The events surrounding the 2012 deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, have been investigated, debated criticized and politicized.
Now Hollywood is weighing in, courtesy of Michael Bay — the director of four “Transformers” movies and current standard-bearer of big-budget action cinema.
His new film — “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” opening in theaters Jan. 15 — explores the battle involving half a dozen CIA contractors tasked with protecting U.S. compounds, and the paramilitary groups that attacked them on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The fact that he was walking into delicate territory was not lost on Bay. “My mother said, ”Don”t do this movie — they”ll rake you over the coals,”” recalls the filmmaker in an interview. “She thought it was too political a story. And I told her, ”It”s not political. It”s a story of Americans who became heroes.””
“13 Hours” focuses tightly on what happened on the ground — according to Bay and several writer-researchers — when the U.S. diplomatic outpost was attacked, and a small group of security contractors took up arms to defend it.
Among the film”s core themes is the selflessness of the fighters, many of whom were near the end of their tours and had to beg their CIA boss to let them put their lives on the line.
Though Bay and cast members say finger-pointing was far from their minds, some viewers will likely consider the film as a broadside against President Obama”s administration and then-secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
One of those who died in the attack was J. Christopher Stevens, the United States Ambassador to Libya.
“We”d be naive if we didn”t think this would be politicized,” says John Krasinski, who plays one of the CIA contractors, a still-anonymous former Navy SEAL who goes by the name Jack Silva. “Look at ”American Sniper” and what a Rorschach test it became. You can take any piece of art to support your side. But for the guys on the ground, there was no politics. … They got the call, and they went.”
According to Chuck Hogan”s script and the Mitchell Zuckoff bestseller on which it”s based, the events unfolded like this:
In September 2012, men drawn from a pool of retired SEALs, Marines and Army Rangers were stationed at a CIA facility in Benghazi, serving as part of the Global Response Staff (GRS).
All in their 30s or 40s, they included Silva, Mark “Oz” Geist, Kris “Tanto” Paronto, John “Tig” Tiegen, David “D.B.” Benton and Tyrone “Rone” Woods — who enjoyed an easy camaraderie with one another, but not with the CIA station chief, whom they call “Bob.”
In the film, Bob and other CIA personnel see the GRS as hired muscle; it, in turn, sees Bob and the agency personnel as naive and ungrateful.
While the six GRS members were stationed at the CIA annex, Ambassador Stevens visited an American diplomatic outpost about a mile away. When Islamic militants attacked that outpost, the GRS personnel wanted to answer the distress call. But Bob, citing a lack of jurisdiction, delayed them for nearly 25 minutes. At that point, the GRS men disregarded his command and went anyway. (This controversial stand-down order was refuted in a House Intelligence Committee investigation.)
The GRS team arrived to find the compound burning, with Stevens and others likely dead. They soon returned to the CIA facility, which was attacked a few hours later, leading to a fierce rooftop gun battle.
As portrayed in the film, the GRS fighters saved the lives of several dozen Americans inside, during a battle in which Rone was killed and Oz badly wounded Oz. There was no involvement of the U.S. military throughout the 13-hour period of the fighting.
In an interview in Manhattan, the real-life Oz, Tig and Tanto recalled their most vivid memories from the battle.
“I remember the shooting and the ringing in my ear, blowing my eardrum out,” said Oz (played by Max Martini in the film), “and how loud and bright those damn mortars were, like looking into the sun.”
Tig (played by Dominic Fumusa) added, “I remember the heat and smoke inside the villa….”
Tanto (Pablo Schreiber), said, “I remember the colors, the fire, because there”s no such thing as a fog of war. That”s a political term.”
All three, who were on the film”s set in Malta during its shoot, are haunted by the deaths of Rone and Glen “Bub” Doherty, a Tripoli GRS member who arrived later.
In the wake of these death aand their frustration with what they saw as a lack of support that night, Tig, Oz and Tanto decided to go public with their stories. (Silva and Benton did not; and their identities remain secret.)
Bay, for his part, wanted to bring attention to the stories of those who went public. He says, “How is it possible that, even people who pay close attention to the news like I do, only know maybe 10 percent of the story of what happened on the ground?”
Maybe because the events have been overshadowed by politics. The charges and counter-charges continued deep into 2015, with contention between Clinton and the Bengazi select hearing led by Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina.
Though the the “13 Hours” filmmakers were saying say they hoped to cut through the partisan sniping, their movie has become a part of it.
Fox News pundit Megyn Kelly recently noted that the release of “13 Hours” and the reintroduction of Benghazi as a potential campaign issue could not “be helpful to Mrs. Clinton.”
And the progressive group Media Matters labeled the film a desperate weapon in Fox”s anti-Clinton campaign, adding: “After their much-hyped Benghazi select committee fizzled, they”ve now pinned their hopes on the director of ”The Rock.””
Bay says he combed through thousands of pages of manuscripts and met with numerous military and ex-military contacts to arrive at the version of events presented in the film, including the absence of a U.S. military response throughout the battle.
“It”s the pink elephant hanging over this,” says the filmmaker. “How could this happen? Aren”t we better than this? … They”re watching from a drone, and they”re seeing everything, and they”re not coming? Something is afoul.”
Bay and Krasinski were among the “13 Hours” principals on hand Tuesday night at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas for the world premiere of “13 Hours.”
Krasinsky says, “Whatever your politics are, I think there”s a little bit of forgetting what it means to be an American — the sacrifice and the duty. I hope this movie can help bring that back.”
