Movie Review: Hacksaw Ridge

Immediately after the title, the movie opens with a shot of lifeless bodies lying on the war torn Hacksaw Ridge. The succeeding slow motion shots capture the beauty of chaos: cover smoke, open fire, burnt/ battered bodies flying across the frame and faint screams. As these things start settling over your retina, a gentle voice-over recites verse 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st of chapter 40 from the book of Isaiah. The V.O. seeps into the amorphous deposits and you get a fair idea about how stunning this Millefiori is going to be.

From Hacksaw Ridge to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, the film soon transports you back in time to tell the story of Desmond Doss, a combat medic of the US army. Some people are made of a different substance and Desmond was one of them. A man who stands by his principals no matter how gruelling (both mentally and physically) the situations become, Desmond proves the strength of his nerves that are made of tungsten. The film is held together by his belief; a belief that nurtures his budding relationships, a belief that repairs the damaged ones, a belief that looks authority in the eye with a humble smile and a belief that branches out hope in the most ill-lit places.

The first half is a bit breezy as it walks you through Desmond’s personal life; it harbours army camp humour (one of the finest) and shows a constant struggle & conflict between Doss and the army arising from their respective values and deviating belief systems. It sets itself up quite gracefully and prepares you for a power-packed action that follows.

After almost half its run-time, the movie throws you in the war zone of Okinawa, Japan and you get the glimpse of how tough Desmond’s job is going to be. The second half is both rapt & riveting and produces a visual treat for those who don’t budge from onscreen violence.

Andrew Garfield's performance as Desmond Doss is top-notch. The portrayal is pitch-perfect and his performance appears natural.

Vince Vaughn comes across as a level headed man in his role of Sergeant Howell. His communication with new recruits is full of insults yet, he cares for them much more than anyone else in the company.

Sam Worthington does complete justice to the role of Captain Glover. The expression of being proven wrong followed by acceptance is not an easy one to pull off but, Sam does it with much ease.

Hugo Weaving shines in his role of Desmond’s father. He is a treat to watch even in a limited screen time. He perfectly brings out the angst & frustration of a war veteran and a father’s fear of losing his sons. The dining table sequence where he learns that the elder son has enlisted himself in the army is one of the million arrows in the actor’s quiver. Much is lost when a dry throat doesn’t support the expressiveness of your tongue. However, Hugo’s mumbles make you realise that words lacking the voice are the ones that make the deepest cut.

Mel Gibson returns to direction after a gap of almost a decade since Apocalypto. He has earlier directed a classic war drama titled Braveheart (1995), the film that bagged the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. This time around he packages a compelling drama, by tying together the strands of biblical reference and human emotions (of which grit stands out here).

As far as technical aspects are concerned, Hacksaw Ridge boasts of a powerful cinematography by Simon Duggan. It is presented through a crisp editing that makes neat transition between the scenes keeping up the optimum length of shots. The fluidity of John Gilbert’s editing helps the story move forward seamlessly. There’s a striking difference within the colour tone of the film. The makers have aptly given a more gritty and cold colour tone attributing to the battlefield situation.

The production design speaks volumes amongst the collective deafening noise of the battlefield. Right from severed bodies, dead/ decaying remains of the soldiers, maggots and cocoon infesting the dead bodies to rats feeding off the human flesh; the art department scores big on every front.

The film also features a superb background score coupled with an equally good sound design. The sound of bullets flying off in every possible direction gets as realistic as it can. Rupert Williams has hit the right notes as he has skilfully caught the film’s pulse. You may find resemblance of his scoring style to that of Hans Zimmer’s, that’s because he has worked in tandem with him and belongs to a film score company co-founded by the legendary composer himself (Remote Control Productions).

There have been epic war dramas in the past and Hacksaw Ridge stands tall next to them. It easily secures the ‘medal of honour’ for carrying the weight of anticipation on its shoulders much like Garfield in the poster below.

Desmond was born at the foothills of a ridge (Lynchburg, VA), HE WAS BORN FOR THE RIDGE (Hacksaw).