When I learned history in school I had trouble to relate. It seemed that they wanted me to learn mostly dates and places. And dates and places were not able to fascinate me. Luckily I was also an avid reader of fiction and reading historical novels made the events of the past so much more real . So to this day I have a tendency to look at historical events through the interpretation of artists, be it writers, painters, musicians or directors of movies. The older you get the more you realize that even events which happen during your life time and sometimes just around the corner from you are being interpreted in so many different ways, that at the end nobody really knows what happened. The attack in Benghazi certainly falls into this category. So politically charged and obfuscated, what was really going on? So I went to see the movie. First of all the movie was filmed in Malta not in Libya, I have been to Malta not to Libya and while there are similarities, they are not the same. The movie posed more questions than answers for me. Why was there so little security for the compound of the ambassador? Why did the official refused to send help? Why were these highly paid security contractors not used to help? Why did Tripoli refuse to send help? Why did the American base in Italy or Spain did not send help? All these places were not far away? I read somewhere that these American bases took 15 hours before they were able to dispatch somebody??? Why do the Libyan hate the Americans so much? Obviously big failure all around,from the state department to the pentagon and from some bureaucrats. So we are left with a handful of macho super warriors, who finally get permission, to fight hundreds of terrorists and that is the movie. We see this story in American war movies over and over again The super heroes who dodge all bullets while everybody else dies , they keep their sense of humor in even the most volatile situation and come out okay at the other end. Well, not everybody came out okay at the end and the film did a good job showing the humanity of those whose job is to kill and to be tough. So leaving the movie I was as knowledgeable as I was before. I do not know what happened I do not know what is being disguised from us and what orders have been issued to those who were there to shut up. I am glad to know that the surviving members of the warriors resigned and are pursuing a less dangerous life. Would I recommend that movie? Yes, I thought it was interesting but do not think that you know what happened afterward.
