abcdefz
07-30-2007, 09:44 AM
...not sure how many folks will see this, but oh, well.
RESCUE DAWN is based on the story of a German emigrate who always wanted to fly planes; hooked up with the American army during the Vietnam police action *cough* and crashed on his first mission. He was taken P.O.W.
Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davis, directed by Werner Herzog.
Man, this almost works. It's good, but... it's pretty effective, but... Bale is good, Zahn and Davies are great, but...
I never thought I'd suggest people see a Herzog movie mainly for the acting, but here we are.
I think that if I hadn't known it was directed by Herzog, I would've wished it were directed by Herzog. Nobody films nature like he does, making it a principal character, except this time. This time, it's not alive enough; more of an obstacle, almost a backdrop, when it really needs to be an adversary (it's repeated that the chains and hut where the prisoners are shackled isn't the real restraint; the jungle is the prison, because it's insurmountable).
But the men playing the prisoners all do a terrific job of it; that's how you know they're screwed. The guards aren't threatening enough (there's a point where someone says they're getting meaner, and I had no idea what the character was talking about); there's not enough tension at the compound, except through what the actors convey.
There's genuinely earned emotion, and a brief section that is kind of screwy where it seems like Herzog is filling the screen with one thing and one character's mouth with his own opposing philosophy. But it's still very much worth seeing.
Real kudos to Zahn and Davies. Davies, weirdo as ever, is at last cast in his perfect role.
A disappointment (because it's Herzog), probably overrated (because it's Herzog).
B. (y)
RESCUE DAWN is based on the story of a German emigrate who always wanted to fly planes; hooked up with the American army during the Vietnam police action *cough* and crashed on his first mission. He was taken P.O.W.
Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davis, directed by Werner Herzog.
Man, this almost works. It's good, but... it's pretty effective, but... Bale is good, Zahn and Davies are great, but...
I never thought I'd suggest people see a Herzog movie mainly for the acting, but here we are.
I think that if I hadn't known it was directed by Herzog, I would've wished it were directed by Herzog. Nobody films nature like he does, making it a principal character, except this time. This time, it's not alive enough; more of an obstacle, almost a backdrop, when it really needs to be an adversary (it's repeated that the chains and hut where the prisoners are shackled isn't the real restraint; the jungle is the prison, because it's insurmountable).
But the men playing the prisoners all do a terrific job of it; that's how you know they're screwed. The guards aren't threatening enough (there's a point where someone says they're getting meaner, and I had no idea what the character was talking about); there's not enough tension at the compound, except through what the actors convey.
There's genuinely earned emotion, and a brief section that is kind of screwy where it seems like Herzog is filling the screen with one thing and one character's mouth with his own opposing philosophy. But it's still very much worth seeing.
Real kudos to Zahn and Davies. Davies, weirdo as ever, is at last cast in his perfect role.
A disappointment (because it's Herzog), probably overrated (because it's Herzog).
B. (y)