Tour de force

Rating: 8/10 (15 March 2020)

Based on real World-War II events, a peculiar young man named Desmond Doss is eager to participate in the war, with just one holding hook: refusing to bear arms. Desmond is a committed Christian, and fully adheres to the commandment 'thou shall not kill'. He sticks to this non-violence principle after childhood trauma involving violence.
After joining the war unarmed Desmond turns out to be the bravest of all and rescues seventy-two comrades and survives himself without firing a single shot. A tale of a miracle taken from real life. The message is hammered home powerfully. The film shows the Japanese' uncompromised loyalty to their nation in their impressive and self-sacrificing way of war. It also goes to show the Japanese lack of the Golden rule of Westerners when they raise a white flag in a scene to fire a grenade in the next moment, just as they're about to win the forgiving trust of the gullible Westerner. The Asian mind makes a virtue out of deception if it favors their in-group. The famous Chinese symbol yin-yang shows the hide-and-seek play between apparent opposites that seem to characterize existence.
The main character Desmond is the opposite of this Asiatic mindset and, instead, fully syncoperated in his unbreakable faith, even chooses to save Japanese soldiers when he gets the opportunity.
An inspiring tale of hope amidst a world of chaos.