Hacksaw Ridge * * * *

Garfield doing it for Mel.

   They never seem to tire of making films on the Second World War do they?  Nearly 80 years later there is always another untold story or new perspective.

   Hacksaw Ridge is another true story, apparently.

   After a few unfortunate well publicised incidents it brings Mel Gibson back into the fold - this time as a Director - and really this is  right up his alley.  If there is one thing Mel likes in his films it is the Jesus thing: Human suffering, self-sacrifice, a willingness to lay down one’s life for another.    

  But really it’s pretty hard to knock that.  It makes for great drama and sends out a worthy message.

   Private Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) is the only Conscientious Objector to run into battle without a gun and be awarded with the Medal Of Honour, which is the highest award for bravery an American Soldier can receive.

    He was a devout Seventh Day Adventist, but despite his firm conviction as a pacifist, he was outraged at the events of Pearl Harbor and wanted to contribute to the American Response.

   We witness his childhood and some telling scenes.  His father was a drunkard suffering from Post Traumatic Stress from the First World War. We see the small town teen romance he develops with his Girlfriend who became his betrothed for the rest of his life.

   After joining the Army Doss’s  experience is terrible. He is branded a coward for his refusal to pick up a rifle.  But attitudes toward Doss change dramatically on the battlefield as he rescues and saves soldier after soldier, running into no man’s land to pull out wounded men.

   The battle scenes rightly reflect the horror of that theatre of war. Okinawa was about as bad as it could get. Over a 100,000 men died on that small island.

   This is not a film that tries to impress us with a new way of looking at things.  It’s quite conservative in its approach.  No messing with colours, editing, or camera angles with this one.  It is solid, narrative filmmaking with a story that is chronologically told. But the method serves it well, telling the story clearly and objectively.  

   As someone who lived here for many years Mel gives back lots of love to Australia in the making of this film.  It was shot in NSW and features many Australian actors and other talent.

   Quite simply it is a moving film that redefines heroism in cinema as being how many lives you can save as opposed to how many lives you can take.