Defines Epic.

Rating: 8/10 (11 November 2005)

Who's going to want to watch a movie about the American Civil War? Oh, sure, maybe the public will watch an ageless soap opera like "Gone With the Wind" but a movie about nothing but a BATTLE? No women in it? No slashers? No aliens or car chases or huge explosions or sex? Americans seem to have little interest in their own history. A recent survey of high school seniors found that a majority could not place the American Civil War in its proper half-century.
In a way, it's not too bad to have moguls in charge of things instead of a committee of MBAs whose eyes dart first to the bottom line. It USED to be this way in the movies when there was still a studio system and the Louis B. Mayers and Sam Goldwyns and Harry Cohns could manage (or mismanage) their empires as they liked. It used to be that way in publishing too. Mr. Simon and Mr. Schuster and Mr. Knopf and Mr. Scribner could print whatever they liked, even if they thought it would turn out to be a quality loser instead of an immensely profitable but brainless blockbuster.
That's all pretty much changed now, and a lot of people would argue not for the better. So you have to give Ted Turner a lot of credit for financing this expensive production. As Ronald F. Maxwell, the director, put it -- "He followed his passion." (Cf., Joseph Campbell, "Follow your bliss.") You have to give the reenactors credit for following their passions too. I doubt that they were paid although I expect they were fed. For what it's worth, the staging of the scene in which Lt. Chamberlain chats with three Confederate prisoners is copied directly from a Winslow Homer painting.
It's an excellent movie, blending character study with action. Of the performances, I thought among the best were Sheen as Lee, Lang as Pickett, Jordan as Armistad, and Mallon, who played Winfield Scott Hancock. Not that the other performances were poor. They're all up to professional snuff but, well, for instance, how much could Jeff Daniels do with a character who is a taciturn and inexpressive New Englander beyond speaking his lines woodenly? I should also mention Lancaster as the British observer. He's pretty good. He comes across at first as simpering and dressed like a bellboy in a fancy French hotel, but when the situation calls for it his head tilts back and his eyes narrow searchingly. He does a splendid job of being just friendly enough to absorb information without expressing any opinions about the events he witnesses. It's a small part but nicely done. Stephen Lang's General Pickett is a descendant of the cavaliers who settled the South, gentlemanly, proud, brave, and filled with a kind of Errol Flynn factor. Sheen's Lee is thoughtful, religious, and wrong in his decisions. Jeb Stuart has a small part, as he did in the battle itself. He was given to riding in complete circles around the opposing Federal army and he did it at Gettysburg too, but that wasn't his job.
I won't go on about the story of the battle itself because, if the MBAs are correct in their assumptions about us, any further discussion of the battle would be a spoiler. So -- no hints about who won. (PS: There is no Confederate States of America anymore.) What a bloody and stupid war that was. Well, they all are of course, but some are unavoidable while others seem even more irrational than most. And the emotions generated by that conflict seem to persist beyond any real reason. It wasn't that long ago that roadside stands in the South displayed beach towels picturing a tattered Confederate soldier carrying the battle flag over his shoulder, and the caption, "Hell no, we won't forget." Why not? Nobody who fought that war is still alive. It's the sort of sentiment that will lead to the next war and the one after that.
The production could have used more maps though. We get exchanges like this, between General Buford and a courier. "What is Heath doing?" "He says to tell you he's putting in his reserves, sir, but not all of them. What should I tell Heath?" "Tell him to put in his reserves -- ALL of them." Who and where is Heath? Why should he put in all of his reserves?