Unsung Heroes

Rating: 8/10 (30 December 2005)

Much of what happens during war is not apparent to the general public: events that place American military personnel in a less than gratuitous light historically have been downplayed by the media, current events in Iraq excepted. Such was the case in World War II when Washington more or less ignored the imprisonment of hundreds of GIs after the Japanese attacked and took over the Philippines. This is their story as excerpted from the novels 'Ghost Soldiers' and 'The Great Raid on Cabanatuan'.
The action of the movie takes place over five days in January 1945 during which time a battalion of Army Rangers finally lead a successful raid on the POW camp in Cabanatuan to free the remaining American prisoners after their survival of the Bataan Death March and three years of beastly, brutal incarceration. The leaders of the raid are portrayed by Benjamin Bratt and James Franco and the survivors in the camp to be freed are held together by the characters portrayed by Joseph Fiennes, Marton Csokas and Logan Marshall-Green. Flashbacks to the period of time before the Death March are inserted to introduce those freedom fighters lead by Margaret Utinsky (Connie Nielsen) whose smuggling of medicine into the camp helped save the lives of her lover (Joseph Fiennes) and the others. This story is history so the ending is not a secret. The Rangers exhibit great bravery and succeed in the impossible mission of freeing the prisoners, with the important help of the Philippine military led by Captain Pajota (Cesar Montano), in a truly synchronous mission.
The film is very understated for the most part: real life black and white photographs of the events in the film are inserted to add credibility and they are gut wrenching. The devastation of battle is not ignored, but the attention is focused on the very human plights of the victims and their freedom soldiers. The film is shot in the muted tones of sepia with enough color to make the effect appear as an old 1940s movie. It works. Though the script is not great, the message is and the actors committed to this retelling of an important event do a fine job. John Dahl directs with a sense of pathos and while there are no raging overblown heroes, he allows the simple men involved in this story to stand taller than most heroes of the 'big war movies'.
The film met with disinterest and criticism when released. Perhaps now that people can view it in the privacy of their homes the quiet message within will make a more poignant impact. These ordinary people have dignity in the face of being ignored by their own government. And there is a lesson there we should not forget. Recommended. Grady Harp