Sahara: If It Has To Do Something With US History

Director Breck Eisner
Writer Clive Cussler (novel)
Screenplay James V. Hart and Others
Release date April 8, 2005
Running time 124 min.

Isn't it interesting how history travels through geography?

American Civil War era ironclad ship CSS Texas crossed Atlantic, reaching Africa traveled unto the Niger River, finally got buried in the deserts of Mali. To some reviewers it is "A mindless adventure flick with a preposterous plot". Some asks, "How many leaps of logic do you allow an action movie before that thin strand of suspended disbelief snaps?" Valid question no doubt. But, sorry to remind you of Coleridge, still this suspension of disbelief doesn't depend on the movie-makers but on the will of the audience.

I find it interesting. CSS Texas was a part of confederate navy, which was fighting against the Union. Naturally it was fighting against anti-slavery. And the historical irony is (within the 'truth' of the film) – Drik Pitt and his Co. used this very ship against the neo-colonial machinery, which depends on cheap industrial slaves to run. That is the point I enjoyed the film. However, it is true that African Slaves needed yet another White liberator according to the stereotype colonial narrative. A reviewer writes, "It's a little hard to have silly fun when you are constantly being reminded that Hotel Rwanda and similar stories have been playing out down the road." Even then, the film has touched upon (though not seriously enough) sensitive geo-political issues like environmental disaster, power crisis, proliferation of mass-destructive arms among African warlords. Mali, where the climax takes place, has been exploited by the French for long and it is one of the poorest countries of the world. And even after, its independence, we see a French Solar Power Company making profit out of it and involving in internal politics. That can be considered as a critique of Neo-colonial expansion into Sub Saharan Africa. The film also criticizes American bureaucracy. So, it has an anti-neo-colonial, thus an anti-US stand. To our friend Monami, this is the very reason why it is marked one of the biggest financial flops in Hollywood history.

PS: According to the novel as well as some historians, CSS Texas was the ship where Abraham Lincoln was kidnapped and taken prisoner. Suggesting, some other, not he, was assassinated, and he died in the hands of confederates