Date: 2017
Director: Mel Gibson
Actors/ Characters: Andrew Garfield/ Desmond Doss, Hugo Weaving/ Tom Doss, Teresa Palmer/ Dorothy Schutte, Vince Vaughn/ Sgt Howell
Summary: WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people, and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honour without firing a shot.
Review
This is the first war film I have seen in a long time and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I didn't watch Hacksaw Ridge so much for the epic battle sequences as for the uplifting, incredible true story that it is based on. I think this film is deserving of the two academy awards it won for editing and sound design as both these elements shone through throughout the course of the film.
The film opens up by throwing you straight into the hell of war, Gibson cleverly started the exposition off with shots from the battlefield- which were excellently shot if I may say so. Straight away the cinematography impressed me, the shots were creative and stunning to watch and placed you into the film rather than watching it from a bystander point of view. It was the battle scenes in particular for me that the cinematography was especially breath taking, the shots aided the sense of horror and gore that would have been felt by the soldiers and I thought that the camera work was a real strength in this movie.
It was the synopsis of this film that made me want to watch it in the first place- I love films that focus on real life events and real people's stories. Hacksaw Ridge is not a film about war as such but a film about the strength of one man's will and beliefs and how he summons the courage and bravery to perform a miraculous act that most men could not. I sat in my chair in the darkened cinema stunned at the story I was watching because until you watch this film the gravity of what Desmond Doss accomplished cannot be fathomed unless you see it with your own eyes. He saved 75 men from a deserted battlefield by himself and I am so happy that his story has been told.
Andrew Garfield executed his performance as Desmond brilliantly. I feel like this role has really opened up Garfield's career along with Martin Scorsese's Silence and I hope he continues to play increasingly challenging roles in the future because I really enjoy his acting. The development in his performance from the beginning of the film where he played a slightly awkward, charming young man to the conflicted solider fighting for what he believed to be right and moral then to the traumatised, exhausted man praying he can save "one more" man, we see in the film's climax was truly stunning to watch. I loved the scenes he did with Hugo Weaving would played his father and also the onscreen moments with Nico Cortez who played Wal Kirzinski.
Hugo Weaving's performance was also excellent in this film. Every scene he was in I really enjoyed and his acting was heartfelt and deeply moving particularly the dinner flashback scene in which Hal Doss (Desmond's brother) reveals he leaving to fight and Tom has a breakdown at the dinner table. Regardless of Tom's alcoholism and violent outbursts I felt deep sympathy for his character because he exemplified the toll war takes on the men that fight in it.
The character relationships between the soldiers was also really enjoyable to watch. The army barrack moments early in the film when Desmond is still training provided a nice comic relief before the horror that was going to unfold later in the film. The majority of the humour was delivered by Vince Vaughan- who I think did an excellent job in his role as Sergeant Howell- who is of course a comedic actor, it was really nice to see him play a different sort of role in this film. It was really rewarding in the film's ending seeing the respect and pride the men felt towards Desmond following the abuse and distaste they showed him earlier on. I felt myself getting emotional in the moment when Desmond comes down from Hacksaw Ridge after saving 75 men clearly in a state of PTSD and the men all comfort and reassure him, it was an effective moment in showing the change of mind.
As I said earlier, I think the film was deserving of its academy award for sound design. The soundscapes during the battle sequences exaggerated the horror and violence and watching it at the cinema was shocking because the heightened sound was so intense the whole room shuddered. One complaint I do have with the sound design though is I felt that Gibson overused the muffled voice effect, I liked the use of this sound but it was slightly too overdramatic for me and was almost humorous in some instances.
There were a few moments in this film that I felt didn't match tonally and were slightly overdramatised. For example after Desmond performs the miracle at Hacksaw Ridge we cut to a slow motion shot of him showering in a fountain of some sort- he is depicted as somewhat angelic and for me it was too great a tonal change. Another moment I found comical was the 'meet-cute' that Desmond and Dorothy have- Desmond sees his 'true love' across a hospital room and just has to meet her. I felt this was too forced and cliche for their initial meeting. Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed Dorothy and Desmond's romance pan out but their meet cute was just too forced for me.
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