Bamf says find Rescue Dawn

by: bamf 1 year, 1 month, 3 weeks, 2 days, 15 hours, 57 minutes ago

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Bamf here rematerializing from the void..

A dramatic retelling of the story springs off of director Werner Herzog’s documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997).  Written and directed by Herzog,

this is not a Bat-21 or Behind Enemy Lines type tale, nor is it a commentary of Americas involvement in Vietnam mashed with Jimi Hendrix’s “All along the Watchtower” that we have seen and have heard a hundred times over.  The Vietnam War has really been done past its saturation point in film, but a vet of that time in history may argue differently. 

This is a film not just about survival of the body, but survival of the mind.  When Dieter is brought to his prison with bamboo walls he meets his fellow captees and it is obvious they have been there for some time.  They thirst for news of the outside world like it was bread on the table for their empty stomachs.  Gene (Jeremie Davies) and Duane (Steve Zahn) introduce Dieter to his jailers and teach him what he needs to understand in order to live.  These are two actors who have committed themselves with no reservation to their roles.  Davies looks no more then 115lbs, he plays his character with a Jim Morrison cadence that shows the only reason he has lived as long as he has is the false notion that release is eminent. 

Steve Zahn has produced the performance of his career in Rescue Dawn.  A best supporting actor nod is most certainly in his future for the portrayal of a man broken—only held from falling to pieces by his friends in captivity.  He wears sullen eyes filled with an empty 1000 mile stare, his motions are like that of a dog beaten by his master for inhaling the same air he breathes.  He is a trapped mouse in a room full of starving cats.  Zahn is stunning in this film.  What an amazing talent he has cultured.

The film on a whole didn’t really get to me until about 30 minutes into the screening.  It starts with footage of aerial bombings over the jungle with Klaus Badelt’s (Pirates: Curse of the Black Pearl, Constantine) melancholy score bringing a rich sadness to the real life events depicted.  Later, as hunger and desperation take hold of the prisoners, his music weaves in and the movements change to underline the dastardly situation that will put you on edge like a mosquito buzzing in your ear at night. 

Bale is good in this, but for me overshadowed by Zahn.  Dieter has a naïve sense of his situation, he thinks because they are not at war; no threat really can enslave him.  Im reminded of an old Gary Larson Far Side where there’s a man shoveling coal in Hell whistling or making a casual comment to his fellow damned.  The devil looks to a demon and says something to the effect of “I don’t think we’re getting to that guy,” that’s Dieter.  He is given a chance to sign a paper that will give him freedom by denouncing the actions of the “Imperialist Americans”, a paper his integrity will not allow him to sign.  His response to the liaison,

"I love America, she gave me my wings. I will not sign that.” (Paraphrased)

Dieter maintains the crews spirits by giving levity to their situation, and a chance to escape.  This notion is scoffed at when they first hear of it, because their captors have all the advantages they need to keep them down.  The walls are not the prison, it’s the jungle.  Herzog with cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger create a claustrophobic atmosphere using the jungle as bars.  No place seems free, always stifling, hot, and treacherous.

The thing that I have trouble with when it comes to these films about real life struggle dramatized is the fact that since you are seeing it, you know everything ends up OK.  Like watching Will Smith play Chris Gardner is The Pursuit of Happyness, sure he’s with his kid in a subway stall, but I find it hard to invest in the story when I can slip out of the moment and say to my self, “meh, he’ll make it”.  Herzog got me in this one; the performances had a great deal to with this as well as the set up for the journey at the beginning.  The pilots before going on their mission are viewing a Navy reel on what to do if they find themselves in traction.  A hard faced recruit with a five o’clock shadow is shown going through the motions of concealment, water collection and the sharpening of his blade.  He has this face of unbeatable pride, as if he was to walk up on a platoon of Vietcong, he’d slit all their throats with one hand while lighting a Marlboro Red with the other.  In contrast, the faces of the real prisoners show nothing of the sort—even after a small victory in concealing food or vesting a guard in combat.  They are tired, wretched, and devoid of emotion.  They express humility, beaten souls that do not know if a God would exist in the world they find themselves in.  Herzog shows men brought to their knees and asks the question—what do we know of freedom?

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