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Desmond Doss

Hacksaw Ridge – Faith Under Fire

February 21, 2017 by Jacob Sahms 1 Comment

hr3Hacksaw Ridge is the extraordinary story of an ordinary man named Desmond Doss. Not gifted with exceptional physical powers, or benefitting from a stellar education, Doss enlisted in the Army during World War II as a conscientious objector, challenging the way that his fellow soldiers saw patriotism, bravery, and honor. Directed by Mel Gibson, Doss’ real-life story finally gets the attention it deserves, nearly seventy-five years after Doss set foot on Okinawa. Nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, as well as Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor at the Golden Globes, Hacksaw Ridge has a heartfelt story to match its spectacular visuals.

One of the quietly spectacular things about the film is the way that just a few moments spent on Doss’ childhood, and sprinkling in a few flashbacks from his youth, set the stage for us to understand how Doss (Andrew Garfield) formulates his ideas about faith and violence. Gibson and cinematographer Simon Duggan show us a foreshadowing of the Maeda Escarpment (aka Hacksaw Ridge) with a regular hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia that winds to the top of a mountain. The balance – between the peace of the Blue Ridge and the violence of Hacksaw – shouldn’t be lost on us in retrospect. But that’s not the only balance the story shows us.

hr1While we see that Doss’ avoidance of violence hinges on battles he had previously with his brother and father, Tom (Hugo Weaving), we are subtly exposed to the depth of the Doss family pain. Tom served in World War I and carries survivor’s guilt; he longs to protect his family from the violence of the current war but he’s too angry with himself for living when all of his comrades die. For the eighteen-year-old Doss, there is no way to understand his father’s deep pain until he sees the violence of war for himself. The struggle of the father to protect the son is evident early on, but it becomes clearly apparent when Doss finally enters basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

At Fort Jackson, Doss finds himself completely alone. His commanding officers, Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn) and Captain Glover (Sam Worthington), want to run him out of the ranks of the Army upon finding out about Doss’ Seventh-day Adventist convictions. Doss’ unwillingness to carry a gun (or work on Saturday) rubs the officers and Doss’ counterparts (namely, Luke Bracey’s Smitty); the Army works to literally beat Doss into submission.

hr2I knew that this segment of the film would trouble me, but I couldn’t be prepared for how upsetting it was. While the greater problem in World War II is the Nazi/Axis threat, Doss’ greatest enemy through eighteen months (compressed in the film) is actually his own company. Gibson’s film sets us up to consider Doss’ faith but here I found one of the major selling points of the film: there’s a clear recognition that we often incur more violence on each other than we do on our real enemy. [As I write this, my Facebook feed is bloodied by those on both sides of our U.S. election, those who won and those who lost. Rather than working to find a way together forward in unity, too many are still focused on the differences they see in each other.]

Yet, in the case of Doss, he remains resolute about what he believes without ever condemning someone else. He never considers himself better than or superior to any of the men who doubt his beliefs or conviction in decision-making. He is the lamb sent to slaughter who refuses to raise its head but which refuses to turn aside from its resolute belief. This is truth and grace, belief and gritty reality mixing together into the existence of actual life.

In the case of Hacksaw Ridge, the crucible is one steep cliff and one terrible battlefield. While the court martial that allows Doss to serve is undeniable, his comrades still consider him less than a soldier. With the first assault on Okinawa, Doss proves himself by rescuing several wounded officers. By staying when the rest of his company retreats, pulling out soldier after soldier pinned down behind the enemy line, Doss proves himself remarkable.

hr4As I watched Gibson’s trademark bloody portrayal of the film, I was shocked by the way that Doss’ spirit stood out in direct contrast to those around him, in the same way that his red cross stood out against the drab greens, tans, and grays of the film. There’s no question that Gibson’s experience shooting the wartime scenes fit in well with the powerful script, but Doss’ story stands out thanks to Garfield’s quiet portrayal. We know that his love for Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Palmer) burns bright, but it’s his faith that sends him in after soldier after soldier.

Sitting in the movie theater, hearing Doss pray, “Give me one more, Lord,” over and over again, while plunging into the smoke and fire of the mortared battlefield, I found myself thinking of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego, thrown into the fire of the furnace in Daniel 3. These three men could have turned back on their beliefs and been spared, just like Doss could have bowed out during his court martial or retreated just like every other soldier did. But Doss stayed because he believed that was what God called him to – and he felt compelled to respond.

One last scene stood out to me – one which I had anticipated since seeing the trailer. Here, the company must return to the top of Hacksaw Ridge, and Glover tells Doss that the men won’t go up without him. Doss prays – while the men wait. They don’t necessarily believe what he believes or believe that his prayer works but because he believes and they believe in him, his prayer matters to them.

How powerful is that?

James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Doss’ life of prayer and humble service proved to be remarkably transformative for others, in ways that we can hardly believe – but which the furnace of Hacksaw Ridge’s fury proved.

Doss has a litany of men tell him in the aftermath of the first onslaught that they underestimated him, that they didn’t know him the way that they thought they did. And yet, through bombing, shooting, stabbing, and explosions, Doss saves the men who once were his enemies – while they were still his enemy. He never treated them that way, but they saw him that way – and he didn’t let that matter.

While so much turmoil exists in our world today, I am reminded that there is still a cross that shines through the dust and fire. I am reminded that there is still a place where the prayers of a person avail much – in the heart of God. Here is a man, Doss, who believed that he was called to lay down his life for his friends – and even his enemies – because he was pursuing the cross of Christ. Here is a man who proved that there was a way through, that we don’t have to like everyone or agree with everyone, to see that the common goal and the greater good rise above our differences.

Doss stands as an example of the unity of our humanity – the things we have in common – and as an example of one man’s faith in the midst of an unbelieving world.

Hacksaw Ridge is a film for such a time as this.

Special features on the Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD include deleted scenes, the theatrical trailer, and a Veterans Day greeting from Mel Gibson; “The Soul of War” documentary shows how the film was made, including a look at the story from the perspective of the actors, director Gibson, and those intimate with Doss’ story. 

Filed Under: Current Events, DVD, Editorial, Featured, Film, Oscar Spotlight, Reviews Tagged With: anthology, Desmond Doss, Mel Gibson, Sam Worthington, Vince Vaughn, We Were Soldiers

The Best Films of 2016 (Updated)

December 15, 2016 by Jacob Sahms 1 Comment

deadpool
This year, there are no blockbusters, no Marvel superheroes, on my list of my favorite films. This year, the films that caught my eye – and held onto my imagination, days later – weren’t the ones with the biggest budgets, or even always the most-known cast and crew. This year, the films were films that captured my heart thanks to the power of their story, the visual presentation of their message, and the size of heart that that they conveyed.

Film criticism is a lot like politics in the media – everyone has an opinion, but they think they’re objective. [Seriously, Trolls holds a better Rotten Tomatoes score than Allied, Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, and Collateral Beauty? C’mon, people. Trolls are just little plastic guys from a 1980s fad – or are we rating Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick?]

So, with apologies to Benedict Cumberbatch, and that unkillable antihero Deadpool, here are my top ten for 2016, trimmed down from the 135 films I saw. We won’t all agree, but we have to start somewhere.

hf

Hidden Figures is the best film I didn’t see coming. Thanks to solid performances and an incredibly bold story about faith, race, power, dreams, and engineering, it left me in tears – laughing and crying at the same time. When several women dream about breaking the glass ceiling of race and gender, they literally put a man on the moon. Octavia Spencer, Tariji B. Henson, and Janelle Monae provide a film that inspires and entertains.

 

unknowns

At Arlington National Cemetery, Tomb Guards or Sentinels keep watch over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier twenty-four hours a day, 365 days of the year, regardless of weather. In Ethan Morse’s film, The Unknowns, we were treated to an inside look at how the men of The Old Guard, a select unit from the U.S. Army, serve. With simple interviews, ‘live’ shots of the work these men do in front of the public and behind closed doors, the film carries with it a reminder that our flag still waves thanks to the bravery of some whose names will never be known. Months later, I am still reminded of its beauty, both in pure patriotism but also in faith – faith that one day, war will end and all people will be free.

 

rogue-one-jyn-ersa-geared-up

Bumping The Accountant from the list, Rogue One, a Star Wars Story proved to be the best film I’ve seen from the Rebel Alliance in thirty years. While the field has been increased – we finally have a non-Skywalker family drama – the power of the Force remained strong. With ample banter about faith, a wildly diverse cast, and a story that squeaks in at Film #3.5, we had a prequel to A New Hope with plenty of time to spare.

 

kubo

Startling in its animation, thanks to the beauty of Laika’s stop-motion  capture, Kubo & the Two Strings spins a fantasy adventure around a one-eyed boy and his epic adventure to thwart his grandfather’s evil plan. Accompanied by a giant beetle (Matthew McConaughey) and a snow monkey (Charlize Theron), the young boy goes questing. With fewer laughs and more intensity than you might expect from a ‘kid’s cartoon,’ Kubo asks us to consider how we forgive, and what it means to care for our ancestors as they age. In a wonderful way, the fantastical road trip morphs into deeper explorations about life, death, and where we go from here.

 

birthofanation

While it was impossible to watch The Birth of a Nation without considering the allegations against the story’s creators, Nate Parker and Jean McGianni Celestin, it was equally impossible to watch the film blind to the racial unrest in the United States almost two hundred years after the Nat Turner rebellion. Powerful in its simplicity, poignant in its relational dynamics, and spiritual in its evaluation of the use of religion to control, direct, and comfort, Parker’s film is haunting in its violence, and its awareness of the latent power of racism. While Turner was himself a preacher, the film’s use of Scripture from both sides stirred and troubled my soul.

 

insanity

This year, two documentaries captured my attention, with The Insanity of God shining a light on the family of missionary Nik Ripken as he struggled with his faith after great tragedy. While this is Ripken’s story, it is also the story of others who bled and died for the gospel, told unflinchingly. I’ll never forget Ripken’s own admission, after interviewing others persecuted for their faith: “Now, I’m in deeper danger, because the Bible is coming alive. Satan had tricked me into believing that the Bible was an old book, with things that God used to do. And here I was experiencing the Bible in the present tense, with the things God did coming alive.” A movie that will surely ask you to consider what you believe, and what you would do to pursue your faith.

 

midnightspecial

What would you do to protect your child? What sacrifices would you make if you saw how beautiful, special, or powerful they were that no one else understood? Those are the questions that Midnight Special poses, thanks to writer/director Jeff Nichols’ emotionally wrestling with his own son’s mortality. In a stripped-down sci-fi exploration that would make Philip K. Dick or Steven Spielberg proud, the director of Loving gives us another chance to unpack our own humanity.

 

hellorhighwater

On the surface, Hell or High Water is a Jesse James/Butch Cassidy & Sundance kind of Western lark, set in the present. But thanks to Taylor Sheridan’s script, we explore the aging process of Jeff Bridges’ senior Texas Ranger and the us-against-the-system dynamics of two brothers, Toby and Tanner (Chris Pine and Ben Foster). [Ironically, I don’t always enjoy Foster’s movies, but he always impresses with his performance.] While there’s a bit of clever banter and action/adventure, the film’s heart is driving at the financial crisis of America and the futility for some when trying to improve themselves. Who is the villain here in this spiritual parable about love and grace? The bank and its overarching line of credit.

 

zootopia

It was a good year to be animated, and Zootopia was the crown jewel. I declared it a candidate for Best Film of the Year when I walked out of the debut, and it didn’t miss by much. Disney’s film about a ‘utopia’ where animals are divided into different boroughs, showed kids and adults alike what it meant to fight and get along. While the struggle was real, it also blended in some lessons about what it means to follow your dream – and be who you’re supposed to be even when others say you shouldn’t. In our bipartisan day and age, Zootopia asked us to consider whether we could love each other for what we brought to the table, rather than manipulating each other for what we could get out of it.

 

hacksawridge

My most anticipated film of the year – Hacksaw Ridge – did everything I hoped it would. Challenging patriotism, courage, and pacifism, the film asked us to consider the stances we take, and that others make, and how we respond to them. While faith was front and center, it still felt subtle – and somehow, more powerful. Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Desmond Doss tied the legend of the Medal of Honor winner to a story that felt real and grounded. Mel Gibson’s direction plus Terry Benedict’s research? This is one I hope to hear talked about next spring.

What did I miss? What do you need to see now? What criteria would you use instead? Post below and share your thoughts.

[Editor’s note: I still haven’t seen Collateral Beauty, Loving, Rogue One, or Sing as I write this. Edits pending?]

Filed Under: Current Events, DVD, Editorial, Featured, Film Tagged With: accountant, Birth of a Nation, Deadpool, Desmond Doss, Dr. Strange, Hacksaw Ridge, hell or high water, insanity of god, Jeff Bridges, kubo and the two strings, Marvel, Mel Gibson, Midnight Special, Moana, Rogue One, storks, the unknowns, Walt Disney, zootopia

1on1 with Terry Benedict (producer, HACKSAW RIDGE)

November 20, 2016 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

hacksaw ridge

HACKSAW RIDGE tells the story of Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector in WWII who earned the Congressional Medal of Honour by  rescuing 75 men as a medic. This week, Steve has the privilege to speak with the film’s producer Terry Benedict about Doss’ life and the relationship between faith and war.

http://screenfish.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Terry-Benedict-Producer-HACKSAW-RIDGE.mp3

A very special thanks to Terry Benedict for joining us for the conversation this week!

hacksaw1

Filed Under: Film, Podcast Tagged With: Andrew Garfield, Conscientious Objector, Desmond Doss, documentary, Hacksaw Ridge, Lionsgate, Mel Gibson, Remembrance Day, Terry Benedict, Vince Vaughn, war

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