Three Kings (1999) Dir. by D.O. Russell Essay Example for Free

Three Kings (1999) Dir. by D.O. Russell Essay â€Å"Three Kings† is based on the events of the Gulf war and portrays Iraqi rebellions against Saddam Hussein. The movie describes adventures of fours soldiers who steal a gold bullion. This work belongs to war adventure movies and anti-war films. Disillusioned by war casualties and cruelty they saw during Desert Storm Operation, the soldiers kill one of Iraqis and find a document (a map). Cruz, a young journalist, tells her lover gates about recent rumors, and Gates convinces the men that this map will help them to find 23 million (a gold bullion) in Saddam’s bunkers. The journey begins. The main part of the movie vividly portrays hardship and grievances faced by native Iraqi population. The main characters rescue Iraqi prisoners, their leader and several Americas. Barlow is caught by Iraqi soldiers and taken to a bunker. Barlow calls him wife but one of the soldiers interrupts him and subjects to tortures. Together with deserters, the commands free Barlow. They find gold. In order to save their lives and reach Iranian border, Gates pays huge sums of money to drivers. When they reach the border, they are caught by American solder. In order to free the Shiites refugees, they give the rest of the gold to this American soldier. In several years, Barlow becomes a prosperous businessman and his friend Elgin an advisor to movies. The stolen gold was returned to Kuwait. This movie portrays great sufferings and pain faced by American soldiers during the Gulf War. The idea that all the suffering were for nothing was simply unbearable (Vernon 2001). The horrible reality of the war is therefore transformed into what one might call the Myth. The key members of this battlefield brotherhood are Elgin and Barlow, the contemporary warriors who because of their skills and indifference to their own survival perfectly fit definition of the ideal combat soldier. Their foil is Iraqi military, who with their background, conscience, and critical attitude toward peace and fellow-soldiers are outsiders from the circle. The choices of the characters are influenced by toughness and heroic actions of other soldiers and brutality of war. In this new environment, all men are natural leaders. These grunts also understand what is needed to survive in combat operations. Because of their poverty and lack of money, they are not part of the mainstream back in the World. But once reaching Iraq, they assume new identities, as signified by their nicknames, feel pride in their combat skills, and acquire a sense of belonging and meaning in their lives-even if that meaning is only helping themselves and their friends stay alive. What bonds them is their ultimate trust in each other, their combat skills, their love-hate relationship with the wars violence and absurdity, and their strong sense of being abandoned by the people at home. Overall, this movie praises the fighting spirit and self-sacrifice of this small unit of soldiers. Critics Berardinelli (1999) admit that â€Å"the action sequences are expertly directed, and Russell develops tension because were never sure whos going to survive or whats going to happen next†. The desire to save their friend Barlow vividly portrays that friendship and comradeship, honor, courage, pride, and loyalty are the main qualities which help soldiers to survive during the Gulf War (Arnold 1999). The strength of Three Kings lies in the descriptions of combat-language, events, emotions, conflicts, and tragedies inherent in the physical and psychological realities of war. D.O. Russell has a remarkable understanding of the combat soldiers psychological relationships to Iraq. He also has an ear for the grunts language and an eye for the precise details conveying the horrors and miseries of war. Taking into account historical context of the movie, â€Å"the four men are reluctantly pulled into a civil war between the Iraqi villagers and members of Saddam Husseins oppressive Republican Guard, which is torturing and killing anyone without a uniform† (Vice 1999). Most impressive is the authentic grunt dialogue pervading the speech patterns, vulgarities, jargon, fear, threats, hate, and black humor. We can guess the exact meaning and significance of actions taking into account real historical events and choices of the characters. In contrast to many other war movies, the aim of this work is to ‘force’ viewers to rethink meaning and significance of human relations during war and value the role and importance of friendship in human relations. The benefit of this movie is the brutal realism and exhaustive detail of the day-to-day life of a combat soldier. This movie portrays the evolution of a soldier and gives viewers a feel for war. Critics (Arnold 2000) admit that the irony of the movie is reasoned battlefield strategies which do not defeat enemies, but the blunderings of an incompetent major lead to victory. As a war movie, D.O. Russell unveils the horrors of the Gulf War and its political context. Thus, the graphic scenes are, at times, almost poetic in their litany of death, gruesome details, and horrific human destruction (Berardinelli 1999). In this movie, soldiers glorious moments on the battlefield are absent; the resulting oppressive spiritual darkness pervading the narrative is not so much a consequence of individuals actions but a product of the political, social, and military systems in which the soldiers have existed. Unlike many war stories, D.O. Russell introduces a strong political undertone and often, unsuccessfully, attempts to move away from the fictional memoir to a more developed dramatic plot. From this assignment I leant that actions and personal qualities of the characters provide reasons to believe that glorious moments of heroism, honor, and self-sacrifice regularly occur on the battlefield, and that a brotherhood of strong bonds of attachment and mutual concern, is widespread among combat soldiers. The knowledge of history and political situation can help viewers to understand war movies and their meaning. References Arnold, G. (1999, October 1) `Three Kings No Crowning Achievement. The Washington Times, p. 5 Berardinelli, J. Three Kings. Retrieved 24 April 2007, form http://www.reelviews.net/movies/t/3kings.html Three Kings. Dir. by D.O. Russell (2000) Warner Home Video. Vice, J. (1999). Desert News. Retrieved 24 April 2007, form http://deseretnews.com/movies/view/1,1257,70000069,00.html Vernon, A. (2001 Winter) The Gulf War and Postmodern Memory. The Wilson Quarterly, 25, p. 37.

Enviromental Effects on Behavior Essay -- essays research papers

The level of genetic influences on a person’s behavior is called the heritability of the behavior. Based on previous research intelligence as measured by IQ scores is thought to be attributed mostly to genetic influences. However it has been suggested by several researchers that genetic influences are moderated by the environment a person grows up in. There have been several studies that have explored the effects of environmental effects on heritability. However these studies have been methodologically limited because they did not have a large enough sample size or they did not measure the zygosity of the twins they use. Other studies measured change in heritability across different birth cohorts. However these studies might have been influenced by the different circumstances that might have been present during the different time periods these people lived in. Some general reasons why there is a lack of evidence for the moderating effects of the environment is that the studies conducted so far did not use measures environmental variables to detect differences in the environm...

An Explication of Beowulf’s Monologue About His Past

Katie Taylor EH 215 Volf 4 February 2013 Beowulf’s Past Beowulf is an epic poem that is filled with episodes and digressions that provide a better understanding of the poem as a whole. In one of the episodes, Beowulf speaks of his past, and the reader can learn about his upbringing as a child and how it has affected him as an adult. This monologue also gives some information about King Hrethel and his sons. The main purpose of this anecdote, however, is to describe how and when Beowulf began his career of combat and fame.Within Beowulf’s monologue, the author utilizes alliterations and kenning to help the poem flow and to emphasize the strength and valor of Beowulf as an epic hero. One such example is the kenning used at the beginning of the episode. It reads, â€Å"Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, spoke†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (2425). Instead of the phrasing reading â€Å"Beowulf spoke,† this phrase adds vigor to the beginning. It reinforces the idea that Beowulf is seen as an extremely powerful hero that can take on anything that comes his way as opposed to â€Å"just Beowulf. If â€Å"son of Ecgtheow† were not used, Beowulf would seem almost boring compared to the magnificent, heroic image that comes to mind when this phrase is employed. Alliteration is also used to allow the poem to flow and also to provide an interesting element to otherwise bland sentences. â€Å"While I was in his ward he treated me no worse as a wean†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is referring to King Hrethel’s â€Å"adoption† of Beowulf after his father died (2432).The repetition of the W sound allows easy movement through the story that Beowulf tells, and it keeps the reader interested in what is being said. Another example of alliteration is the lines 2479-2480: â€Å"My own kith and kin avenged these evil events, as everybody knows†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Without any sound repetition, the reader would become bored with the story, but the author strategically places these examples of alliteration in the epic to provide more exciting details. Along with these rhetorical devices, this passage gives significant details bout Beowulf’s upbringing. The reader learns that Beowulf’s father Ecgtheow dies when Beowulf is only seven years old. King Hrethel takes him in, though, and treats him like one of his own sons. Later, the king’s oldest son Herebeald is accidentally killed by his younger brother Haethcyn. King Hrethel is so depressed that he lay down and dies from grief. Afterward, there is a battle between the Swedes and the Geats, in which Hrethel’s son Haethcyn, the new king, is killed in battle.Hygelac, the last son of Hrethel and now the new king of the Geats, gave Beowulf treasure and land for fighting alongside them. This battle seems to be one of the first that Beowulf participated in. He says, â€Å"I marched ahead of him [Hygelac], always there at the front of the line; and I shall fight like that for as long as I live†¦ † (2497-2499). After that first battle, Beowulf launched himself into a life of war and fame, constantly craving the recognition and treasures that came after a successful battle or killing.Beowulf’s monologue about his past allows readers into his mind so that they can understand why he fights the way he does and where he came from in the first place. Without this episode, the poem as a whole would suffer because there would be no back story to explain Beowulf’s desire to defeat monsters and achieve the fame that he thinks he deserves. Perhaps he is making up for the fact that his father died when he was so young: he is trying to live a life that would make his father proud that Beowulf was his son.

Global Warming And Its Effects - 1782 Words

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It i s a worldwide phenomenon that impacts each and every one of us because it cause irregular climate patterns, increases the sea levels, and decreases human living standards. We can usually anticipate what the temperature will be the next couple days because there is a normal pattern to it, the temperature will be stable throughout the months until the season changes which will cause an increase or decrease temperature depending on which season is next. But recently we have not been able toShow MoreRelatedGlobal Warming And Its Effects985 Words   |  4 PagesEnvironmental Science Professor Mahoney 11/11/14 Global Warming Over the last few decades global warming has become one of the biggest environmental issues of all times. Every year, global warming gets worse and it’s affecting the way people live, it is affecting the atmosphere in general, and other living organisms in our planet. 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