Two Serious Filmmakers Tackle the Controversial Story of Bowe Bergdahl

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was released from captivity in Afghanistan just a few weeks ago, but Hollywood is already planning his moment in the spotlight. Bergdahl, 28, was held by the Taliban for five years until the U.S. government agreed to the controversial trade of five Guantanamo Bay prisoners to secure his release. Now, award-winning directors Kathryn Bigelow and Todd Field — filmmakers known for dark and often hot-button films — are moving forward with competing movies about Bergdahl’s story. In light of their past work, this could get interesting.

Actor turned director Field has made two well-reviewed, but solemn indie dramas: The 2001 death-in-the-family sleeper hit In the Bedroom and the 2006 suburban drama Little Children. He’s already secured the rights to Michael Hastings’ 2012 Rolling Stone feature about Bergdahl, a remarkable piece of reporting that delved into the soldier’s disillusionment with the war and the news that he was taken prisoner after walking away from his unit. (Hastings was killed in a car crash last year.) Field reportedly doesn’t have Bergdahl’s “life rights” — but then again, neither does Bigelow.

Kathryn Bigelow is a much more seasoned filmmaker than Field, though it’s unclear if she’ll be directing or just producing the new project. The material is certainly up her alley. She and writer Mark Boal, who is developing the Bergdahl screenplay, worked on the 2008 Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker about the Iraq war and the Oscar-nominated hit Zero Dark Thirty about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Both films explore the moral gray areas of war, an ongoing fascination for the Oscar-winning director. “I think all wars are a tragedy, and to critique it, you have to look at it. And the best way to look at it is to experience it on the ground with the people fighting it,” Bigelow told Time last year. “You know, I’m anti-war, but I’m pro- the people forced to engage with it.”

Field and Bigelow have very different styles, yet both share an interest in stories that deal with moral and political uncertainty, and they tend to eschew happy endings. It’s possible, even likely, that they’re envisioning two very different films about Bergdahl. Field might be interested in Bergdahl's journey from eager recruit to disillusioned veteran, which is the focus of the Rolling Stone piece. Bigelow and Boal, meanwhile, may be intrigued by his time in captivity, and the political upheaval surrounding his release. Neither has confirmed details about their respective screenplays, so at this point, it’s anyone’s guess.

A more pressing question might be: Why are producers still scrambling to make dramas about soldiers in the Middle East, when audiences aren’t showing much interest in them? With the exception of Zero Dark Thirty, which had the added hook of bin Laden's, few of the past decade’s wartime dramas — The Messenger, Body of Lies, Redacted, Stop-Loss, In the Valley of Elah — have made waves at the box office. Even The Hurt Locker, despite its accolades and cultural impact, was only a modest success in theaters.

At the same time, Homeland, Showtime’s series about an American soldier released from Taliban captivity, proves that there may be an audience for a story like Bergdahl’s. To judge from the Rolling Stone article, he’s a complex character: A childlike idealist who was homeschooled by devout Christian parents in Idaho, took up fencing and ballet as a teenager, and joined the Army in hopes of rebuilding villages in Afghanistan. Bergdahl’s story could be seen as a timeless tale of innocence destroyed, like Full Metal Jacket or All Quiet on the Western Front. Hollywood must believe it has the potential to be the next great war movie — or possibly, the next two great war movies.

Photo credit: AP Photo/U.S. Army