Matt Damon shed 40 pounds in order to appear for the present day specialist Illario in this movie. During his interview in the show “Inside the Actor’s Studio”, he mentioned that he was terribly disappointed when no one noticed his performance in it. Thankfully after “Good Will Hunting” Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Copolla got him to do “Saving Private Ryan” and “The Rainmaker” respectively. When the story circles on the events even the central character of Lieutenant Colonel Serling’s (Denzel Washington) gets missed sometimes. And missing Matt Damon is something which did not surprise me. He did his supporting role to perfection but the film moves beyond performance. The style of narration and the importance of key facts out of war becomes the priority.
The film takes the old school “Rashomon” technique. The difference though is that the event depicted happens in a 1991 Gulf War. We get three versions. The investigation by Serling is to award the Medal of Honor (posthumously) for Captain Karen Emma Walden (Meg Ryan) who will be the first woman to get it.
Serling is trying to recover from his own guilt. He cannot live upon a normal life with his family after the terrible incident he encountered in the War. More than that, it is the cover up by the Army to protect its reputation tortures and haunts him. Having lost his friend and a good soldier, he not only lied to the parents but to himself. He sees the investigation as an opportunity to revive the truth he has hidden. He drinks too much and does not open up to his wife Meredith (Regina Taylor). She understands him though mentions that she cannot wait too long. Added to that is the pressure from the White House and his command officer Brigadier General Hershberg (Michael Moriarty) to finish up this as soon as possible and in anyways possible. They rush to give people some thing to see the Army’s success and recognition.
Director Edward Zwick takes the technique used by Kurosawa and puts in some more elements. Elements of conscience, truth and bravery. Bravery – how does it look on paper and in reality? War is a calamity and lives are lost. The way it is lost in bravery is the only good thing the loved ones hopes to hear. They want to know that their son or daughter died bravely. When lives are lost in hundreds and thousands, the details are mishandled and fudged to make it easy to digest and move on. Zwick with the underplayed performances of every actor takes the narration and story telling as essential ingredient.
When the initial investigation is dictated to Serling by the other chopper who were down, everything seems straight forward. Serling thinks so too but the inconsistencies in the minor detail of two people involved in the incident ticks him to dig more. Quite contrastingly in this investigation, even we do not want further perusal of information. With the stories heard, we make up our mind to give some hope to the daughter of the deceased and make her proud. Serling burned consistently by his conscience stands by his ground to know the truth. He does not want one another foul play by the army. His life is army and his wife reminds him that his family is his life too.
There is an offhand tendency when war happens. It is not unusual for the loss of lives as many would see it. Is it negligible the way they die since it is war? The post war situational executives look upon good colourful dramatic results as that of truth. The movie essentially brings in doubts and questions over the plausibility of accidents turning into incidents. But is it worth while to explain that one soldier’s life went in misfortunate accident than in enemy hands? May be not, but how does one feel when the truth leaks out from the fissures of lies? When Serling meets the parents of his friend Boylar (Tim Ransom), the closure is in finding terms through the living. There will be moving on not forgetting the deceased soul but through it.
With every possibility to have this script been mishandled into an overdone emotional drama, Zwick peppers the detective noir curiosity with the inner struggle and politics in the Army. We see different dimensions and perspectives on the personalities of Captain Walden. In one she is a brave Captain in control and in command. In another, she is completely lost and wants to be alive even thinking about an option to surrender. And finally we see another face too showing veracity of the happenings. This is the technique of Kurosawa. Human’s inability to enact the most truthful event even to them.
The film takes the old school “Rashomon” technique. The difference though is that the event depicted happens in a 1991 Gulf War. We get three versions. The investigation by Serling is to award the Medal of Honor (posthumously) for Captain Karen Emma Walden (Meg Ryan) who will be the first woman to get it.
Serling is trying to recover from his own guilt. He cannot live upon a normal life with his family after the terrible incident he encountered in the War. More than that, it is the cover up by the Army to protect its reputation tortures and haunts him. Having lost his friend and a good soldier, he not only lied to the parents but to himself. He sees the investigation as an opportunity to revive the truth he has hidden. He drinks too much and does not open up to his wife Meredith (Regina Taylor). She understands him though mentions that she cannot wait too long. Added to that is the pressure from the White House and his command officer Brigadier General Hershberg (Michael Moriarty) to finish up this as soon as possible and in anyways possible. They rush to give people some thing to see the Army’s success and recognition.
Director Edward Zwick takes the technique used by Kurosawa and puts in some more elements. Elements of conscience, truth and bravery. Bravery – how does it look on paper and in reality? War is a calamity and lives are lost. The way it is lost in bravery is the only good thing the loved ones hopes to hear. They want to know that their son or daughter died bravely. When lives are lost in hundreds and thousands, the details are mishandled and fudged to make it easy to digest and move on. Zwick with the underplayed performances of every actor takes the narration and story telling as essential ingredient.
When the initial investigation is dictated to Serling by the other chopper who were down, everything seems straight forward. Serling thinks so too but the inconsistencies in the minor detail of two people involved in the incident ticks him to dig more. Quite contrastingly in this investigation, even we do not want further perusal of information. With the stories heard, we make up our mind to give some hope to the daughter of the deceased and make her proud. Serling burned consistently by his conscience stands by his ground to know the truth. He does not want one another foul play by the army. His life is army and his wife reminds him that his family is his life too.
There is an offhand tendency when war happens. It is not unusual for the loss of lives as many would see it. Is it negligible the way they die since it is war? The post war situational executives look upon good colourful dramatic results as that of truth. The movie essentially brings in doubts and questions over the plausibility of accidents turning into incidents. But is it worth while to explain that one soldier’s life went in misfortunate accident than in enemy hands? May be not, but how does one feel when the truth leaks out from the fissures of lies? When Serling meets the parents of his friend Boylar (Tim Ransom), the closure is in finding terms through the living. There will be moving on not forgetting the deceased soul but through it.
With every possibility to have this script been mishandled into an overdone emotional drama, Zwick peppers the detective noir curiosity with the inner struggle and politics in the Army. We see different dimensions and perspectives on the personalities of Captain Walden. In one she is a brave Captain in control and in command. In another, she is completely lost and wants to be alive even thinking about an option to surrender. And finally we see another face too showing veracity of the happenings. This is the technique of Kurosawa. Human’s inability to enact the most truthful event even to them.
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