A
street in Nairobi's Eastleigh section. A fiction film supposedly set in
the neighbourhood opened in wide release in the US this week to glowing
reviews and sizeable box-office receipts. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |
NATION MEDIA GROUP
By KEVIN J. KELLEY
More by this AuthorIn Summary
- As the film convincingly suggests, counter-terrorism operations do not necessarily present clear choices between good and evil.
- Eye in the Sky currently ranks as the eleventh-most popular film currently in US cinemas.
- Plans for release in Kenya of Eye in the Sky have not been finalised.
A fiction film supposedly set in Nairobi's Eastleigh
neighbourhood opened in wide release in the US this week to glowing
reviews and sizeable box-office receipts.
Eye in the Sky
dramatises the circumstances leading up to a drone attack on an
Al-Shabaab safe house where militants are preparing for suicide bombings
of civilian targets.
The thriller derives its power
from a seemingly realistic portrayal of an agonising decision-making
process involving military officers and politicians in the UK and the
US.
Unbeknownst to the Shabaab plotters, their
compound's interior and exterior are being viewed in real time on video
screens thousands of miles away.
Tension mounts as the
British and American controllers of the Hellfire missiles poised high
above Eastleigh debate whether to launch a strike that could result in
civilian casualties.
Concern centres on the presence of an innocent young girl selling bread from a table adjacent to the target zone.
An
aura of authenticity is established in the first few minutes of the
movie through actual footage of a Shabaab shooter inside the Westgate
shopping mall and a newscaster's mention of the slaughter at Garissa
University College.
The street scenes, shown at ground
level and from spy cameras disguised as a bird and winged insect, will
also appear realistic to audiences unfamiliar with “Little Mogadishu”.
The depiction is distorted, however.
CRUEL AUTHORITY
Heavily armed Shabaab fighters in uniforms are shown patrolling Eastleigh on foot and in battle wagons.
They
openly exert cruel authority over the residents of a section of Kenya's
capital city. The militants' control goes unchallenged by Kenyan police
and soldiers.
The action supposedly taking place in
Eastleigh was actually filmed not in Nairobi but on sets in Cape Town.
Director Gavin Hood, a South Africa native, explained to media outlet
News24.com that he chose to make the movie in the South African city
because “Cape Town is a world-class location.”
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“And the crews are world class,” he added. “They shot constantly
on international and local films. It’s been a joy to come home and work
on a film that I feel passionate about.”
Eye in the Sky succeeds in provoking viewers by posing moral quandaries that cannot be simply resolved.
As the film convincingly suggests, counter-terrorism operations do not necessarily present clear choices between good and evil.
A
British colonel, played by Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren, is keen
to launch a strike that will likely kill a few top Shabaab figures,
including a female UK citizen modelled on “white widow” Samantha
Lewthwaite.
Ms Mirren's character argues that the
potential death of the nine-year-old bread seller is outweighed by the
need to avert attacks that could take scores of Kenyans' lives.
‘COLLATERAL DAMAGE’
Her political overseers are reluctant to launch the missiles, however, due in part to fear that the “collateral damage” to civilians may become publicly known through leaked video.
Her political overseers are reluctant to launch the missiles, however, due in part to fear that the “collateral damage” to civilians may become publicly known through leaked video.
The testy deliberations in a London conference room are interspersed with tense manoeuvrings on the ground in Eastleigh.
A Kenyan spy, played by Somali-American actor Barkhad Abdi (an Oscar nominee for his role in Captain Phillips),
has infiltrated the Shabaab stronghold to guide the flight of a tiny
drone and, in an improvised assignment, buy up the girl's bread so she
will be removed from harm's way.
The New York Times called Eye in the Sky a “riveting thriller". The Los Angeles Times
said the screenplay by Guy Hibbert is “thoughtful, piercing and laced
with dark-coming absurdities.” The film is “a taut nail-biter” and
“superbly acted,” the LA newspaper added.
The movie registered nearly $1 million in ticket sales during its first weekend of screenings in the US.
That sum signified “a robust launch,” according to a movie-industry publication.
Eye in the Sky ranks as the eleventh-most popular film currently in US cinemas.
Plans for release in Kenya of Eye in the Sky have not been finalised.
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