Hacksaw Ridge is
the first film Mel Gibson has directed in ten years. It
also appears to be the first film acceptable to the movie establishment under
his direction since Braveheart appeared
in 1995.
That’s probably because if the film elite can get past Gibson’s
religious peculiarities, they realize this is a fairly conventional war movie. It’s surprisingly tame for a Mel Gibson film. Gibson only takes on the director role in
this instance – unlike The Passion of the
Christ and Apocalypto, films
Gibson directed and produced. No current
Hollywood producer wanted to handle those two other films.
Hacksaw Ridge
tells the story of Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), the only conscientious
objector in U.S. military history to receive the Congressional Medal of
Honor. If we are to believe the film, he
undoubtedly deserved the medal as Desmond rescued over 75 American soldiers on
the island of Okinawa. He did this in
spite of the criticism he received, and in spite of the fact he faced a
court-martial hearing.
Desmond came from a family of Seventh-Day Adventists. Desmond’s own father (Hugo Weaving) served in
World War I – such an experience possibly being the reason for why his father
drank so heavily. Yet despite his father’s
opposition, Desmond makes the strange choice of enlisting during World War II
as a medic. Engaged to be married to
Dorothy (Teresa Palmer), from any outsider’s perspective Desmond’s choice to
join the military seems only like a throwing away of his life.
Desmond does not receive a warm welcome from either his
sergeant (Vince Vaughn) or captain of the unit (Sam Worthington). The other soldiers in his unit make life hell
for him as well. But Desmond does not
break. Even facing a court-martial
hearing for refusing to pick up a gun during a drill does not prevent him from
living by his principles.
Coincidentally, it is his father that saves Desmond from a court-martial
by asking his old friend from World War I, now a general, to intervene on
Desmond’s behalf.
It is at Okinawa where Desmond’s principles face their
greatest test. On Okinawa is a large
cliff know as Hacksaw Ridge. The
Japanese control Hacksaw Ridge, having dug a series of tunnels beneath the
summit to hide. Yet the American
soldiers are able to scale the wall and take the attack to the enemy. However, the casualty rate in doing so
appears high. Mysteriously, however,
many of the wounded soldiers are lowered down through the series of ropes for
safety. Only well into the battle is the
mystery resolved. It is Desmond who continues
to rescue man after man. Wounded
himself, the other soldiers lower Desmond down in the same manner so he can
receive medical treatment.
The casting for the supporting actors is effective. Garfield as the lead plays his role well, but
he doesn’t get much opportunity to demonstrate any great range regarding his
acting ability.
Desmond is the Christ figure in the film – not so very different
from other war films. We see no flaws in
his character. And though this film is violent,
this is certainly no more violent than other war films we have seen over the
past thirty years. The merits of this
film come about due to such a remarkable story based upon real events. And, unlike so many other war films trying to
deliver a message, Gibson tells this story in a fairly straightforward (though
not particularly controversial) manner. Hacksaw
Ridge is 139 minutes long – just about the right amount of time to cover
the subject.
April 30, 2017
© Robert S. Miller 2017
