A man of conviction !!!

Rating: 7/10 (18 February 2017)

'Hacksaw Ridge' directed by Mel Gibson tells the true story of Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector who saved countless lives of American(and a few Japanese) soldiers at that battle of Hacksaw Ridge during WWII without firing a single shot due to his convictions.
The screenplay written by Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan divides the narrative structure of the film into two parts. The first half is spent in giving us an understanding of the character of Desmond, his nature, his family, the environment that he grew up in, his love life, and of course his religious beliefs and ideals. The second half takes place in the battlefield. Gibson sets a very saccharine tone for the section of the film dealing with Desmond's past and family life. I think the reason for this might have been the need for the film to reflect Desmond's simplistic, innocent and immensely uncomplicated approach towards life just like 'Sunset Boulevard' gets a bit over-the-top at times to reflect the character of Norma Desmond. Although that is an understandable creative choice, I think Gibson struggles a bit to keep the tone from spilling into cheesiness at times. The dynamics between Desmond and Dorothy is initially awkward(intentionally), but becomes sweet later on. But the family scenes that we see involving his father are a bit too clichéd.
Once Desmond decides to enlist and makes his way to the army training camp, the themes of the film come into full effect. He strongly and rigidly stands by his belief and conviction to never pick up a weapon. As one would expect, this leads to complications. Just like Serpico, Desmond faces animosity and coldness from his colleagues and superiors for holding on to his beliefs when others don't share them. Although from time to time you do get the odd Christian imagery and just like Frank Serpico in Lumet's 'Serpico', Desmond here is portrayed as a bit of a Jesus figure, but I still think Mel Gibson does well to not shove the religious aspects down the viewer's throats. The religious elements are mostly incidental, the major theme of the film is the need to stay true to your own beliefs and convictions(as long as they aren't illegal/immoral). If he wants to help the troops by being a medic without picking up a gun, then he maybe should be allowed to do so without being judged(especially when he isn't judging the others for fighting either).
Then the war scenes start and Mel Gibson's trademark visual flair appears through big, brutal, violent and uncompromising shots and set-pieces. But even though the scenes are stylishly executed with as much gore as you would expect from Gibon's action scenes, there is a potentially problematic aspect to staging these scenes with the kind of style and panache that Gibson does stage them with. On one hand the argument can be made that Gibson's decision to elaborately depict these scenes with the deeply horrific and hellishly violent aspects is actually an act of being authentic to the deadly truths of war and also an act of being respectful to the troops who endured and embraced these horrors for the love of their respective countries. But a counter argument can be made that these scenes are an example of a director prioritising and thereby indulging in graphic and stylishly directed violence of body horror and torture over the central theme of the film which is a man providing priceless help in the field of battle in spite of holding on to his ideals of pacifism and maybe thereby, the film ends up contradicting its central theme. This argument is backed up by the fact that although the rest of the film takes place completely from Desmond's point of view, as soon as the battle scenes start, suddenly the point of view shifts and we become a third person observer of violence in war. I can see validity in both the arguments which makes it a bit difficult to completely embrace those scenes. As soon as the point of view shifts back to Desmond and we see him carry out his heroically famous act of saving countless injured troops, the film starts working brilliantly and becomes immensely inspirational due to the bravery on show.
Andrew Garfield deserves a lot of praise for his portrayal of Desmond Doss. It can be really difficult to portray someone who has a very simplistic view of the world and has a childlike innocence about him. There are scenes and lines which could have sounded very cheesy, but Garfield makes, at least, most of them look and sound sweet instead of corny. Teresa Palmer as Dorothy also adds a sense of sweetness and likability to the film. Hugo Weaving, Sam Worthington and Vince Vaughn are also good.
I don't think 'Hacksaw Ridge' is a flawless film. There might be certain moments of Mel Gibson's over-indulgence in extreme violence (by moving away from Desmond Doss' POV) which to some extent defeats the purpose of the thematic content and maybe some scenes also become a bit too saccharine. But even then, the film for the most part has something nice to say about the flexibility of the definitions of bravery and masculinity. It tells a story worth telling and it made me aware of a great man who deserves to be known for his actions. Recommended.