We Were Soldiers

Svake godine oko bozica, davimo se u moru ambicioznih filmova. Nastoje da se uguraju u kino-dvorane New Yorka ili Los Angelesa, da se kvalifikuju za oscarovsku trku. We Were Soldiers je konj koji je mogao ucestvovati u toj trci, ali je umjesto toga odlucio da se ne udavi.

Za film u kojem glavnu ulogu igra Mel Gibson i kojeg je rezirao Randall Wallace (koji je napisao Braveheart), ovaj film je bilo tesko primijetiti. Govori o pricama na bojnim poljima, kako u prostranim dzunglama Vijetnama, tako i onim unutar svakog vojnika uhvacenog u vrtlog rata. Ovdje je pristup ratu malo drugaciji nego obicno kod ratnih filmova. Rat je tretiran kao socijalni dogadjaj, koji pogadja ne samo one u rovovima koji stiscu svoje puske, vec i one koji su ostali iza njih, cekajuci vijesti. Dirljiva scena prikazuje dvije zene kako hodaju niz ulicu gdje zive oficiri, blizu baze Fort Benning u Georgiji, donoseci najgore vijesti svojim prijateljicama, strahujuci da jedan od tih telegrama moze biti i za bilo koju od njih dvije.

Ne mogu da zamislim savrsenijeg glumca za ulogu pukovnika Harolda G. Moorea (sada umirovljeni general) od Mela Gibsona. Svi znamo da Mel ima vrlo zdrav porodicni zivot, sa beskonacnim brojem djece koja trce oko kuce. Kao Hal Moore, kada ga vojnik upita kako uspijeva da bude i otac i vojnik, on se nada da ga "biti dobar u jednom cini boljim u onom drugom". Mel je izvrsno ukrotio onu zlocestu iskru u svom plavom oku i pretvorio je u intenzivni pogled inteligentnog ratnika, koji zna da se bitka vodi ne samo na bojnom polju, vec i u biblioteci.

Moore je dobio zadatak da obucava mlade oficire za poseban novi nacin ratovanja – vojnici ce biti dovedeni i odvedeni helikopterima, "konjima nove konjice", kako ih on naziva. On nastoji da nauci sto vise o svom neprijatelju i prije nego mu se suprotstavi, citajuci strasne price o masakru francuske jedinice. On je tvrdoglav i briljantan covjek, i vodi vlastitim primjerom – uporno odbija da bude evakuiran iz opasne zone, i film naglasava njegove rijeci, prikazivajuci ga kako prvi stupa nogom na bojno polje i posljednji sa njega odlazi, drzeci vlastito obecanje.

Izmedju ta dva kadra lezi potpuni haos rata; nekoliko dana i noci ispunjenih nadom, strahom, odlucnoscu, boli i hrabroscu. Mooreovi ljudi, brojcano znatno slabiji, izdrzavaju jedan napad za drugim i trijumfuju, ne samo zahvaljujuci njihovoj vlastitoj hrabrosti, nego i Mooreovom strateskom umu koji je dobro uradio svoju zadacu. Nekoliko puta cemo otici i iza neprijateljskih linija i unutar neprijateljskih umova, jer Wallace zeli da iskoristi Mooreove neprijatelje da pokaze apsurdnost rata – obje strane pate, a niko ne pobjedjuje.

Film je radjen po knjizi "Bili smo vojnici jednom, i mladi", koju su napisali Moore i Joe Galloway (kojeg u filmu igra Barry Pepper), reporter koje je morao spustiti svoj foto-aparat i uzeti pusku u jednom trenutku. "Ali ja se ne borim", govori on naredniku Basilu Plumleyu (kojeg divno pretjeruje Sam Elliott), ali on odgovara, "Danas takvih nema". Ostatak glumacke postave prati kuda glavni glumci vode – Greg Kinnear je odlican kao pilot helikoptera, major Bruce Kandall, koji je napravio nekih 22 povratna puta prvog dana Mooreove bitke, a i Chris Klein i Madeleine Stowe ostavljaju jak dojam. We Were Soldiers je rijedak tip ratnog filma, koji doduse zakucava nekoliko stvari maljem, ali u isto vrijeme vrlo pazljivo rukuje likovima. Mnogi filmovi zasnovani na istinitim dogadjajima i nisu morali biti, ali ovome, ta cinjenica daje dodatni element kredibiliteta. Doima se kao da ga je napravio neko ko je zaista bio tamo.

Every year around Christmas, we drown in a sea of ambitious movies. They hurry to squeeze in the theatres of New York and Los Angeles, to qualify for the Oscar derby. We Were Soldiers is a horse that could have ran that race, but chose not to drown instead.

For a movie that stars Mel Gibson, and is directed by Randall Wallace (who wrote Braveheart), this movie kept a fairly low profile. It tells the stories of battlefields, both in the spacious jungles of Vietnam and those within each soldier caught in the whirlwind of war. Its approach to war is a little different than most conventional war movies. It treats war as a social event, one that affects not only those in the foxholes, gripping their rifles, but also those left behind, waiting for news. A touching sequence shows two women strolling in the officers neighbourhood near Fort Benning, Ga, delivering the worst news to their friends, fearing that one of the telegrams might be for one of the two of them, as well.

I cannot imagine a more perfect actor to portray Lieutenant Colonel Harold G. Moore (now a Lt. Gen, Ret.) than Mel Gibson. Everybody knows that Mel has a very healthy family life, with an endless procession of his own children running around his house. As Hal Moore, when a soldier asks him how he manages to be both a father and a soldier, he hopes "being good at one makes him better at the other." He did a marvelous job of harnessing that mischievous spark in his blue eye and turning it into an intense glare of an intelligent warrior, one that knows the battle is won not only on the battlefields, but also in the library.

Moore was assigned with training young officers for a specific new way of combat – the troops would be brought in and taken out with helicopters, the horses of the new cavalry, as he calls them. He learns about his enemy before he even faces him, reading horrific accounts of a massacre of a French unit. He is a stubborn and brilliant man, and he leads by example – he repeatedly refuses direct orders to be airlifted out of the battle, and the movie makes a point of showing him stepping on the battlefield first, and stepping off it last, staying true to his own promise.

In between those two shots, lies the true chaos of war; several days and nights filled with despair, fear, determination, pain and courage. Moore’s men, largely outnumbered, endure one attack after another, and triumph, not only thanks to their own courage, but Moore’s strategic mind, who did his homework well. We will be taken behind enemy lines and inside enemy’s heads several times, because Wallace wants to use Moore’s enemies to show the absurdity of war – both sides suffer, and nobody wins.

The movie is based on a book "We Were Soldiers Once, And Young", written by Moore and Joe Galloway (Barry Pepper), a reporter that had to put down his camera and picked up a weapon at one point. "I’m a non-combatant", he says to a Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley (beautifully overacted by Sam Elliott), but he replies, "There is no such thing today." The rest of the supporting cast closely follows the lead of the stars – Greg Kinnear is terrific as the helicopter pilot Maj. Bruce Kandall, who made some 22 roundtrips the first day of Moore’s ordeal and Chris Klein and Madeleine Stowe both have a strong impact. We Were Soldiers is a rare type of war movie, one that does drive a few points in with a sledgehammer, but also handles its fragile characters very carefully. Most movies based on true stories might as well not have been, but for this one, that fact gives an added element of credibility. It feels like it was made by someone who was really there.