Let bygones be bygones…
What happened almost 10 years ago when Mel Gibson went into a drunken rage against Jews should be forgiven by now.
Not only has the gifted director and actor worked diligently on turning the page from those dark days but has rewarded us with a portrait of humanity that mirrors the state of human insights, flaws, and ultimate forgiveness and redemption.
So much for the sermon.
If you don’t believe that the 2016-17 Oscar season is on than all you need to do is see director Mel Gibson’s new war drama HACKSAW RIDGE opening this weekend.
Here Gibson orchestrates one of World War II’s most gut wrenching stories of courage and patriotism. One which led President Harry Truman to honor the hero of this true story with the ‘Medal of Honor’ for single-handedly saving the lives of some 75 wounded soldiers on the Okinawa battlefield.
The amazing hero is Desmond Doss, a Seventh Day Adventist and Conscientious Objector who believed that World War II was a just cause even though killing was not.
Hence he became a medic, making him the only American soldier to serve on the front lines without a weapon and saving some 75 lives.
Of course getting to his eventual glory days was no cakewalk as he was taunted by his fellow G.I’s and officers all along the way. They just didn’t see it his way.
Playing the part of Desmond Doss is British actor Andrew Garfield probably best known for his starring role in 2012’s THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN—and now with a good shot at a ‘Best Actor’ nomination.
He is surrounded in the film by Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington and Teresa Palmer among many others. All contributing mightily to this incredible war is hell story.
It’s by far the best war movie since SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.
So just a fair warning!
The battlefield sequences here not only equal, but often exceed those in Steven Spielberg’s 1998 war classic.
Think of HACKSAW RIDGE as a two-act play.
The first being the backstory setting up the why’s of Doss’ early life.
How things happened to turn this kid into the man he ultimately became.
Act two then makes us part of the battle of Okinawa. From basic training through some of the most gut wrenching recreations of what war is REALLY like ever presented on the big screen.
Conscientious Objector: Maybe.
However Doss was more than that.
He was a Conscientious Cooperator!
Actual newsreel footage of President Truman’s honors to Doss finish out the movie, followed by interview footage with the real war hero who passed away about 10 years ago.
Mel Gibson deserves a Best Director nomination. Let’s hope that members of the Academy have become a forgiving bunch.
As for an inclusion in this year’s Best Picture lineup, that’s not out of the question.
If the story of HACKSAW RIDGE didn’t really happen one could sneer at it in typical Hollywood disbelief.
But it DID happen.
And when the order came to retreat—ONE MAN STAYED.
My grade: A-
I thought Andrew Garfield was terrific in ’99 Homes’ which nobody saw. Also liked him a lot in ‘The Social Network,’
Mel is right up there with Clint Eastwood on directing one of the great ones of our time.