5 DAYS OF WAR is a disturbing film on many levels; it takes us into the bowels of an active war zone sharing the bloody ravenous hunger of war and the effects on the citizens of the invaded country, it is raw in its depiction of what happens to non-combatant journalists who are embedded to document the truth, and it is embarrassing how little the outside world knew of this brief but devastating war between Russia and Georgia in 2008 a war concomitant with the Olympic Games in Beijing, China so hungrily observed by the media. It tests our priorities of information intake and in doing so puts a quite different perspective on world events. The story is based on true facts and is well paced by writers Mikko Alanne and David Battle and directed with unrelenting intensity by Renny Harlin.
The film opens with three journalists and photographers - Thomas Anders (Rupert Friend), Sebastian Ganz (Richard Coyle), and Miriam (Heather Graham) - riding in a jeep in apparently placid countryside when they are struck by a bomb killing Miriam and leaving both Thomas and Sebastian injured. It soon becomes obvious that Georgia is being attacked by the Russians who (we are told) fear that Georgia is becoming too attached to the West! Flashes back and forth between comment from the reluctant President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia (Andy Garcia) who demands a cease fire and clips of Putin and his representative Col. Alexandr Demidov (Rade Serbedzija) who increase the bombing bring the tension to the breaking point. Innocent people are killed, the journalists find refuge in a Georgian wedding where Thomas and Sebastian meet Tatia (Emmanuelle Chriqui) who then joins them in carrying out their mission: the journalists have captured on film footage of the Russians slaughtering civilians and are determined to get the memory card of that incident of truth to authorities who will stop the Russian attack. How the action proceeds during the brief 5 days is riveting to watch and enlightening to know.
Along the way there are others who support the journalists insistence on securing the truth memory card, fine cameo roles for Johnathan Schech, Val Kilmer, Dean Cain, Ken Cranham, Antje Traue and a host of Georgian actors. For some this may seem like just another war film, but for others it will turn on a light to an all but forgotten (if even known) incident of brutality that should alert everyone to the possibilities of similar events that are in progress around the globe.
Grady Harp
The film opens with three journalists and photographers - Thomas Anders (Rupert Friend), Sebastian Ganz (Richard Coyle), and Miriam (Heather Graham) - riding in a jeep in apparently placid countryside when they are struck by a bomb killing Miriam and leaving both Thomas and Sebastian injured. It soon becomes obvious that Georgia is being attacked by the Russians who (we are told) fear that Georgia is becoming too attached to the West! Flashes back and forth between comment from the reluctant President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia (Andy Garcia) who demands a cease fire and clips of Putin and his representative Col. Alexandr Demidov (Rade Serbedzija) who increase the bombing bring the tension to the breaking point. Innocent people are killed, the journalists find refuge in a Georgian wedding where Thomas and Sebastian meet Tatia (Emmanuelle Chriqui) who then joins them in carrying out their mission: the journalists have captured on film footage of the Russians slaughtering civilians and are determined to get the memory card of that incident of truth to authorities who will stop the Russian attack. How the action proceeds during the brief 5 days is riveting to watch and enlightening to know.
Along the way there are others who support the journalists insistence on securing the truth memory card, fine cameo roles for Johnathan Schech, Val Kilmer, Dean Cain, Ken Cranham, Antje Traue and a host of Georgian actors. For some this may seem like just another war film, but for others it will turn on a light to an all but forgotten (if even known) incident of brutality that should alert everyone to the possibilities of similar events that are in progress around the globe.
Grady Harp