Review: Hacksaw Ridge indulges Mel Gibson's appetite for suffering - RN - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Review: Hacksaw Ridge indulges Mel Gibson's appetite for suffering - RN - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)



Review: Hacksaw Ridge indulges Mel Gibson's appetite for suffering
RN By Jason Di Rosso for The Final Cut

Posted 3 Nov 2016, 9:08am
PHOTO: Andrew Garfield plays reluctant war hero Desmond Doss. (Supplied: Lionsgate Publicity)
MAP: United States

Mel Gibson's return to directing sees him bring to the screen one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, focusing on the story of an unlikely war hero: a Christian pacifist army medic.

Desmond Doss was in fact the first conscientious objector to receive the US Medal of Honour, distinguishing himself during the American assault against the Japanese on Okinawa, and in particular the capture of a sheer cliff face known as Hacksaw Ridge.

The film is structured as a diptych, with the first half dedicated to Doss's civilian life in a green and sunny small town.

In the lead, Andrew Garfield is a good mix of boyish goofiness and stubborn persistence, which also worked well for his role in Spiderman.
YOUTUBE: Hacksaw Ridge official trailer



The section is marked by his struggles with his devout Seventh Day Adventist father, and with the military top brass that he should be allowed at the front without bearing arms. It's also about his infatuation with a beautiful young nurse (Teresa Palmer).

As war movie set ups go, it's a standard mix of home, hearth and heroism.

Gibson's cast — including a series of Australians who pass convincingly for various US Army officers and soldiers — is engaging.

Even Vince Vaughn, who looks like he's been miscast as Doss's sceptical, white-anting sergeant, turns in a memorable performance once his character softens in the heat of battle.
PHOTO: Hugo Weaving plays an ex-soldier haunted by his memories of the First World War. (Supplied: Lionsgate Publicity)



Hugo Weaving's turn as Doss's abusive, alcoholic father, meanwhile, seems like a semi-autobiographical nod. An ex-soldier haunted by his memories of the First World War, he's prone to fits of drunken rage and depression.

There's an obvious parallel here with Gibson's own religious faith and battles with the bottle, and certainly the character puts another human face to the film's focus on extreme moral contradictions.

But it's in the movie's appetite for showing intense physical suffering, with its implied possibilities for redemption and heroism, that Gibson's Catholicism seems to truly find aesthetic expression.

Even before we get into battle, in an early scene where Doss gives blood while flirting with Palmer's character, the image of the needle is unflinching.
PHOTO: The scenes at Hacksaw Ridge appear like a medieval fresco of hell. (Supplied: Lionsgate Publicity)



Once we're at Hacksaw Ridge, shot in a muddy, treeless field at Bringelly just outside Sydney, the details become infinitely gorier.

Like a medieval fresco of hell, Doss scrambles among screaming men, some of whom clutch gaping stomach wounds, others whose legs have been blown into bloodied strips of flesh.

If all of this pain and angst suggest a director engaging with the subject matter in a uniquely personal, heartfelt way, don't expect a great film because of it.

As fascinating as the real-life story is, you won't necessarily be surprised by the way Hacksaw Ridge tells it.
PHOTO: The biggest failing of Hacksaw Ridge is its overall lack of visual ambition. (Supplied: Lionsgate Publicity)



The genre elements of boot camp hell, battleground camaraderie and girl-back-home wistfulness aren't particularly revelatory.

And despite the eye-catching gore, the film's biggest failing is its overall lack of visual ambition.

It displays little of the flair of recent war movies like Fury, let alone Gibson's own previous work in Apocalytpo and Braveheart.

The alternating action and suspense are just enough to keep it afloat, but not enough to make it fly. A solid three stars.

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Topics: arts-and-entertainment, film-movies, drama, world-war-2, history, community-and-society, united-states, japan