No, American Sniper is not a reactionary propaganda film

Clint Eastwood's biggest box office success returns this evening on France 3.

When Juror #2the last film of Clint Eastwoodhas just crossed the million admissions mark in France, France 3 is rebroadcasting its biggest global success, American Sniper. We are updating our review of this war film, first published in January 2015.

American Sniper: Clint Eastwood “wasn't surprised by the criticism”

In a discussion following the presentation of his film American Sniperon December 8, 2014, Clint Eastwood unambiguously stated his opposition to the war in Iraq, evoking “the arrogance of wanting to go to war without even asking the question of its justification, nor of the tragic consequences that it would have for so many people”. He recalled growing up during World War II, hoping that it would “would end all wars”. But then there was Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. In this regard, the filmmaker was surprised that no one among the military officials had taken the trouble to document themselves, as he would have done for a film (“can we film there?”). At least, this clarification should remove doubts, if they still remain, about American Sniper which tells the story of Chris Kyle, the world's most elite sniper “effective” of the history of the American army. At the end of his fourth stay in Iraq, his total number of kills stood at 160. The film details the making of a legend, but it also shows the price in blood.

Its stunning success in the United States cannot be explained only because it comes at a time when frictions between the West and the Muslim world are stronger than ever. By avoiding taking sides as the binary and simplistic logic that pits left and right would have it, Eastwood offers another broader and more complex vision. As a result, it unites rather than divides. Even the divisions work in its favor by fueling the controversy. For the military, Kyle is a legend, for conservatives, he is a hero, but for liberals, he is the victim of a system that the film dismantles, and everyone benefits from it.

The subject, inspired by Kyle's autobiography, was a hot potato that was passed around David O. Russell And Steven Spielbergbefore Clint grabs it. While the book reveals a questionable character with questionable opinions, Eastwood decided to simplify (if possible) the character by only showing the mechanisms that determined him. His father explained to him that the world could not be divided into two (wolves on one side and lambs on the other). There were also the shepherd dogs, responsible for protecting the lambs against the wolves. From his childhood in Odessa, Texas to the rooftops of Fallujah, Kyle has always felt a calling to protect his contemporaries to the best of his ability. And when New York was hit on September 11, he was convinced that he was defending his country by committing to Iraq.

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The legend in question
If Bradley Cooper embodies a character sufficiently “heroic” to arouse the approval of conservatives (and in turn encourage Michael Moore to simulate indignation), the war that Eastwood describes is not likely to awaken vocations. With still astonishing energy, old Clint portrays an incredibly hostile geographical and human environment. The resulting tension does not fail to impact Kyle, even if he does not realize it. Its crumbling is visible on multiple occasions. On the ground, he doubts. At home, he perceives his family as an obstacle to his return to Iraq (not so much through addiction, as Jeremy Renner In Minesweepersbut to finish the job). He is shaken, even if he does not understand, when his brother tells him that they have nothing to do in Iraq. Even disbelief when the psychologist suggests to him that he probably suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Far from describing a legend, Eastwood gives his interpretation by making Kyle someone uncomfortable with this notion. The reality was perhaps more complex, as suggested by Kyle's controversial autobiography, which adds a quantity of questionable information to the proven facts (just recently, his family lost a libel suit). As if, having become addicted to his own legend, he had sought to fuel it by inventing unverifiable exploits. He died on a shooting range, killed for unclear reasons by a veteran suffering from PTSD. The film's detractors especially criticize the last images, manifestations of a deep America which took out the flags to celebrate the one they consider a hero. These are archive images, therefore real images, which sanction the legend. Another paradox.

Gerard Delorme

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Trailer ofAmerican Sniper :