Changing perspectives: Three Kings
The movie shows that change of perspective usually comes with an increase in knowledge regarding certain situations.
- The group of four Americans (Archie Gates, Troy Barlow, Chief Elgin and Conrad Vici) initially perceived their mission consisted of stealing Kuwaiti gold bullion from Saddam’s bunker in Kabala and enriching themselves in the process. However, in the process of searching for and stealing the $US23 million worth of gold, the group witnessed innocent people being starved, tortured, abused and executed by Saddam’s soldiers. The group realised the American Army’s ideal of “liberating Kuwait” has not in fact being achieved, even though the war that was “fought for the peoples’ liberation” had been won. The group’s encounter with the desperate civilians helps them to realise that the Army is not going back to “help the people” and that in fact, they are effectively the only ones left who can offer some help. This increase in knowledge shifts their perception of their original mission and they gradually work towards a new goal: to help the innocent civilians escape the horrors of the “newly-liberated Kuwait”. They do so by first sharing their stolen treasure, giving each family a bar of gold to begin a new life. They also act in violation of Army policy by accompanying the civilians to the Iranian border, and ultimately, they sacrifice their share of the stolen gold in order to guarantee a passage for the civilians into Iran.
