The story revolves around two American snipers stationed in Iraq, Allen and his teammates are injured, the mysterious Iraqi snipers are in pursuit, and the low wall casts the last lifeline. The sniper connected to Allen's intercom. A constant call begins between the confident Iraqi sniper and two American idiots, a battle of wits.
The Iraqi was a well-known sniper, nicknamed "The Grim Reaper", who had killed thirty-five American soldiers. He was also a patriot and believed in the justice of his actions. On the U.S. side, Allen was injured and just wanted to run for his life.
As a sniper, the most important ability, in addition to superb shooting skills, is lurking and endurance. After lurking for 20 hours, the two American soldiers couldn't bear it any longer. As soon as they got up and wandered around, they let the "Death" shoot down one by one. I remember that in the movie "Bing on the City", it was also such a contest, whoever can stand loneliness and who can hold his breath is the winner. Allen was still unconvinced after that, and used various means to compete with "Death". But for the experienced "Grim Reaper", Allen's methods are very small and dismissive. Allen was defeated again and again.
In the film, Allen and "Death" have an interesting conversation.
"Death": You just said "my wall", you know? This wall happens to be what your country came here to bring down, and now you are desperately trying to prevent it from coming down.
Ellen: You think it's funny, don't you?
"Death": I tell you, this wall that you hide behind belonged to a school, and you are hiding behind the epitome of Islam.
Ellen: No, I'm hiding in the shadow of death.
The implied meaning of the dialogue is worth thinking about.
The U.S. war against Iraq is a typical example of bullying the strong and the weak, which is also the consistent style of the United States. This war has brought great suffering to the local people, and it has also aroused the resistance of the Iraqi people. However, in today's public opinion environment, people generally believe that the actions of the United States are correct, tacitly accepting the identity of the world police of the United States. But after years of observation and thinking, people are gradually reflecting.
Who savagely stepped into the territory of other countries, who killed tens of thousands of civilians, who forced an ordinary Iraqi teacher into "death", and who destroyed the peaceful life of schools and people?
That anti-war tendency is evident even in recent American films. Such as "The Hurt Locker", "Green Zone" and so on.
This "Wall of Life and Death" is based on Allen's standpoint to explain the plot, which naturally guides us to think with Allen's mind, and we also care about Allen's fate. I myself would have liked to see Allen in the film eventually shoot the "Grim Reaper". Then Allen came home, got an award, got a promotion. A perfect war movie with a plausible ending.
But the director of the film was not designed that way. The clever ending brings us to a deeper look at the war. To look at the freedom and justice that the West admires. It also shows the power of the director.
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