鈥楬acksaw Ridge鈥 cuts to the core
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IS “Hacksaw Ridge” Mel Gibson’s redemption? Is it his atonement, or perhaps his miracle?
These terms have all been bandied about in the run-up to Gibson’s first directorial effort in the 10 years since “Apocalypto.” That movie came out in 2006, only a few months after news broke of Gibson’s drunken anti-Semitic rant, which has plagued his career ever since.
But “Hacksaw Ridge,” the latest contribution to the canon of big World War II films, doesn’t need any redemptive backstory. Whatever you think of Gibson, and whatever your position on the relevance of his personal flaws to his art, his filmmaking prowess is evident.
“Hacksaw Ridge,” starring the goofily appealing Andrew Garfield as the real-life character Desmond Doss, may not be a perfect movie, but it strikes an unusual balance. It’s a violent film whose hero — and moral core — espouses non-violence. It’s a war film that will also appeal to a faith-based audience. It’s a film that at moments can feel relentlessly corny — and a second later, painfully, horribly real.
Doss, a Seventh-day Adventist, was the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. An Army medic, he refused to touch a weapon, believing he should be saving lives and not taking them.
After an early introduction to Doss as a boy in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, we pick up in young adulthood. When war breaks out with Japan, the young man feels compelled to enlist. Doss arrives at training camp, eager to serve. But when he won’t touch a rifle, his superiors are aghast. “Private Doss does not believe in violence,” taunts one sergeant. “Do not look to him to save your life on the battlefield!” He’s played by Vince Vaughn, whose approach at first seems too comedic — as if in another movie. But he soon settles into an effectively understated performance.
Doss is pressured to leave the army and only survives due to dramatic intervention from on high. And then it’s on to Japan, to Okinawa and specifically the brutal battle at Hacksaw Ridge.
It is here that Gibson’s hand is the surest. The suddenness which with death arrives in combat, the unfathomable randomness of it all, a man’s jaunty bravado crumbling into paralyzing fear — the director sugar-coats nothing.
Many fact-based movies end with some real-life footage. It’s always welcome, but here, it’s truly exciting to see Doss, alive and speaking (he died in 2006). His is a story you probably didn’t know, and will be glad you did.
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