A Triumph for John Woo

Rating: 9/10 (18 June 2002)

There is great beauty to be found in life, as well as great ugliness; and often it is where you look and how deeply you feel that will, in the end, determine your perception and either open your eyes to it or cause you to miss it completely. In this film, director John Woo manages to find beauty amid the ugliness and brutality of war, and it is that vision of the beauty of a greater good, inherent in the indomitable spirit of mankind, that he seeks to offer for the consideration and contemplation of his audience with `Windtalkers,' a film that transcends the violence it depicts to discern that omnipresent aspect of the human condition that is defined by the gentleness and compassion of which it's very core has been forged. More than a film, this is a journey, the intent of which is to open the eyes and the mind; and to those with the courage to assent to it, the heart, as well. It's a brutal film. And it's a beautiful film. And in the end, it will be whichever you deem it to be; it all depends on how deep you want to look. Or how deeply you want to feel.
Saipan, 1944; the U.S. military has implemented a code based on the Navaho language that is virtually unbreakable, and it is imperative that it remain so during their drive to secure this island, which is an important stepping stone on the way to the final objective: Japan. The Japanese, meanwhile, would like nothing better than to capture one of the `codetalkers,' from whom they could extract the information vital to their efforts against the American forces. It is therefore vitally important that none of the codetalkers, all of whom are Navaho-- and all Marines-- falls into enemy hands. Toward that end, a personal `bodyguard' has been assigned to each individual codetalker; the charge given to Sergeant Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) is Private Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach), a personable young Navaho with a wife and young son back home. Yahzee has volunteered because he wants to help his country. But that information, as well as anything about Yahzee, Enders does not want to hear about or know. And the reason is very simple: his mission is to protect the code, not the man; and under no circumstances is Enders to allow Yahzee to be taken alive by the enemy. So if the moment of truth ever arrives, the less Enders knows about his charge, the easier his job will be. He's a good Marine, and he has demonstrated in an earlier conflict that he will do his duty, no matter what. It's the reason he was chosen for this assignment. So as they venture forth into the fray, the objective is clear in Enders' mind: At any cost, protect the code.
John Woo is the absolute Master of the action genre, and with this film he once again demonstrates what sets him apart from others who may aspire to that which Woo has achieved in film after film. Quite simply, he refuses to sacrifice story for pure action. Instead, Woo goes to great lengths, as he has here, to deliver a solid, emotionally involving story, presented through some of the greatest action sequences ever filmed. The battle scenes he stages are, without question, the predominate force in this film, and they are graphic, but not gory; and just as Spielberg did with `Saving Private Ryan,' Woo very straightforwardly addresses the very real brutality of war without resorting to sensationalism or manipulation to engender shock value. Even in the heat of battle, Woo's focus is not on blood and guts, but on the drama being played out in the lives of Enders and Yahzee, as well as the others we have come to know and care about, like `Ox' Henderson (Christian Slater), and his charge, Private Charlie Whitehorse (Roger Willie).

Wonderfully staged and beautifully filmed by cinematographer Jeffrey L. Kimball, Woo's film is visually stunning and emotionally engrossing, and succeeds where others of the genre have failed: `The Thin Red Line' had the visual poetry, but lacked the human element; `Black Hawk Down' was brutally honest but did not engage emotionally. Woo succeeds on both fronts with this film, which is not so much an historical depiction of the `code' and how it was used, as it is an examination of the moral challenges posed by war and the courage it takes to confront them, presented by Woo primarily through the characters of Enders and Yahzee, and with a sensitivity and some insights into the human condition that is generally lacking in most `action' films.
As Enders, Nicolas Cage turns in a solid, honest performance in a role which, some years ago, would have seemed custom-made for Steve McQueen. In Enders, in fact, there is more than a touch of McQueen's Jake Holman from `The Sand Pebbles.' With an introspective approach, Cage very quickly and convincingly conveys so much about who Enders is and what makes him tick. And allowing Cage those `moments' in which he so capably develops his character, and putting the drama of the story on an even keel with the action, is a big part of Woo's formula for success. Cage, as well, refuses to allow the action to take precedent over his character and the story, and he deserves to be commended for it, as the film is better because of it. Cage and Woo are a good team, in fact; they complement one another artistically, and their collaborative efforts here definitely take this film to a higher level (which was also the case with Woo and Tom Cruise with `Mission Impossible 2').
The supporting cast includes Mark Ruffalo (Pappas), Peter Stormare (Gunny), Noah Emmerich (Chick) and Frances O'Connor (Rita). From the ethereal opening frames to the end, supported throughout by a hauntingly wistful score by James Horner, `Windtalkers' is another triumph for John Woo, and his best `American' film yet. 9/10.