Starring Gerard Butler, Is ‘Kandahar’ Based on a True Story?

The film is loosely based on the experiences of a former military intelligence officer-turned-screenwriter.

THE BIG PICTURE

Kandahar is an action thriller based on a true story, giving audiences a chilling glimpse into the realities of life on the frontlines of war.
The film provides a unique perspective by showcasing all sides of the conflict, including American soldiers, Iranian and Pakistani intelligence officers, and the Taliban.
Director Ric Roman Waugh captures the awe-inspiring landscapes of the Middle East, showcasing the region’s beauty and immersing viewers in the setting.

The presence of American soldiers in Afghanistan inspired some of the most poignant and thought-provoking films on war.

From the demonstration of solidarity by soldiers defending a remote army base deep in Afghanistan in The Outpost to the harrowing Lone Survivor depicting the brutality of war and the unwavering desire to survive among those involved, these films provide a chilling glimpse into the realities of life on the frontlines.

Kandahar is an action thriller directed by former stuntman-turned-writer, producer, and director Ric Roman Waugh that revolves around a partnership for survival between a CIA agent and an Afghan interpreter during their service.

Starring Gerard Butler, Kandahar is loosely based on a true story of events as penned by former military intelligence officer Mitchell LaFortune. LaFortune originally wrote a spec script titled “Burn Run” based on his experiences in Afghanistan, which was then acquired by Thunder Road Pictures and formed the basis for Kandahar‘s plot.

Kandahar

A CIA operative and his translator flee from special forces in Afghanistan after exposing a covert mission.

Release DateMay 26, 2023

Director: Ric Roman Waugh

Cast: Gerard Butler, Navid Negahban, Ali Fazal, Nina Toussaint-White

Rating: R

Runtime: 119 minutes

Genres: Thriller, Action

What Is ‘Kandahar’ About?

Kandahar delves into the complex and often treacherous world of espionage, where trust is a fragile commodity and loyalty can be tested at every turn. The film is the story of CIA agent Tom Harris (Butler) and his translator, Mohammad “Mo” Doud (Navid Negahban).

The two link up when Tom is assigned another delicate mission after successfully installing malware into the Iranian nuclear plant, causing it to implode. At first, Tom is hesitant to take up the responsibility.

He has a daughter he has failed many times because of his work addiction, who expects him to be there for her graduation, and his bitter wife is leaving him for those very reasons of workaholism.

But when his handler on the mission, Roman Chalmers (Travis Fimmel), tells him how much he would be paid for the new mission — enough to afford his daughter’s wish of a medical career — he decides to take it up, believing he can finish the assignment in time and make it for her graduation.

But things go awry when a Pentagon insider leaks the CIA’s previous covert flattening of Iran’s nuclear plant, which went contrary to the U.S. public policy of no boots on the ground.

With relentless pursuers hot on their heels and insurmountable challenges, Tom and Mo must find a way to Kandahar, an extraction point in Afghanistan, and ultimately get out of the country.

‘Kandahar’ Is Based on Screenwriter Mitchell LaFortune’s Former Military Experiences

Serving as an intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency during his deployment to Afghanistan, Mitchell LaFortune never anticipated leaving with a screenplay inspired by his experiences.

With “Burn Run,” which became Kandahar, LaFortune essentially put his “Afghanistan wartime memoir” on screen. As quoted by Writing Studio, LaFortune says, “The inspiration came from the last two deployments I did in western Afghanistan, near the Iran border, operating primarily out of Herat Province, where most of Kandahar takes place.”

LaFortune built the characters in Kandahar from an assortment of experiences of various people he met during his service.

Tom’s character, for instance, draws from many intelligence officers. Some were divorced because of their deployment to missions away from home. Some were struggling to have healthy relationships with their children, while many just yearned to return home.

“But they’re complicated people; I saw a lot of relationships get shattered because of never-ending deployments to the Middle East. People were separated from their family and friends for such a significant amount of time,” LaFortune observes characters like Tom who are motivated by patriotism and a belief in something greater than themselves.

Kandahar‘s Tom, while a fictional character, benefits from this cocktail of LaFortune’s experiences. “Tom Harris is a combination of a bunch of people that I ran into during my time in the military and at the Defense Intelligence Agency,” LaFortune is quoted saying. The same is true of the other characters in the film.

However, LaFortune reveals that he drew inspiration for Negahban’s Mo from a real-life person he encountered during his mission. He explains, “But Mo is based on a real person.

He was a translator that I worked extensively with, in 2011 and 2013. He was a man I wanted to write something great for.” And it is easy to see the depth of the characters in Kandahar, showcasing a human side rarely depicted in action films on war.

Possibly the reason Kandahar, which delves so much into the human side, is so different as an action flick and feels more like a documentary.

But director Ric Roman Waugh disagrees. While the characters and some elements of the story are based on real people and true events in some way or another, he is adamant that the film is not a documentary.

In an interview with FOX 7 Austin, he asserts that his intention was not to document history or to foster consciousness, but rather to entertain. He adds that if the film inadvertently sparks positive change, he would welcome it, but that was not the primary objective.

On whether the events in the film happened in real life, Ric Roman Waugh says while they are based on true events, he cannot speak at length about them due to their sensitivity and for the safety of those involved.

From stunt work on movies like ‘True Romance’ & ‘Total Recall’ to his passion for storytelling through action-packed epics, Waugh breaks it all down.

‘Kandahar’ Offers an Authentic Spectacle and a Rare Voice to All Sides of the Conflict

To faithfully portray the intricacies of the Middle East conflict, Kandahar presents a unique perspective from each of the opposing sides. The film grants audiences an intimate glimpse into the lives of those entangled in the conflict, including those often labeled as antagonists. It portrays all the parties as “just someone doing their job.”

Unlike many war films which tend to be one-sided, Kandahar immerses viewers in the lives of American, Iranian, and Pakistani intelligence officers, as well as the Taliban, and individuals like Mo and his family who bear the brunt of the endless conflict.

Reminiscent in part of Guy Ritchie‘s The Covenant which gave similar rare perspectives, in Kandahar, we see the Iranian officer’s wife calling her husband and looking forward to having dinner with him. We experience ISI agent Kahil Nasir’s (Ali Fazal) desire to leave his job in the desert terrain for a modern life in Europe.

We understand the motivation of the warlord who betrayed Tom by taking advantage of the chaos to earn a living for himself — he is not loyal to anyone. Terming the film “Sicario in the Middle East” in the interview with Fox, Ric Roman Waugh says the intention was to show the human cost of war.

Echoing the footsteps of the Academy Award-sweeping Lawrence of Arabia, Kandahar masterfully captures the awe-inspiring desert-mountain landscapes of the Middle East (the film was shot in Saudi Arabia).

Ric Roman Waugh skillfully exploits the location to showcase the region’s vastness and visual splendor. In an interview with Salon, Ric Roman Waugh says, “It started with my first mandate. I’m not going to make this look dirty, dusty, and desaturated.

I wanted to show the beauty of the region.” The low-visibility night scene of the hawk-like aircraft attempting to pick on Tom and Mo is surreal, and so are other outdoor sequences, including the wilderness chase between Nasir’s motorbike and Tom’s pickup truck.

This choice of location is both refreshing and authentic, immersing viewers in the film’s setting.

While Kandahar is not the thriller you would expect, it is a story based on true events and real people. It is not a hero-antihero film either, but one that shows that we are all heroes in our own stories.

By highlighting the human side of war rather than the traditional action-packed theme, Kandahar subverts how films about war are told.

But even more remarkable is that a military man reported for work in a faraway country, observed what was taking place, and decided that he would write it into a script that would get to the silver screen. And it did.