A Moving And Inspirational Account Of A Pacifist At War

Rating: 8/10 (10 November 2017)

I have to give credit to Mel Gibson. His work directing "Hacksaw Ridge" was exceptional - one of his best pieces of work, I'd say. This is a biographical movie, offering us the story of Desmond Doss, a Seventh Day Adventist and pacifist who nevertheless joined the US Army during World War II, serving as a medic and refusing to take up arms against the Japanese - as he says in the movie, he joined to save lives and not to take them. Andrew Garfield took on the role of Doss and did well with it. I was also impressed with Teresa Palmer as Doss's wife Dorothy. The cast as a whole was not chock full of superstars, but it was solid.
The movie starts with a long account of Doss's backstory. I often find backstories overdone and find myself wanting to get on with the meat of the story. Not so here. I enjoyed the backstory and found myself thinking that Gibson got perhaps a bit too focused on the very graphic and gory depictions of the Battle of Okinawa at the expense of Doss's life. So, to be honest, I was a bit disappointed that much of Doss's backstory was fictional - he was raised by his parents as a Seventh Day Adventist and pacifist, but a lot of him homelife and his courting of Dorothy was apparently not accurate - unfortunate, because the depiction of his courting of Dorothy included one of the best pick up lines imaginable!
Doss's introduction to military life was portrayed in a way I found believable. As a pacifist who refused to bear arms He had to fight for acceptance among his comrades. The movie doesn't offer a full account of Doss's military service. He had served and been decorated for his service in Guam and the Philippines before Okinawa, but the story seems to imply that Okinawa was his introduction to the horror of war. And the movie did portray war as horrific. As I mentioned above, Gibson gave us a graphic and gory and blood-soaked look at the battlefield. It certainly made the point that there were ways for pacifists to serve their country courageously and honourably. To be honest, I found that almost too much.
Closing with some footage of the real Doss and his comrades, this movie, while taking liberty with Doss's early years, was both moving and inspirational. (8/10)