Hacksaw Ridge
02/02/17 Filed in: Cinema
This week's film at the cinema was Hacksaw Ridge. I hadn't researched it beforehand and must say that I was pleasantly surprised.
It's a film of two parts. The first charts the early life of Desmond Doss, a country lad from Virginia who learns a salutary lesson early in life when he nearly kills his brother in a fight. This episode, along with the influence of his religious mother, and his Seventh-Day Adventist religion, reinforces in him the commandment that states, 'Thou shalt not kill'. When the young men in the town start signing up to fight in World War II, Desmomd feels that he must too. But his religious and conscientious beliefs mean that he does not want to fight. He wants to save lives as a medic. This desire arose from an incident whereby he effectively saves the life of a young man, an event that also leads to him meeting a nurse, Dorothy Shutte, to whom he is instantly attracted. A rather innocent courtship ensues and the couple arrange to be married on Desmond's first leave period from his army training.
And so to the second part of the film, a much darker and hard-hitting affair. The army isn't ready to receive a recruit who is a conscientious objector, who refuses to contemplate killing and who won't even hold a rifle. His superiors set out to make life so uncomfortable for him that he will chose to seek a discharge. But they hadn't reckoned with his resolve, and after a courts martial hearing that unexpectedly fails to convict Desmond, he is free to join the other troops and go to war unarmed.
It's a film of two parts. The first charts the early life of Desmond Doss, a country lad from Virginia who learns a salutary lesson early in life when he nearly kills his brother in a fight. This episode, along with the influence of his religious mother, and his Seventh-Day Adventist religion, reinforces in him the commandment that states, 'Thou shalt not kill'. When the young men in the town start signing up to fight in World War II, Desmomd feels that he must too. But his religious and conscientious beliefs mean that he does not want to fight. He wants to save lives as a medic. This desire arose from an incident whereby he effectively saves the life of a young man, an event that also leads to him meeting a nurse, Dorothy Shutte, to whom he is instantly attracted. A rather innocent courtship ensues and the couple arrange to be married on Desmond's first leave period from his army training.
And so to the second part of the film, a much darker and hard-hitting affair. The army isn't ready to receive a recruit who is a conscientious objector, who refuses to contemplate killing and who won't even hold a rifle. His superiors set out to make life so uncomfortable for him that he will chose to seek a discharge. But they hadn't reckoned with his resolve, and after a courts martial hearing that unexpectedly fails to convict Desmond, he is free to join the other troops and go to war unarmed.
The real gritty part of this film is the portrayal of the assault on the Maeda Escarpment, nicknamed Hacksaw Ridge, during the Battle of Okinawa. The American infantry division scale the escarpment by way of a heavy rope netting after offshore battleships have 'softened up' the Japanese with a prolonged bombardment. The Japanese are, however, well dug in, and offer fierce resistance with many casualties on both sides. The filming is extremely graphic and if you can't handle blood and mutilations I suggest that you give this film a miss. The true hell of 20th century warfare is depicted with frightening realism. After a partially successful assault by the Americans the Japanese regroup and launch an unstoppable counter attack, causing the Americans to retreat and descend the escarpment. But many of their wounded have been left behind, and the Japanese are known not to take prisoners.
While the officers deal with the aftermath of the previous encounter, and decide what their next move should be, Desmond returns to the battle field alone and starts recovering the injured men, carrying or dragging them to the edge of the escarpment and lowering them down one by one. Initially this was under cover of fire from the offshore navy that commenced during the retreat, but when this cover ceases Desmond plays a cat and mouse game with the marauding Japanese troops. In all he rescues over 75 men.
This is a very impressive film on many levels. The story of Desmond Doss is truly inspirational, as is the way in which he went from being the pariah of the company to an exulted individual who, in this version of the story at least, became an inspiration for the men who had once mocked him. The battle scenes rate probably as some of the best ever filmed, and show the true uncensored horrors of modern warfare. The film is directed by Mel Gibson, and I couldn't help but make comparisons with Braveheart, which also depicted epic battles from a different period in history, but equally terrifying.
Andrew Garfield as Desmond Doss has been OSCAR nominated, and rightly so. The film has in fact six nominations, including Best Film and Best Director. The rest of the cast are equally impressive and stunt team deserve special praise for the battle scenes that push realism to the limit.
While the officers deal with the aftermath of the previous encounter, and decide what their next move should be, Desmond returns to the battle field alone and starts recovering the injured men, carrying or dragging them to the edge of the escarpment and lowering them down one by one. Initially this was under cover of fire from the offshore navy that commenced during the retreat, but when this cover ceases Desmond plays a cat and mouse game with the marauding Japanese troops. In all he rescues over 75 men.
This is a very impressive film on many levels. The story of Desmond Doss is truly inspirational, as is the way in which he went from being the pariah of the company to an exulted individual who, in this version of the story at least, became an inspiration for the men who had once mocked him. The battle scenes rate probably as some of the best ever filmed, and show the true uncensored horrors of modern warfare. The film is directed by Mel Gibson, and I couldn't help but make comparisons with Braveheart, which also depicted epic battles from a different period in history, but equally terrifying.
Andrew Garfield as Desmond Doss has been OSCAR nominated, and rightly so. The film has in fact six nominations, including Best Film and Best Director. The rest of the cast are equally impressive and stunt team deserve special praise for the battle scenes that push realism to the limit.