EPEOLATRY

MOVIE 4.5

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

Dir: Mel Gibson

"With the world so set on tearing itself apart, it don't seem like such a bad thing to me to want to put a little bit of it back together."

So intense, gripping and touching. Hacksaw Ridge is a true story of American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, the conscientious objector who, at the Battle of Okinawa in WWII, won the Medal of Honour for his incredible bravery and regard for his fellow soldiers. I totally loved Mel Gibson’s ‘Braveheart’ and is one of my favourite films of all time and was expecting something that terrific.

Now, Andrew Garfield was great, being an English actor he fluently delivers in South-American accent, we got to see him passing to various phases in his life - that arose his belief in Christianity and Non-Violence, he austerely determines to serve humanity as a War Medic without firing a single shot. Hugo Weaving was so good as a supporting actor - Tom Doss (father of Desmond), who’s a retired soldier - a tormented victim of war, who initially opposes his sons’ ideas of even joining the army but is then very supportive as he feels the spirit of Desmond. Teresa Palmer was so good, her chemistry with Desmond was quite excellent.

The first half was a build to character of Desmond and how he struggles in Army Camp training as he refuses to even touch guns and is heavily opposed. In second half we see the hell on earth - Hacksaw Ridge - and the intensity rises so high, it’s like a horror movie, the Practical Effects were so mind - blowing I didn’t felt much CGI-ed; excluding all the gory it feels like the movie is shot in 70’s with all the modern filming equipment. There were lot of references in many shots from 1st half to Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Full Metal Jacket’ - which was a better war movie. It doesn’t focus on the pessimistic philosophical horrors of War, but the visual terrors of the violence in war and its emotional effects on the participants.

Hacksaw Ridge won 2 Oscars on Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing, totally deserved it.