrorists known as "Al-Shabaab", underscoring a personal need to see her mission accomplished out of retribution. Conversely, Benson's morning is anachronistically consumed with buying a doll from a toy store--an incongruous activity for a high-ranking officer that ambiguously hints at either a capacity to disconnect his personal life from his very difficult professional one, or even a lack of genuine personal investment in his role in the unfolding counter-terrorist operation. Benson's audience at "COBRA" (Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms) is composed of Woodale as well as Attorney General George Matherson (Richard McCabe) and Angela Northman MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa (Monica Dolan), the latter of whom consistently offers objections to launching an attack of any sort on a friendly nation outside of wartime with the possibility of any collateral damage. While Powell constantly pushes her staff--including Major Howard Webb (John Heffernan) of the Army Legal Services Branch and her Risk Assessment Officer, Sergeant Mushtaq Saddiq (Babou Ceesay)--to legitimize her hot-blooded urge to execute her mission, Benson's colleagues are threatened by the potential negative propaganda from perceived military negligence, and constantly seek approval from various bureaucrats--including Foreign Secretary James Willett MP (Iain Glen) and even US Secretary of State Ken Stanitzke (Michael O'Keefe)--hoping (or praying) that someone will say "no" and take the burden off of their shoulders. While the British politicians are all but paralyzed to act out of fear from negative publicity (presented as moral objections), the Americans seem too quick to dismiss the aftermath, implied to be out of a willingness to let the Brits take the fall in their place. The prevailing message is that despite all of the perceived checks and balances, the real dangers of the strike are known only to the military members immediately involved, and these "leaders" who have the authority to decide its acceptability do so from a position of relative ignorance, far removed from fully comprehending the scope of their decision.
One of the greatest challenges to the ongoing "War on Terror" is how to adopt a position of moral authority in the face of unfeeling and unscrupulous guerrilla warfare, including mass shootings and suicide bombings. Eye in the Sky raises ethical questions about the nature of drone warfare, specifically how it represents those who employ said technology. It is a fact that using drones to execute tactical strikes avoids putting soldiers lives at risk in the field, but at the same time, it threatens to diminish the reality of killing a target remotely. Eye in the Sky never suggests that the skilled soldiers--like Steve and his rookie colleague, A1C Carrie Gershon (Phoebe Fox)--treat their jobs with anything less than absolute seriousness, although the same might not be said for Powell, who seems quick to fudge the "CDE" (Collateral Death Estimate) to sway her government to authorize an attack. While the British and American military debate the legitimacy of their drone strike, Alia enjoys the simple pleasures of her life in Kenya, though she struggles to comprehend the tenets of Sharia law that runs rampant in her neighborhood. She spends her time at home--next door to the terrorist base of operations--twirling her hula hoop and studying math, and sells bread on the street corner for extra income for her family. Her father describes the members of their village as "fanatics" because of their radical interpretation of their faith, and cites the dangers of her twirling her hula hoop in front of his customers. The audience of Eye in the Sky is forced to consider that Alia's family might have resisted hostile attitudes about the brutality of the West before to the devastating missile launch that marks the film's climax, but not after. This is where Eye in the Sky offers its most understated but crucial message about the unspoken "cost" of making a decisive military action. The strike will likely be the catalyst that drives the surviving members of Alia's family further into radicalism, and subverts the moral legitimacy of fighting a war against terror by accepting that some lives ultimately amount to little more than "acceptable losses" for those not personally involved in the devastation.
Recommended for: Fans of a thought-provoking political thriller that raises questions about the moral implications of drone warfare and international exceptionalism in comparative peacetime. Eye in the Sky is sure to stir conversations in its audience after the credits roll and encourage debate about the merits for or against making impossible decisions where innocent lives hang in the balance.