Winton Dong

    dht620@sina.com

    “BILLY LYNN’S Long Halftime Walk” was recently released in Chinese cinemas. Director Ang Lee brings his extraordinary and clairvoyant vision into the film, which is adapted from the widely acclaimed, best-selling 2012 novel of famous U.S. writer Ben Fountain.

    Set on a single day during the 2004 Iraq War, the story is told from the point of technical private Billy Lynn, a 19-year-old soldier from Texas who, along with his platoon of war veterans in the Bravo Squad, encounters a harrowing battle with Iraqi fighters.

    Billy becomes a national hero thereafter. In the midst of the battle, he is caught by a mobile phone camera coming to the rescue of his wounded sergeant Shroom and firing back on the enemies, at the risk of his own life.

    Due to his heroism, the whole squad is brought back from the battlefield to the United States temporarily for a victory tour. Through flashbacks, the film is culminated at the spectacular halftime pageant of the Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day football match.

    The experience of the soldiers as performers in the grand pageant together with famous singer Beyonce Knowles and other celebrities, contrasts with their fighting and combat back in Iraq. Such a big contrast also reveals Americans’ diversified and even totally different attitudes towards war and troops. It is a satire showing that even those American people who were for the war, don’t really support the troops from the bottom of their hearts.

    For example, while having dinner back home, Billy’s father doesn’t allow any differing opinions to shake the young guy’s decision to fight for his country. However, Billy’s elder sister Kathryn, an anti-war liberal, is desperate for him not to return to Iraq. She consults with psychological doctors and persuades Billy to stay at home with an excuse of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom. Actually, Billy originally joins the military just aiming to earn some money to pay Kathryn’s medical bills, who was seriously hurt in a car accident. This makes Kathryn so remorseful that she tries her best to stop her younger brother from risking his life again in Iraq.

    Other characters in the film also show different ideas toward war. The lofty shale gas producer explains that the United States started the Iraq War in order to get control of the oil supply in the Middle East. He further boasts that more exploitation of shale gas in the homeland will make the sacrifice of the soldiers totally meaningless.

    As the soldiers ride in a long black Hummer limousine to the pageant, their manager talks on the phone with the boss of the Dallas Cowboys trying to get them a movie deal. The heroic actions of Billy in Iraq has made it a highly marketable and sensational story. The rich football team boss, although moved to tears by the soldier’s bravery, only offers as low as US$5,500 to buy such a touching story filled with life and blood. As a businessman, his philosophy is that something is better than nothing. So earning US$5,500 is surely much better than nothing.

    For a 19-year-old youngster, it is really a long halftime walk and tough choice for Billy to decide whether to go back to Iraq or to stay in the United States. Frankly speaking, this is not only a halftime walk for Billy as an individual, but also a never-ending halftime walk for human beings. Every day, everywhere and everyone in the world is at a crossroad making choices, striking balances, striving, struggling, perplexed and distressed.

    Despite the fact that the film is directed by a Chinese immigrant, “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” is still a typical American movie. That makes it easy to explain why the culmination of the story focuses on the halftime of an American football match. As we all know, National Football League (NFL) and Super Bowl matches are so popular in the United States because of their fierce and even violent collisions. Such a violent aesthetic or pioneering spirit stems from the American ancestors’ arduous and adventurous Mayflower voyage almost 400 years ago.

    Due to its excellent plot and 3-D effects, many viewers regard the film as a contender for an Oscar. It is surely a thought-provoking movie since no previous Iraq War film has gotten so close to the disconnection and innermost hearts of the soldiers and common people in the United States. However, I am not so optimistic about its chances of winning any awards. The film is neither for nor against war, so it displeases nobody and at the same time pleases nobody. Moreover, compared with some other invincible and god-like heroes in American films, Billy is only a lackluster and common young guy.

    No matter what the results may be, such a film has already deeply impacted my heart and is a winner in my mind.

    (The author is the editor-in-chief of the Shenzhen Daily and guest professor of Shenzhen University with a Ph.D. from the Journalism and Communication School of Wuhan University.)