bnorthup
03-08-2002, 02:33 AM
We Were Soldiers (R)
At the Gaslight
3 stars
Head: An ode to brave men, living and dead
The Vietnam War was a tale of two tragedies.
The first tragedy was the war itself. Both hawks and doves were critical. Hawks criticized the impotent military strategy that seemed to tie the hands of battlefield commanders. Doves criticized being there at all, no matter what the strategy. Finally, after 11 years and 50,000 deaths, American forces went home.
On the home front, the second tragedy occurred – the veterans were not celebrated for their sacrifice, but often vilified because they were seen as somehow responsible for conflict that left 75,000 severely disabled and sent more than 20,000 men younger than 21 home in body bags.
It’s clear to me that America is just now beginning to separate the regrettable political and military decisions that led to the tragedy from the honorable young men and women who served there.
While I count myself among those strongly opposed to our involvement in Vietnam, I also am one who believes the soldiers who fought in Vietnam suffered for the sins of others. In great part those who served, some of them classmates of mine, were brave men and women willing to die for a cause and for each other. While many refused to serve - some for reasons of conscience, some for reasons of cowardice – others did what their “greatest generation” fathers had done before them. They stepped to the front of the line and volunteered to fight. Sadly, their courage was often dismissed or ridiculed.
“We Were Soldiers” is a film designed to pay tribute to that courage, while being careful not to extend the praise to those commanders and political leaders who sent the soldiers on sometimes suicidal missions. In fact, this film is so even-handed on the politics behind the Vietnam war that it even takes time to humanize an opposing North Vietnamese general (sadly unnamed in the credits), making him a human and wise opponent. The film openly states that it seeks to honor those who died on both sides during this Pyrrhic skirmish that took place on Nov. 14-16, 1965 in the Central Highlands at the foot of Chu Pong Mountain.
The central portion of the film took on the battlefield during the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang Valley, known as “X-Ray” in the Valley of Death. There, 400 U.S. soldiers from the 7th Cavalry were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese troops. The Americans fought gallantly, staving off onslaught after onslaught because of their courage and their inspired leadership. But still they suffered horrendous casualties. The fact that the North Vietnamese suffered even more was little consolation.
The presentation of that battle is masterful filmmaking which avoids the “Green Beret” syndrome of romanticizing or “John Wayne-izing” the conflict and thus minimizing the suffering. Instead, we see the graphic price of war close up – and we suffer side by side with the troops through an interminable three-day battle.
I can find little fault with the battlefield portion of the film. Director Randall Wallace presents both the physical horror and the tactical brilliance involved in that battle with equal effectiveness. Granted, there's an occasional inane platitude, but when the soldiers don't talk, they are compelling.
The start and finish of the film, however, is another matter. The script pulls out all available stereotypes in the first half hour as we meet the seemingly flawless soldiers, see them kiss their lovely wives and cute children, watch them being ruthlessly trained and finally see them step onto buses after being assigned to Vietnam.
Whereas the film is ruthlessly original during the war, it is embarrassingly trite on the home front. The one exception is the haunting way in which news of death is transmitted to the wives – first by taxi cab drivers, then by the wife of a colonel. Those are touching, authentic moments.
Even with those formulaic bookends, “We Were Soldiers” still stands as a major triumph. It’s an honest tribute to soldiers who died in that war. The film mercifully does not oversimplify the politics of the war. There is no false patriotism here – it’s the soldier that is celebrated, not the government that sent them there. The soundtrack has a couple of themes that stayed with me long afterwards. The acting, led by Mel Gibson as the heroic commander and Sam Elliott as the humorless battalion sergeant major, is fine, but this is not an actor’s film.
“We Were Soldiers” is very much a hymn, more than a script. It’s a hymn to those who died. The film struggles mightily to remain cynical about the decisions that placed young men in harm’s way while simultaneously saluting their courage.
And it succeeds mightily, leaving audiences – many filled with Vietnam vets and their families – lingering afterwards with tear-stained eyes in appreciation of a long-overdue thank you to those who served with wisdom and honor in a war conceived and waged with neither wisdom nor honor.
END
At the Gaslight
3 stars
Head: An ode to brave men, living and dead
The Vietnam War was a tale of two tragedies.
The first tragedy was the war itself. Both hawks and doves were critical. Hawks criticized the impotent military strategy that seemed to tie the hands of battlefield commanders. Doves criticized being there at all, no matter what the strategy. Finally, after 11 years and 50,000 deaths, American forces went home.
On the home front, the second tragedy occurred – the veterans were not celebrated for their sacrifice, but often vilified because they were seen as somehow responsible for conflict that left 75,000 severely disabled and sent more than 20,000 men younger than 21 home in body bags.
It’s clear to me that America is just now beginning to separate the regrettable political and military decisions that led to the tragedy from the honorable young men and women who served there.
While I count myself among those strongly opposed to our involvement in Vietnam, I also am one who believes the soldiers who fought in Vietnam suffered for the sins of others. In great part those who served, some of them classmates of mine, were brave men and women willing to die for a cause and for each other. While many refused to serve - some for reasons of conscience, some for reasons of cowardice – others did what their “greatest generation” fathers had done before them. They stepped to the front of the line and volunteered to fight. Sadly, their courage was often dismissed or ridiculed.
“We Were Soldiers” is a film designed to pay tribute to that courage, while being careful not to extend the praise to those commanders and political leaders who sent the soldiers on sometimes suicidal missions. In fact, this film is so even-handed on the politics behind the Vietnam war that it even takes time to humanize an opposing North Vietnamese general (sadly unnamed in the credits), making him a human and wise opponent. The film openly states that it seeks to honor those who died on both sides during this Pyrrhic skirmish that took place on Nov. 14-16, 1965 in the Central Highlands at the foot of Chu Pong Mountain.
The central portion of the film took on the battlefield during the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang Valley, known as “X-Ray” in the Valley of Death. There, 400 U.S. soldiers from the 7th Cavalry were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese troops. The Americans fought gallantly, staving off onslaught after onslaught because of their courage and their inspired leadership. But still they suffered horrendous casualties. The fact that the North Vietnamese suffered even more was little consolation.
The presentation of that battle is masterful filmmaking which avoids the “Green Beret” syndrome of romanticizing or “John Wayne-izing” the conflict and thus minimizing the suffering. Instead, we see the graphic price of war close up – and we suffer side by side with the troops through an interminable three-day battle.
I can find little fault with the battlefield portion of the film. Director Randall Wallace presents both the physical horror and the tactical brilliance involved in that battle with equal effectiveness. Granted, there's an occasional inane platitude, but when the soldiers don't talk, they are compelling.
The start and finish of the film, however, is another matter. The script pulls out all available stereotypes in the first half hour as we meet the seemingly flawless soldiers, see them kiss their lovely wives and cute children, watch them being ruthlessly trained and finally see them step onto buses after being assigned to Vietnam.
Whereas the film is ruthlessly original during the war, it is embarrassingly trite on the home front. The one exception is the haunting way in which news of death is transmitted to the wives – first by taxi cab drivers, then by the wife of a colonel. Those are touching, authentic moments.
Even with those formulaic bookends, “We Were Soldiers” still stands as a major triumph. It’s an honest tribute to soldiers who died in that war. The film mercifully does not oversimplify the politics of the war. There is no false patriotism here – it’s the soldier that is celebrated, not the government that sent them there. The soundtrack has a couple of themes that stayed with me long afterwards. The acting, led by Mel Gibson as the heroic commander and Sam Elliott as the humorless battalion sergeant major, is fine, but this is not an actor’s film.
“We Were Soldiers” is very much a hymn, more than a script. It’s a hymn to those who died. The film struggles mightily to remain cynical about the decisions that placed young men in harm’s way while simultaneously saluting their courage.
And it succeeds mightily, leaving audiences – many filled with Vietnam vets and their families – lingering afterwards with tear-stained eyes in appreciation of a long-overdue thank you to those who served with wisdom and honor in a war conceived and waged with neither wisdom nor honor.
END