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The film “Hacksaw Ridge,” which tells the story of a pacifist who was awarded the Medal of Honor without firing a shot, is a shambles. It makes a mockery of its unequivocally stated moral code by reveling in the very bloodlust that it is supposed to condemn. However, it is also one of the few original action films released in the last decade, as well as one of the few studio releases this year that could be genuinely described as a religious film. “Braveheart,” “The Passion of the Christ,” and “Apocalypto” are among the films directed by Mel Gibson, who first gained international attention for his R-rated action films and then established himself as the true heir to Sam Peckinpah by directing a series of breathtakingly violent films with strong spiritual undertones, such as “The Passion of the Christ.” The film “Hacksaw Ridge,” as has become customary for Gibson, draws on both his bottomless thirst for mayhem and his sincerely held religious beliefs—or at least some of them. It’s a film that’s at odds with itself.
The first half of the film depicts the childhood and adolescence of the film’s hero, Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield), a Seventh-day Adventist who later became a United States Army corporal. Set in the 1920s and 1930s in the Virginia hill country, the film is shot in the creamy tones of a Norman Rockwell painting and is filled with earnest, Old Hollywood-styled exchanges about violence and pacifism between characters. The second half of the film takes place during the Battle of Okinawa, during which Doss, who identified himself as a “conscientious collaborator” rather than an objector, was responsible for the rescue of 75 fellow infantrymen who had been injured by the Japanese. It feels like an attempt to one-up the D-Day sequence in “Saving Private Ryan,” and if you judged the film solely on its bloody, explosive nastiness, you’d have to declare “Hacksaw While the hero’s anguish and ingenuity are highlighted throughout the battle, the rending, burning, and perforating of flesh receives almost as much attention. In the climax of “Saving Private Ryan,” Gibson shows soldiers improvising homemade grenades out of mortar shells, shifts into glorious slow-motion to show soldiers kicking an enemy’s thrown grenade away, and treats us to the surreal and inappropriately comic sight of Doss towing a paraplegic infantryman on a homemade sled while the man slaughters bushels of Japanese soldiers with a submachine gun.
To me, this appears to be a violation of the spirit of Doss’ moral code, if not the letter of the law. However, the first half of the film, which channels the majestic squareness of a John Ford family drama, is also strange. While the film is primarily about myth-making with a dash of self-help and Scripture thrown in for good measure, Gibson keeps trying to spice things up with violence or the threat of violence even when the scenes don’t seem to call for it. Familiar movie scenes, such as Doss going on a date with his future wife Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Palmer), are interrupted by horror movie-style jump scares or fused with bits of black comic suspense (we already know that someone is going to be maimed by the knife that a soldier is brandishing when Doss enters the barracks; the only questions are who and when). This is the directorial equivalent of Gibson the actor inserting Three Stooges schtick into otherwise straightforward dialogue scenes—either as a nervous tic or as a compulsion—into otherwise straightforward dialogue scenes. It is much more on-message when there are wide shots of corpses piled up, shots of Doss posing like Christ or lit by heavenly sunlight streaming through windows, and moments when Doss treats enemy soldiers with compassion.
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In spite of all of this, “Hacksaw Ridge” appears to be acutely aware of its inability to depict the horrors of war in a consistently non-thrilling and non-cool manner. There are even moments in the film where it appears as if the filmmakers are embarrassed that they are unable to live up to Doss’ example—particularly when other characters question Doss’ belief that violence is never justified and that there is no real distinction between killing and murder. Other characters’ expressions in these scenes are not ones of contempt, but rather ones of surprise, followed by annoyance, and finally a look of denial. They can sense the truth of what Doss is saying because it resonates with them. The world, on the other hand, is a place ruled by brute force and cruelty, and they are unable to imagine it being anything else. In the novel, the rifles that Doss will not pick up are referred to as “girls, women, and mates,” and “perhaps the only thing in life that you will truly love.” Doss’ sweetness, piety, and chastity stand in stark contrast to the crude sexual language and casual sadism of the other soldiers. Doss’ drill sergeant (Vince Vaughn, who is effectively typecast as a charismatic bully) and other commanding officers are constantly pressuring Doss to pick up a rifle and join the fight. When he refuses, they humiliate him and give their approval for his hazing; his platoon mates refer to him as a “coward” and a “pussy,” respectively. They don’t want to harm or kill Doss; all they want is to keep him out of their sight, perhaps so that they won’t have to second-guess themselves every time they see him in the future.
Hacksaw Ridge Quiz
The fact that Doss is the child of an alcoholic World War I veteran, Tom, should be noted at this point. ” (Hugo Weaving). Doss’ father embodies the film’s own contradictions, which are reflected in the film itself. In the film, he preaches the virtues of nonviolence, rails against the romanticization of war, visits the graves of childhood friends who died at the Battle of Belleau Wood, and expresses opposition to Doss and his older brother Hal (Nathaniel Buzolic) joining the military after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Despite this, he is also self-pitying and easily angered, and he regularly beats his wife Bertha (Rachel Griffiths) and their sons. He is motivated to change and understands why he should. But he is unable to do so.
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Tom Doss’s drinking problem appears to be more than just a biographical footnote in the story. In the script, written by Andrew Knight and playwright Robert Schenkkan (“All the Way”), Tom keeps returning to the same scene over and over again. Rather than a reaction to nearly killing his brother in a childhood fight, the hero’s pacifism appears to be a rejection of his father’s angry brokenness and inability to maintain control over his emotions. Furthermore, like Sam Peckinpah, Gibson has battled alcoholism, as well as bipolar disorder and rage issues. He is also addicted to violence as an artist, which is not unlike Sam Peckinpah’s situation. It treats intoxication with violence, both real and fictional, as a species-wide addiction that is difficult to break in the film’s more contemplative passages. I’d be surprised if a director as attuned to mythic signifiers as Gibson wasn’t at least attempting to explore this idea, albeit in his own bumbling way.
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Unfortunately, the intoxicating high of action-movie awesomeness is a drug that “Hacksaw Ridge” can’t seem to kick. You get the impression that the film is struggling to keep its desire to glorify violence and treat the Japanese as evil hordes at bay. Even in non-war scenes, it can’t seem to keep its hands away from the bottle, and when it does, there’s a wave of embarrassment that follows. One shot of the hero looking shocked or terrified is followed by another shot of the hero looking appalled or terrified, as if to criticize the director’s talents.
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It appears that the film “Hacksaw Ridge” recognizes that its hero is superior to everyone around him, and perhaps even superior to the film that tells his story. In particular, this is evident in the relationship between Doss and fellow infantryman Smitty (Luke Bracey), which is a far more convincing love story than the one between Doss and his ladylove (Kate Hudson). To be sure, Smitty initially despises and torments Doss before eventually coming to respect and even revere him. In many ways, the way Smitty looks at Doss during the battle of Okinawa resembles the way the disciples looked at Jesus in Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”—both as a promise and as a mystery; as a person so strikingly different from others, so fully formed, so serenely and unquestionably good, that he appears more angel than man. Garfield’s performance brings him closer to the audience. It takes a long time before you realize that Doss is a fictional character devoid of neuroses and complications. The darkness appears in him after a while, and because of Garfield’s thoughtful preparation, you begin to suspect that it is there and that it can be overcome.
This film is both inept and beautiful, both stupid and amazing. It is both inept and beautiful. Words and images fail to convey the depth of the experience for the reader. Because of this, discussing the subject is far more interesting than watching the show itself. I’m curious as to what the real Doss, who passed away in 2006, would have thought of the situation.
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