Hacksaw Ridge: Review and History
- Daphne Argyropoulos
- Jan 6, 2018
- 8 min read
I have always had a strong love for cinema for as long as I can remember. As you may be able to tell from the mere existence of this blog, I also have an undeniable passion for history. Therefore, as I'm sure you can imagine, historical films never fail to catch my interest, not only as entertainment but also as an opportunity to evaluate the historical accuracy.
One film I watched recently was Hacksaw Ridge which is directed by Mel Gibson and stars Andrew Garfield amongst a very talented and well-chosen cast. It tells the true story of conscientious objector Desmond Doss who through selflessness, courage and determination earned himself the Congressional Medal of Honour despite not once firing a shot by saving 75 men in 12 hours from the Battle of Okinawa in World War 2. He faces great ostracisation from fellow soldiers who don't respect him for refusing to fight but he insists he has to play his part in defending his country.
Vince Vaughn was to me a surprising member of the cast for this film as over time I had forgotten he can do serious films. Hacksaw Ridge was a very good performance on his part and I was very pleasantly surprised. His role brought at some times a lighthearted tone and at others a very empathetic, heart-warming dynamic to the relationships in this group of men.
Mel Gibson has an incredible talent to show very raw emotions in his films without the need of dialogue whether it be a silent exchange between father and son or the excruciating efforts of Doss (Garfield). His scenes are dripping with emotion and passion to the extent of which many films fall short. That being said, he also strikes a good balance between using silent emotion to convey an exchange between two characters and maintaining an interesting screenplay.
The battle scenes of Hacksaw Ridge are some of the most graphic we've seen on the big screen since Saving Private Ryan (1998) (another exceptional war film). It's safe to say Hacksaw Ridge is at many points hard to watch for the level of gruesome injuries shown including blown-off limbs, torsos with no legs attached and bodies riddled with bullets. These scenes are relentless through use of sound and long, uncut takes of Doss and his fellow soldiers running and fighting for their lives. It's exhausting watching this film which creates such an impactful sense of immersion, as though we viewers are in the battle with them. The brutality shown in these battle scenes also mean that the incredible story of Desmond Doss and the sacrifices made in the war are not glorified in the slightest. It is simply a very raw and authentic representation. The explosions all feel very authentic. This was a problem I felt in 13 Hours: the Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, directed by Michael Bay - there was a huge excess of firework-like explosions which were both distracting and simply inauthentic. Hacksaw Ridge maintains the immersive sense and the tone of the film by avoiding war film tropes like firework bombs and lots of shaky cam.
The film is also very immersive in the way that it feels very much like an American recreation of the events. Director Mel Gibson makes little effort to evoke empathy from the audience for the Japanese soldiers. They are portrayed as savage and blood-thirsty which leads me to wonder what a film about the Battle of Okinawa might be like from a Japanese perspective. This is less of a criticism and more just a comment on the very patriotic perspective the film takes.
While I would quite quickly say there is never a dull moment in Hacksaw Ridge, I have seen many reviews criticising that scenes taking place on the home front are underwhelming and wet especially in comparison with the very intense battle scenes. I don't think that too little time is spent exploring Desmond Doss' love interest Dorothy (played by Theresa Palmer) or their relationship as this is a war epic after all. However, I do agree that in the context of the extremely tense battle scenes of the second act and the even more incredible narrative of the third act the scenes dotted through them involving this romance feel a bit less compelling than I would have hoped. Although, I do appreciate their roll as a way to let the story breathe a bit which I think has been achieved successfully. Furthermore, the dynamic and relationship in Doss' family - his parents and brother - are very engrossing, greatly with thanks to the brilliant performance of Hugo Weaving who played Desmond Doss' father.
I've also heard worries that given Desmond Doss' strong faith which essentially drove him to perform as he did in this battle would have been presented in a way that was almost pushing Christianity on the audience. I completely disagree with this view. I don't think Hacksaw Ridge has any religious agenda; it simply shows how one man's trust in God and loyalty to what he believed in motivated him to become an incredible war hero.
One criticism I do have is I felt that the ending was a little bit lazy. We are shown with text what happened after the events of the film though this is something I think I would have preferred to see at least first with the cast which would have brought more closure to the story and then perhaps we could have seen the real footage afterwards. It just felt a bit incomplete to me.
Overall, Hacksaw Ridge is an extremely compelling and moving film with an incredible story, outstanding direction and also a very good cast. I strongly, strongly recommend it.
I would like to mention at this point that I discourage you from watching the trailer. The Hacksaw Ridge trailer is comparatively well made, but recently I have abstained from watching all trailers as they can so easily spoil major beats of the plot and make important moments a lot less effective and influential on the audience.
Now on to the history! This section may include some spoilers (depending on what you consider to be a spoiler) so you have been warned.
The writers of the first draft of this film based a lot of the screenplay off things they found in military records and footage from interviews of Desmond Doss before he died in 2006. They made a true effort to make at least that aspect of the story as true to the history as possible.
However, in the film Desmond and Dorothy are shown to meet in a hospital where Dorothy was working as a nurse. In reality, she did not become qualified to be a nurse until after the war when she needed to support her family as Desmond had been left 90% disabled by the war and his only income was a pension from the military. The two actually met at Church in Virginia. Also, Desmond did not actually miss their wedding while he was in a holding cell - the film altered the timeline of their relationship.
One of the reasons that Desmond didn't miss their wedding due to being in a holding cell was that he was never put in a holding cell as is portrayed in the film. While it is true that the officer had denied him a pass to go home at this point as he had not completed his rifle training, the situation never escalated to the point where Desmond was put in a cell. Rather, as one officer warned Doss that he would be court-martialled for refusing to hold a rifle when it was presented to him (which does feature in the film), another officer actually stepped in and told him to respect that Desmond, as a conscientious objector, had the legal right to refuse to hold a weapon and therefore could be given a pass. He was already married when this altercation took place. The officer who had been trying to court martial him was determined to make Doss' life difficult so later on in the war he stopped giving him passes to visit his wife or his brother who had joined the Navy.
In the film, an important part of Desmond's father's character arc is that he contacts his former commanding officer from when he fought in the First World War who then wrote a letter defining Desmond's rights as a conchie. In reality, his father contacted the chairman of the church's War Service Commission in Washington who called the regimental commander to ask if there was a problem there that he needed to look into. The commander denied any problems and delayed Desmond's leave only a little bit longer before granting him a 3-day pass to visit his brother before he was shipped out with the Navy.
One very moving moment in the film was when Desmond's tormentors at boot camp pulled him out of bed in the middle of the night and attacked him for being a coward and refusing to fight. There is no record that exists of this actually happening. Moreover, the character of Smitty in the film (played by Luke Bracey) did not exist; he seems to be an amalgamation of some of Desmond's tormentors. However, it is true that his fellow privates would throw their things at him, including shoes, during the night and shout vile insults at him.
In the film, Desmond is shown to find wounded Japanese soldiers in the battlefield and lower them down to the American camp in the same way he had done with the Americans. In an interview, Doss recalled one occasion in which he was trying to treat an injured Japanese soldier by wrapping a bandage around him but was approached by the armed enemy who threatened to kill him if he continued so, understandably, he stopped. However, in the recounts of many of his comrades he is said to have helped many Japanese men. There is no record of him lowering them down the cliff face although in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel Andrew Garfield said that, to his knowledge, Doss did truly do this.
When a hand grenade is thrown very close to Doss and his comrades he both in the film and in reality batted the grenade away with his hand though was punctured with over a dozen pieces of shrapnel after it detonated. What Mel Gibson decided not to include (as it seemed unrealistic despite being true) was that as he was being stretchered out of the battleground after the explosion of the grenade he saw another man who he thought needed more urgent medical attention so he rolled off the stretcher and waited for the next one to come. While waiting, he was hit by a sniper which shattered his left arm. He somehow fashioned a splint out of a part of a rifle near him and crawled to safety from where he was then taken to a hospital ship. He had not, however, asked one of the medics to retrieve his Bible as they carried him out on the stretcher; he did not realise he had lost it until he was in hospital. The men of his Company found out and made sure to find his Bible for him.
It appears that in general Hacksaw Ridge has remained quite true to the history which is the cherry on top of the creamiest, richest cake ever baked. Not only is it an incredible film, but the true story behind it is even more astounding. Well done team.
Bibliography:
The Conscientious Objector (Documentary)
http://hacksawridge.independent.co.uk/
The Hero of Hacksaw Ridge, the postscript by Doug Batchelor
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