Desmond (Andrew Garfield), a teenager working in a defense plant in Lynchburg, Virginia, feels compelled to enlist in the service when the US goes to war in the '40's. His alcoholic father (Hugo Weaving) is a vet from the first world war, and is determined to keep his two boys out of the battle. But shortly after Desmond's brother Hal enlists and Dez sees many of his small town friends doing the same, he follows suit.
This
is not a good time to fall in love, but the heart does not have a
calendar nor a watch. The object of Desmond's affection is the lovely
nurse at the Lynchburg clinic, Dorothy (Australian actress Teresa
Palmer). Lucky Desmond usually manages to find a quiet moment in the
clinic to try his corny lines on her. "You need some boy-girl talk
practice," she says with a smile. He knows it, but so what? She falls
for him even though, as pointed out by his friend later in the movie,
she is above his weight class. (Translation using my parlance: Desmond
has out-kicked his coverage.)
There is a
conflict between Desmond's sense of patriotic duty and his conservative
religious upbringing. As a child and a teenager, he found strength in
biblical passages when his father went on rampages, threatening the
family with a loaded gun. These incidents are shown via flashbacks,
helping partially to explain why Desmond won't touch a rifle following
his enlistment. Dez explains to his exasperated NCO, Sergeant Howell
(Vince Vaughn), and the company commander, Captain Glover (Sam
Worthington), that he was promised by the army recruiter before
enlisting that he would not be obligated even to tote a gun, much less
shoot one. He aspires to be a field medic, having developed an interest
in medicine as a way to impress Dorothy. Thus, he is not attempting to
avoid military service, only to avoid being a warrior. As expected,
Glover will hear none of it. There is a series of related events,
including visits to the army psychiatrist, accusations of
insubordination and refusal to obey a direct order, bullying by
Desmond's fellow grunts, and even a court martial during which his
father intercedes.
At almost the exact half-way
point, we are transported to Okinawa in the south Pacific. It's a
strategically located island which the GIs must capture from the
Japanese so that it can be used as a launching point for a future
invasion of the Empire of the Sun. The immediate change in setting and
mood, from Virginia's sunny skies where love is in the air to the fog
shrouded battlefields where death could come in an instant, is stark.
As Desmond's unit slowly advances toward the escarpment which they must
scale to confront the enemy, they make way for the retreating battalion
of GIs they'll be replacing. The latter group, heading somberly and
silently in the opposite direction, has been through hell. Dead bodies
are stacked like hay bales on carts. Those soldiers might be the lucky
ones compared to the blood stained, mangled wounded.
The
passing encounter between Desmond's unit and the evacuating soldiers is
not the only precursor to the gruesomeness of the battles we are about
to see. We know from the movie's marketing promotions that Doss will
become the first conscientious objector to win the Medal Of Honor, so
there will definitely be courage and valor. Telling his story is the
main purpose for the making of this film. The specific heroic feats
executed by Doss will prove to be unique and miraculous, even if he were
defending himself with a weapon (which he didn't).
Director
Mel Gibson is known for favoring over-the-top violence, a reason for my
original intention to pass on the opportunity to attend this film. I
had read that some of the battlefield scenes brought back memories of
the D-Day invasion reenacted in 1998's Saving Private Ryan. That
turns out to be a legitimate comparison. At times there are so many
explosions, fatal shots and body parts appearing with staccato quickness
on the screen that the viewer cannot always ascertain "friend or foe,"
and if a good guy, is it someone we know? The pre-Okinawa scenes are a
little too hokey, and in some instances downright cliched. The combat
scenes, although repetitive, do a fair job of making up for it.
If
you attend this movie there are two questions I would like you to
answer for me. First, why do the Japanese leave in place the eight
story high rope ladder for the GIs to use to mount Hacksaw Ridge?
Second, why is it, in almost every war picture I've seen, that the
American ground forces get air support but the enemy never does?
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