The original Kurasawa epic, The Seven Samurai, is a taut film about seven ronin who agree to help defend a poor farming village from bandits. It espouses the complexities of warfare and makes no little attempt to be vainglorious about the realities of battle. Both aspects have been carried over to Rubicon, allowing it to pay homage to the original that inspired it, but to also enable the creators to impart the realities of operating in Afghanistan.
That said, Rubicon never addresses the causes for the SEALs presence in Afghanistan. Given that US forces have been there for over 10 years at this point in time, taking it as given is forgivable, as it’s difficult for many to remember a time when US and ISAF soldiers were not on the ground. That lack of compunction by all parties to seek peace in the story could by some be construed as alternatively lazy writing, glorifying battle or a sign of how little humanity has developed since the 16th century when the Seven Samurai was set. We know in picking up this book that the battles will not be pretty and no one will be left without scars.
Mario Stilla’s art is beautiful and does justice to the sublime nature of Afghanistan and Central Asia. The inclusion of a tower similar to the Minaret of Jam was a particularly nice touch, given how rugged and lawless the land is portrayed – it still contains its secrets and histories of peoples past. There are purportedly a number of them throughout Central Asia and Afghanistan, the travelogue, The Places in Between by Rory Stewart gives an account of finding one such tower while trekking across Afghanistan. There is a splendor to the country that is conveyed by the sublime work of Stilla that belies the intrinsic violence of the story, yet the danger the land poses is never encountered.
Rubicon is so named for the English idiom “crossing the Rubicon,” which refers to passing the point of no return – making that decision that cannot be changed, that choice to pursue violence. The characters are presented with that very clear point and wade through the murky river of consequences without looking back. They’re soldiers after all and are never presented as knowing of or considering any other option.
Coming in at only 128 pages leaves Rubicon feeling short. Given more pages the characters could have been more developed, and the story could explore the causes or consequences of the choice to fight. At the same time, holding true to the Seven Samurai keeps the story short and about the fight itself with the real consequences of any battle being borne by those who fought. Sadly, none of the secondary characters are ever developed enough to make them likeable or to justify the SEALs intervention in their lives.
Ending on the same note as the Seven Samurai is a nice touch. However, it speaks more to the Kurasawa’s understanding of the nature of conflict than Long and co.’s own conceptualization. Given more pages they may have been able to provide more thoughts or insights into such a choice on the SEALs part, especially since they did have Dan Capel on the team, who is a founding member of SEAL Team Six. That said, Rubicon is a wonderful modern retelling that is well worth the read.
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Review by: Gregory Pellechi
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