Unter Feuer (1983)

Unter Feuer: Directed by Roger Spottiswoode. With Nick Nolte, Ed Harris, Joanna Cassidy, Gene Hackman. Three journalists in a romantic triangle are involved in political intrigue during the last days of the corrupt Somozoa regime in Nicaragua before it falls to a popular revolution in 1979.

“Nicaragua 1979 sees the rebel uprising reaching a peak and causing an inflow of foreign journalists including photojournalist Russell Price and Claire. As the conflict rages around them Russell and Claire fall in love, despite her relationship with anchorman Alex Grazier.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy plot summary of this feels a little false – it makes it sound like a romantic drama rather than a political drama. However itu0026#39;s closer to that than it is to being a look at the conflict in Nicaragua. The story made me think it would be a look at the conflict, but rather this is a look at the conflict through the eyes of foreigners including CIA and journalists. Itu0026#39;s still interesting – but would have been better looking at it from the rebelu0026#39;s point of view – but then I guess the American audience wouldnu0026#39;t have been interested. The focus on the US stars makes this a drama with the war as a backdrop, this takes away from the impact of the conflict onscreen.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOne of the last scenes of the films has an elderly lady talking to Claire following the death of an American journalist at the hands of the Government. Due to this death the USA has thrown their support behind the rebels and the Government has fallen. The lady essentially says that u0026quot;50,000 Nicaraguans have died but it took only one American death to convince the US of the true nature of the Government here – we should have killed one a long time agou0026quot; (rough quote!). This is a good point, made in criticism of the USAu0026#39;s foreign policy and how they value lives of different nationalities. However this criticism can also be levelled at the film itself – it focuses on the Americans more than the Nicaraguans, the American characters are more important than the Nicaraguan characters – you canu0026#39;t have it both ways, you canu0026#39;t criticise someone else for something youu0026#39;re guilty of. The story is still interesting but itu0026#39;s so USA focused that it almost forgets the main players in the story (the rebels u0026amp; the Government) and relegates them to bit parts.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNolte is good in the lead, but I thought Joanna Cassidy was a bit outclassed by the rest of the cast. Hackman is good as always but had very little to do. Ed Harris is good, but again his character was the only soldier really given a character or a story (and of course, heu0026#39;s an American mercenary).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall an interesting story but the main point of the film (as voiced by the elderly lady) is also a criticism of the film itself. I wanted to know more about the conflict but instead knew more about the love triangle – a political drama that manages to cheapen the very political war that it sought to highlight.”