Hacksaw Ridge

Hacksaw Ridge is Mel Gibson’s (Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ) re-telling of the true story of how one man, Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield), saved the lives of 75 men without firing a single shot. Doss was a conscientious objector who served for the American Army during the Second World War. Garfield’s performance as Doss, who served as a medic, has won him an Oscar nomination, and rightly so; his performance is astounding and gracefully executed.

The film is extremely powerful, but for reasons other than the obvious. The most striking element of the film is the extraordinary extended scenes which show the battle of Okinawa, but the most moving are the scenes away from the battlefield. These are where we most clearly see what is at the core of the Doss’ heroic acts – courage. Doss’ battle with his conscience is captured superbly by Garfield, and this – as well as the development of his relationship with his comrades – is what makes for the most interesting element of the story. The fighting, I acknowledge, is important to showing the conditions of war, and the violence and gore are captured very well. However this would be nothing without what is behind it, and Gibson seems to be aware of this, resulting in harshly juxtaposed scenes, or vast contrasts in the action within the fighting, and these work undoubtedly to the film’s advantage.

Since it is so incredibly action-packed, it did feel like something of a bombardment of death and brutality, which at times I felt took away from what the film appeared to be trying to do. By any means, it wasn’t for the faint-hearted, and perhaps this is why I struggled in parts. The rather macabre nature of most of the events is certainly well reflected, and really most of it isn’t any more than can be expected from any war film. However, Doss’s story is a remarkable one, and it comes across well, as well as his friendships with those he serves alongside, and his relationship with his wife.