Reel Look: 'Glory'

Rating: 8/10 (28 October 2014)

"Give 'em Hell, 54!" "Give 'em Hell, 54!" 'Glory' (1989) was certainly a new threshold in historical film archives providing the fact that it was really the first serious American movie about the Civil War to be made in years. It seemed that almost everything else prior had been nonsense or had used the war peripherally. But does the actual film itself truly capture the essence of the horrors of the Civil War had wrought, along with the horrors of racial prejudices and hate during that certain era? Let's take a look.
The film opens in the year of 1862 on September 17th, just before the Battle of Antietam in Maryland. We hear a voice-over of a young twenty-three year old Bostonian captain, reading aloud as he writes to his mother. A few particles of his letters are also read aloud to him sporadically throughout the film after intense moments. Sooner than he had ever expected, he would eventually become colonel of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, leading an entire army of willing African-American men into battle, despite the heated bigotry of the time.
The film stars wonderful actors, such as Matthew Broderick with his portrayal of the captain-turned-colonel Shaw was indeed a triumph and an emblem of hope against racism to the men in his entire battalion. The enlisted black men, some other main characters, include Denzel Washington (in an Oscar-winning role) who plays Private Silas Trip. Andre Braugher portrays a spectacled but very proper, Boston born-and-bred young black man, also an intellectual. Other characters include Morgan Freeman as gravedigger John Rawlins, who is the regiment philosopher of the film and eventually becomes a sergeant major. And then there is the shy, stuttering Private Jupiter Shats played by Jihmi Kennedy. Their being in the military ranks defies not only heroism but taking a stand against racism for the country that cruelly rejects them, even to the death.
In discussing the history portrayed, it tells the viewer that it was once a time forty years before the end of the nineteenth century America where African-Americans were looked down upon and shunned because of their background or valued as nothing more than property nonetheless. When Col. Shaw agreed to accept the responsibility of leading the first ever army of African-Americans into battle, rejection was the first thing he was concerned about. He knew that these men wanted to fight and defend their country as well as any other man would have. No matter what the prejudices and despite the racial barriers that saturated their every day existence would soon diminish into the power of one race to prove that any man, no matter what his background or where he came from, can truly go the distance to the fullest extent.
In prevailing attitudes/prejudices that were noticeable, in fact very noticeable, would be the racial slurs, references and a heavy dose of the notorious "n" word that slathered the speech of practically every topic of African-American race. One example of racial condemnation would be when the recruits are working outside in the heat of the day and some passing white soldiers stop to watch them. Some of the main characters in the regiment stop working and approach them. When a soldier lashes out a racial comment, push comes to shove until it is broken up and the white troops march on. As they leave, some yell out vulgar racial obscenities referring to the recruits doing black jobs instead of fighting as white men should. Another example would be when the African-American recruits are even mean to each other in the base camp at night, one calling his fellow comrade the "n" word several times over. How they treated even those among them was truly deplorable.
In describing historical accuracy, it probably comes as close as to how battles in the Civil War era were fought back in the day. The opening bloody Battle of Antietam in the beginning of the film as men were filled with spitting bullets and gunfire raining down on them was very realistic indeed amidst the anguished cries of death. Another epic and graphic scene was where Shaw charged with the 54th Massachusetts Regiment in a spectacular and even bloodier assault on Fort Wagner at the mouth of Charleston Bay on the afternoon and evening of July 18th, 1863. Cannons roared, blowing men to bits in the sand dunes, chocking the beach air with the thick smog of war.
My overall reaction towards this film is that its directional debut by Edward Zwick is one of his best. His prowess and display of the wave of racial segregation amidst a world of war are as only he can portray them. The film was indeed worth watching for the two hours it ran. Some parts made me both sad and angry, including one of the film's least effective sequences with a raid on the tiny South Carolina village of Darien, during which Shaw was forced to succumb in following the orders by a superior officer to order his men to plunder and set fire to all the buildings. Another scene was where the 54th Massachusetts Regiment is reduced to be payed ten dollars a month, out of which three dollars would be withheld for clothing. White troops received thirteen dollars a month, plus a three dollar clothing allotment. Also, Shaw's black troops are further discriminated when their feet become blistered from drills in various weather conditions and are refused of getting any good shoes. It is assumed however that they will never see battle anyway.
With Oscar-winning cinematography captured by Freddie Francis, the film making was excellent at showing the various emotions of each character. I believe Zwick chose to name his film as he did to compare and contrast overcoming racial tensions to blossom amidst the ugliness of war the soldiers fought for to earn respect and civility. That alone is a glory in and of itself.