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Surrounded
Against all odds,
esprit de corps.
By Lois
Wadsworth
WE WERE SOLDIERS: Written and directed
by Randall Wallace, based on the book by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and Joseph
L. Galloway. Produced by Bruce Davey, Stephen McEveety, Randall Wallace. Executive
producers, Jim Lemley, Arne L. Schmidt. Cinematography, Dan Semler. Production design,
Tom Sanders. Editor, William Hoy. Music, Nick Glennie-Smith. Starring Mel Gibson,
with Madeleine Stowe, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott, Chris Klein, Keri Russell and Barry
Pepper. Paramount Pictures, 2002. R. 140 minutes.
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Reporter Joe Galloway (Barry Pepper)
talks to Lt. Col. Hal Moore (Mel Gibson) at the end of the Battle for Ia Drang.
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A Vietnam War movie with World War II movie sensibilities, Randall
Wallace's We Were Soldiers takes 50 minutes to establish a sentimental cocoon
in which to contain the men of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry, their wives and children,
and it uses the remaining 90 minutes to annihilate any reassuring ideas about safety,
comfort, heroism and victory.
At first the film illustrates the camaraderie between the men and
the officers; the united front of their pretty wives all banding together to help
newcomers get settled; dad fielding a cute kid's questions; and a lot more religious
talk than I'm comfortable with. Designed to wring tears from a stone, this Age of
Innocence hype made me more alert, more critical and less inclined to accept Wallace's
version of a war that remains a large generation's primary formative event.
I feared that a pre-credit sequence a horrific, exploitative
re-enactment of a 1954 ambush of French colonial soldiers by the Vietnamese had
set the tenor for the combat to follow. And because We were Soldiers comes
at this time in our history a jingoist's paradise I would look for flag-waving,
patriotic, build-consensus-for-war rhetoric and images. But what the film eventually
came to say surprised me.
It's based on the 1992 best-selling memoirs of a retired Army officer,
Lt. Col. Hal Moore (played by Mel Gibson), and a photojournalist, Joseph L. Galloway
(played by Barry Pepper), both of whom were present at the first large battle between
U.S. forces and the People's Army of Vietnam early in the war. In November of 1965,
about 400 men of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry (George A. Custer's old company) under
Moore's leadership were dropped by helicopter into the remote Vietnam highlands'
Ia Drang Valley (pronouced "eye-drang"), although only 121 would leave
alive and well. The actual battle lasted some 34 days, but the film compresses it
to three days of unrelenting guerrilla attacks, during which the enemy could disappear
at will, retreating to safe quarters below ground.
Moore immediately calculates that they're surrounded by more than
2,000 enemy troops. He and Sgt. Major Basil Plumley (Sam Elliott) prepare the largely
untried soldiers for a wave of brutal assaults. One group is soon cut off from the
landing zone, but despite enemy groundfire, choppers continue to pick up the wounded
and drop off ammunition. Reporter Galloway (Pepper) hitches a ride in with Major
Bruce Crandall (Greg Kinnear).
Battle sequences are tricky to stage and shoot coherently. Wallace
is not as good a director as either Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down) or Stephen
Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan), and a cut that jumps from a U.S.-led attack
to Julie Moore (Madeleine Stowe) Hoovering the rug is a major gaffe. But Galloway's
arrival gives the movie a focus it lacked. Gibson is best silent; he's terrible when
posing heroically, directing the battle, or addressing the men in his fake fatherly
voice. But Pepper is good, and although his character's an outsider like we are,
he sees the war clearly for us.
Vietnam War photojournalists were the first to tell the rest of
us the truth. The politicians were lying; the military couldn't or wouldn't admit
their blunders; and in 1965, TV network anchors, including Walter Cronkite, were
little more than cheerleaders for the war. But the black-and-white photographs of
American soldiers tending their own maimed and dying, with grief and anguish etched
in their faces, told us everything we needed to know.
Much to my surprise, the tone of the film also changes toward the
end. Moore sees what he already knew that the mission was bound to fail; that the
enemy soldiers were seasoned professionals; and that we didn't have a good enough
reason for being there. Despite its sappy beginning, by the end the film's a genuinely
moving Vietnam war movie. Highly recommended, it's now playing at Cinemark and Cinema
World.
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Idealism
and Love
Casualties of
war.
By Lois
Wadsworth
DARK BLUE WORLD: Directed and co-produced
by Jan Sverak. Written by Zdenek Sverak. Producer, Eric Abraham. Cinematography,
Vladimir Smutny. Editor, Alois Fisarek. Sound, Zbynek Mikulik. Composer, Ondrej Soukup.
Starring Ondrej Vetchy, Tara Fitzgerald and Krystof Hàdek, with Charles Dance,
Oldrich Kaiser and Hans-Jorg Assmann. Sony Pictures Classics Release, 2001. R. 119
minutes.
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Karel (Krystof Hadek) is a young
Czech pilot in exile in Britain during WWII.
. |
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Czech director Jan Sverak (Kolya) situates a love triangle in WW II,
which has been done many times before, both better and worse. Two of Dark Blue
World's fictional characters Frantisek Slamà (Ondrej Vetchy) and Karel
Vojtisek (Krystof Hàdek) are Czech pilots who escape their country just
before the Nazi takeover in 1939. They eventually make their way to Britain to fight
against the Nazis as Royal Air Force volunteers.
Historically, the RAF accepted pilots from other countries throughout
the war, allowing them to fly for Britain as members of their own air force in exile.
Foreign pilots were required to learn English before they could fly, and lived on
base in barracks. They participated in many of the era's fabulous aerial dogfights,
captured on wide-format film with the assistance of computer-generated effects. And
many of them died
The third fictional character is an English woman. whose naval
officer husband has been missing for a year. Susan (Tara Fitzgerald) lives in the
countryside and cares for several children relocated there from London for the duration
of the war. Karel meets Susan first when he bails out of his damaged plane and bangs
on her door in the middle of the night. Later, he takes Franta, his best friend,
to meet Susan. Karel doesn't see the immediate attraction between them, and when
Franta tries to tell him about it, Karel doesn't hear.
The final historical, ironic connection comes after the war, when
Franta returns to Czechoslovakia. He is imprisoned by a Communist government suspicious
of all Czechs who supported the West during the war. In prison Franta's pneumonia
is treated by a former SS doctor, who notes that men tortured by either the Nazis
or the Communists bear the same marks on their bodies.
Clouding the viewer's chronology is the filmmaker's decision to
begin the film from prison and shoot it as Franta's flashback memories, returning
to the prison from time to time. This narrative device can be used productively,
but it's a fatal flaw here, splitting the viewer's attention and robbing the film's
action sequences of juice.
As often happens with hybrid blends of fiction and history, the
filmmakers sentimentalize and romanticize the past. This tendency is less pronounced
in writer Zdenek Sverak's screenplay for Kolya. The writer, father of director
Jan Sverak, also acted in Kolya, which was about the struggle to grow up of
a womanizing classical musician who's left with a child to raise. The stories of
still-living Czech pilots about WW II deserve a more realistic presentation, not
characters who are patient, flawless and good to the bone. I see way too many sanitized
characters, especially in movies about wartime.
Great movies are always about flawed characters. Even less-than-great
movies also used to be, as a matter of course. Audiences educated through reading
expected no less. But the suits today who bankroll movies made anywhere in the world
hedge their bets and insist on shallow, watered-down, TV-like characters simple
(and forgettable) bundles of traits. Dark Blue World contains an interesting
human story, bits of which come through. But the basic presentation is less than
persuasive despite its basis in history. The movie's worth seeing for the aerial
acrobatics of vintage planes, but then, so was Pearl Harbor, an even bigger
loser.
Dark Blue World opens Friday at the Bijou.
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OPENING OR
RETURNING:
Films open the Friday following date of EW publication unless
otherwise noted.
All About the Benjamins: Miami bounty hunter Ice Cube and bail
jumper Mike Epps team up to take advantage of some hot diamonds in Kevin Bray's comic
action drama. R. Cinemark.
Birthday Girl: Jez Butterworth's dark comedy stars Nicole
Kidman as a Russian mail-order bride for a hapless small-town bank clerk, Ben Chaplain.
See review.
Dark Blue World: WWII drama about Czech pilots in exile
flying for Britain. Two who are best friends fall in love with the same English woman,
played by Tara Fitzgerald. R. Bijou. See
review.
Five Easy Pieces: Bob Rafelson's 1970 classic comic drama
stars Jack Nicholson in his best role to that time, with Karen Black, Susan Anspach.
R. At 7 pm on 3/7 in 180 PLC. Free.
Happy Together (Hong Kong, 1996): About Wong Kar-Wai's acclaimed
drama on a gay couple from Hong Kong in Argentina, Videohound says, "Edgy
visuals and playful performances belie a serious nature." Never played Eugene
theaters. At 7 pm on 3/2 in 122 Pacific Hall, UO. Free.
Idiots, The: Dogme '95 film by Danish director Lars von
Trier is part of a Dogma Double feature, with Julien Donkeyboy. At 8 pm on
3/8 in 180 PLC. $2 students/$3 general.
Journey of Hope (Turkey, 1990): Academy Award winner of
Best Foreign Film, this tale of a Kurdish family relocating to Switzerland, on foot
across the Alps. PG. At 7 pm on 3/14 in 180 PLC. Free.
Julien Donkeyboy: First American film made under Dogme '95
restrictions, Harmony Kerine's tale of a schizophrenic man and his disturbed and
disturbing family stars Ewen Bremner, Chloe Sevigny, Werner Herzog and Evan Neumann.
Challenging cinema. At 8 pm on 3/8 in 180 PLC. $2 students/$3 general.
Musul'manin (The Muslim): In Russian with English subtitles.
At 6:30 pm on 3/13 in 115 Pacific Hall. Free.
Slackers: Teen comedy stars Devon Sawa, Jason Seagal and
Jason Schwartzman and is directed by Dewey Nicks. R. Movies 12.
Time Machine: Guy Pearce (Memento) stars in this
remake of H.G. Welles sci-fi novel, directed by Simon Wells (The Prince of Egypt).
Creator of time machine is hurled 800,000 years into the future, where he finds there
are only hunters and the hunted. PG-13. Cinema World. Cinemark.
CONTINUING
Ali: Will Smith plays Muhammad Ali in Michael Mann's film.
Also stars Jon Voight, Giancarlo Esposito, Mario Van Peebles. Academy noms for Smith,
Voight. Brilliant film, true to Ali's spirit; biting in its exploration of racism,
1964-1974. Very highest recommendations. R. Movies 12. See review.
Amelie: Jean Pierre Jeunet's popular hit film about loneliness
in the city stars Audrey Tautou as a shy French pixie who meddles in the lives of
her Paris co-workers, family and neighbors. Academy noms for foreign language film,
art direction, sound, cinematography, original screenplay. R. Bijou. See review.
Beautiful Mind, A: Inspired by the true story of a mathematical
genius whose great discovery came early in his career, Ron Howard's film stars Russell
Crowe, Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly. Stunning work by Crowe and Connelly, both
nominated for Academy Awards, along with the film, Howard, writer Akiva Goldsman.
Highly recommended. PG-13. Cinemark. See review.
Behind Enemy Lines: John Moore directs this military drama,
which has Gene Hackman as a naval officer and Owen Wilson as the hot dog pilot who
sees where the bodies are buried in a war-ravaged country. He's shot down, and some
soldiers are after him. PG-13. Movies 12.
Big Fat Liar: Frankie Muniz ("Malcolm in the Middle")
tries to prove sleazy Hollywood producer (Paul Giamatti) turned his class paper into
a hit movie. Directed by Shawn Levy. PG. Cinemark.
Black Hawk Down: Ridley Scott directs this true story based
on the mission-gone-wrong of American special forces in Somalia, 1993. Stars Josh
Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Ron Eldard and Sam Shepard. AFI award for best picture;
academy nods for Scott, cinematography, sound, editing. Highest recommendations.
R. Cinemark. See
review.
Collateral Damage: Andrew Davis's film about a firefighter
who loses his wife and son in a L.A. terrorist attack stars Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Elias Koteas, Francesca Neri, John Leguizamo and John Turturro. R. Cinemark. See review.
Count of Monte Cristo, The: Alexandre Duma's classic tale
of wrongful imprisonment and revenge stars Jim Caviezel, Dagmara Dominczyk, Guy Pearce
and Richard Harris. Scenes in prison are the film's best; much else is overblown.
PG-13. Cinemark. See
review.
Crossroads: Britney Spears and two childhood friends hit the road
together and learn a lot about life. PG-13. Cinema World. Cinemark.
Domestic Disturbance: John Travolta ex-wife's new husband
is a con man, and Travolta's 11-year old son watched him murder someone. With Vince
Vaughn. PG-13. Movies 12.
Dragonfly: Widower Kevin Costner seeks help from Sister
Madeline (Linda Hunt) as he grieves for his wife. Also stars Kathy Bates, Joe Morton.
PG-13. Cinema World. Cinemark.
Forty Days and 40 Nights: Josh Hartnett plays a high school
heartthrob who gives up all sex for 40 days and nights. Then the girl of his dreams,
played by Shannyn Sossaman, walks into his life. R. Cinemark. Cinema World
Gosford Park: Robert Altman's comedy of manners, upstairs
and downstairs, in a 1932 English country house. Fine performances and a splendid
look at class warfare, with a nasty, satiric edge. Academy Award noms to picture,
Altman, Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren and screenwriter Julian Fellowes. Highest recommendations.
R. Bijou. See
review.
I Am Sam: Sean Penn plays a mentally-challenged single parent
raising his daughter. Michelle Pfeiffer plays an attorney who takes his case when
the girl is put in foster care by social services. Extraordinary performance by Penn,
who received an Academy nod. PG-13. Cinemark. See review.
John Q: Denzel Washington, father of a boy who needs an
organ transplant, does desperate things. With Robert Duvall, James Woods, Anne Heche,
Kimberly Elise, Ray Liotta. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World.
Kate and Leopold: Sappy looking time travel romance stars
Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, who has been accidentally fast forwarded to New York at
the present from the 19th century. James Mangold directs. PG-13. Movies 12.
Kung Pow: Steve Oedekerk acquired a 1976 Hong Kong Karate film,
placed himself digitally into it, redubbed the other characters and shot new scenes.
Here it is. PG-13. Movies 12.
Life as a House: Irwin Winkler's tearjerker about an architect
(Kevin Kline) who learns he's dying. He asks his rebellious teenage son (Hayden Christensen)
and his estranged wife (Kristin Scott Thomas) to help him build a new house. R. Movies
12.
Lord of the Rings, The: The Fellowship of the Ring: The
first book in J. R. R. Tolkien's literary trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson and
shot entirely in New Zealand stars Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Liv
Tyler, Sean Astin, Christopher Lee. Academy Award noms: picture, director, McKellen,
screenplay, original score, song, art direction, cinematography, costumes, sound,
visual effects, editing. Highest recommendations. PG-13. Cinemark. See review.
Majestic, The: Jim Carrey, blacklisted H'wood writer loses
his memory but finds a new life in a 1950s small town. Directed by Frank Darabont
(The Green Mile). With Bob Balaban, Martin Landau and Laurie Holden. PG. Movies
12.
Not Another Teen Movie: Directed by MTV producer Joel Gallen,
high school comedy involves a bet a jock (Chris Evans) takes to turn a nerdy girl
(Chyler Leigh) into a prom queen. Duh! R. Movies 12.
Orange Country: Colin Hanks and Jack Black star in Jake
Kasdan's teen comedy about a transcript mix-up. PG-13. Movies 12.
Queen of the Damned: Stars the late Aaliyah as Queen Akasha,
who is wakened by the songs of the vampire Lestat, who has become a rock star. Noisy,
explosive, chaotic. R. Cinema World. Cinemark.
Return to Neverland: Disney animated tale of the rebellious 12-year
old daughter of grown up Wendy (from Peter Pan). Pete's still around, and
he tries to help her. G. Cinemark. Cinema World.
Royal Tennenbaums, The: Directed by Wes Anderson, this critically
acclaimed film looks at a family of geniuses who turn out to be simply neurotic.
Stars Gene Hackman, Angelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson and Gwyneth
Paltrow, with Danny Glover and Bill Murray. Much sweeter on second seeing. Highest
recommendations. R. Cinemark. See review.
Shallow Hal: Jack Black plays a neurotic womanizer who gets
hypnotized into seeing right through Gwyneth Paltrow's fat suit. Word is the Farrellys
are uncharacteristically good humored. Hmmm. PG-13. Movies 12.
Snow Dogs: Brian Levant directs Cuba Gooding Jr. in this
Disney tale of a man who goes to Alaska to claim his inheritance a team of sled
dogs with their own minds. With James Coburn, M. Emmet Walsh and Graham Greene. PG.
Cinemark.
Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted 2002 Festival of Animation:
More of what you've come to expect from Spike and Mike. 18 and older only. Bijou.
Spy Game: Robert Redford is a CIA officer who mentors Brad
Pitt in this spy thriller directed by Tony Scott (Enemy of the State). Also
stars Catherine McCormack. R. Movies 12.
Super Troopers: Five Vermont State Troopers with not enough
to do create havoc on the highway. Written by and starring a five-man comedy troupe,
Broken Lizard. R. Cinemark.
Waking Life: Richard Linklater explores dreams vs reality
in 30 episodes. Film itself is a dream, the result of a live action film digitally
painted. Stars Wiley Wiggins and a cast of 60. Highly recommended. R. Bijou. See review.
We Were Soldiers: Mel Gibson stars as Lt. Col Hal Moore
who led his men in the brutal battle for La Drang Valley in the Viet Nam war. Based
on Moore's memoir. Directed by Randall Wallace, also stars Madeleine Stowe, Greg
Kinnear, Sam Elliot, Chris Klein, Keri Russell and Barry Pepper. R. Cinemark. Cinema
World. See review.
MOVIE
THEATERS
Use the links provided below for specific show times.
Bijou
Art Cinemas
Bijou Theater 686-2458 | 492 E. 13th
Regal
Cinemas
Cinema World 342-6536 | Valley River
Center
Springfield Quad 726-9073 |
Cinemark
Theaters
Movies 12 741-1231 | Gateway
Mall
Movies before 12:30 are Sat. Sun. only. $1.50 all shows all days.
Cinemark 17 741-1231 | Gateway Mall
NEW RELEASES
ON VIDEO:
Releases subject to change. Available the Tuesday following date of
EW publication, sometimes sooner:
Conspiracy: HBO dramatization of notorious WWII Wannsee
meeting in January 1942 when the German high command decided to exterminate the Jews.
Stars Kenneth Branagh, Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth. R.
Heist: David Mamet's too-clever caper film stars Gene Hackman,
Rebecca Pidgeon, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Ricky Jay and Sam Rockwell. Hackman,
Lindo and Jay are top-notch; plot is pedestrian. R. See review.
Himalaya: Beautiful adventure film shot in the high mountains
of Nepal stars courageous, talented nonactors from the Dopol region of the country.
Directed by Edward Valli, a documentary filmmaker, writer and National Geographic
photographer, it's a glimpse into a culture and people with universal values we recognize.
Highly recommended. Not rated. See review.
Joy Ride: Scary road trip about a practical joke turned
lethal stars Paul Walker and Steve Zahn, who play brothers, and Leelee Sobiesky.
John Dahl directs. R.
Liam: Stephen Frear's portrait of an Irish Catholic family
in 1930s Liverpool is an emotionally rich, gritty chronicle of their free-fall into
poverty as seen through the eyes of a seven-year old child. Stars Ian Hart, Claire
Hackett and Anthony Borrows. R.
Metropolis: Based on a Japanese comic book, anime by writer
Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) and director Rintara inaugurates a new kind of fusion animation,
critics say. PG-13.
Sexy Beast: Brilliant, violent but darkly comic caper flick
directed by Brit Jonathan Glazer stars the fabulous Ray Winstone (The War Zone,
Nil By Mouth) and rescues the great Ben Kingsley from his Gandhi role
for good. Highest recommendation. R. See review.
Wash, The: Ernest Hardy for LA Weekly calls it "The
latest in assembly-line, hip-hop cinema" and says it "glorifies hoochie
mamas, toilet humor, thug posturing ... and rappers turned actors." Stars Dr.
Dre, Snoop Dogg, and comedian George Wallace. R.
Zoolander: In his first directorial foray since The Cable
Guy, Ben Stiller also writes and stars in this comedy about a male model brainwashed
into taking on a secret mission. With Owen Wilson as the ultimate Eurotrash supermodel,
Christine Taylor as a bimbo and Milla Jovovich in leather. Moments of mad genius.
PG-13. See
review.
Next week: Because Why, The Charcoal People, Daisies,
Donnie Darko, Focus, Lemonade Joe, Riding in Cars with Boys, Risk and Training
Day.
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