Andersonville

Plot synopsis:
The film begins with a group of Union soldiers being captured and forced to surrender at Cold Harbor, Virginia, in June 1864. They are transported to prisoner-of-war Camp Sumter, near Andersonville, Georgia. When they enter, they discover a former comrade, named Dick Potter, who explains the grim realities of daily existence in the camp – primarily the lack of shelter, clean water, and regular food supplies. He also states the danger of a rogue group of Union soldiers, called the "Raiders", who hoard the camp's meager rations, and lure unsuspecting "fresh fish" – newly captured soldiers – into their area of the camp, to attack and rob them.
With every able-bodied man required for fighting, young teenagers and old men are used as guards. At one watch tower, manned by two young guards, a Union soldier offers money for some corn. He is instructed to step over the "dead line" fence and approach the watch tower to trade, which contradicts the rules of the camp. But reluctantly, compelled by need, the soldier steps over the line, and (in a macabre type of game) the soldiers in the next watch tower shoot him dead.
As the story unfolds, the unit captured at the beginning of the film ally with some inmates, and help them by working on their tunnel under the stockade wall. Eventually it is complete, but one man tries to inform the guards, in hope of receiving a reward. He is captured and "TT" (meaning tunnel traitor) is cut into his forehead as a warning. The escape is attempted one night, and all goes well until the last man is spotted and shot, and the dogs are unleashed. In a very short time, most escapees are back in the camp and placed in standing stocks as punishment.
The situation with the Raiders eventually becomes unbearable, as group after group of new prisoners are targeted upon arrival. Night raids are made, with possessions being taken from tents and prisoners injured or killed by the Raiders. After a banjo is stolen, one man fights to get it back but is badly beaten. Things progressively get worse until finally one man decides he has seen enough of the "vultures out to rob and murder the new boys". He rallies support from the disparate groups, and within minutes hundreds of his comrades are charging the Raiders' camp. A massive and deadly riot ensues.
In the end the Raiders are beaten, stolen goods are redistributed to their owners, but many want them all hanged outright. But upon the insistence of a few, a request for a legitimate trial is made to Captain Wirz, the Confederate commander of the prison camp. A trial is held, with a jury made up of new internees, which ultimately results in the six ring-leaders being found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. After the executions life becomes relatively peaceful, but the cold reality of starvation, and lack of sanitation or medical care, begins to set in as emaciation, dysentery, scurvy, and fever take their toll, causing many to die. As the film ends, an announcement is made by Wirz that all prisoners are to be exchanged – the surviving Federal soldiers leave the camp, filing past their dead comrades on the way to the trains.
Against a view of the present-day Andersonville National Cemetery, the movie's end coda reads:
In 1864–5, more than 45,000 Union soldiers were imprisoned in Andersonville. 12,912 died there. The prisoner exchange never happened. The men who walked to the trains were taken to other prisons, where they remained until the war ended. After the war, Wirz was hanged, the only soldier to be tried and executed for war crimes committed during the Civil War.

Tags: murder

Review:
My opinion is that Andersonville is the best Civil War movie ever made, period.
As a former Civil War reenactor, I'm not going to sit here and nitpick at all the "mistakes."  Were there mistakes?
You don't have to take a test after watching this movie!I think the REAL factor in Andersonville being such a great production was the fact that you had no real "name" people involved.
I think they got it pretty close.Forgive me, my reenacting brethern, but alhough Gettysburg was a tolerable film (I got to be an extra in that) and Gods and Generals was a disaster, the problem with these productions was the fact that they relied way too heavily on reenactors.
Andersonville followed Glory's success formula in using reenactors as background with small parts filled in by them (my buddy Martin Leibschner playing the banjo in the Raider camp was a good use of the talent reenactors can bring to film).Frankenheimer must be given a lot of credit, as should the writer.
Peter Murnik as Limber Jim added that "mystery character" to the film well (as the real Limber Jim who was at Andersonville is a mystery to history).
To try and recreate that place was no small task.I remember a reenactor bitching because for the "filling" of the stockade for the wide shots, they had to use women and even cardboard figures.
When they are dots on the screen, did it REALLY matter?I can't see this movie being topped in terms of a Civil War period piece.
Finally, the Civil War, down and dirty.
The movie Andersonville was one of intense drama.
That is what the Civil War was, and Andersonville was its worst.
The terrible suffering.Andersonville is set during the Civil War, in the south, in a Prisoner Of War camp run by the Confederate Army.
The best and the worst of humanity is shown in this film as the viewer is shown all ends of the spectrum of pain and suffering.Peter Murnik's character, Limber Jim, was the voice of conscience in this film.
In this film, Peter said so much without uttering a word.
His standing up to the injustice he witnessed and lived through, enabled his fellow prisoners to also rise up and change the world around them, as small as it was.In spite of the fact that this was a film and an artistic production, the real Andersonville shone through.
The viewer came away knowing the despair that the Union soldiers felt and lived.
There was no question that humanity, as a whole, had been wronged by the cruelty that took place at Andersonville.
The human race came away from Andersonville worse off for having realized that we could fall so far from the very civilization we pride ourselves on creating to treat other fellow human beings the way the Union soldiers were treated.Andersonville actually existed, and does so today as a Federal Park and tourist attraction.
The actors, staff and crew of Andersonville did such a magnificent job that anyone seeing this movie will know what it was like to have been there.
One of the best Civil War films Ever.
One of the best Civil War films Ever.
As a Civil War buff, this is one of my favorite films.
The closest thing to a romantic plot line would be when Martin speaks of his wife and asks Josiah to send her his wedding ring.If you enjoy war films that are not cluttered with cliche romantic plots and are more like buddy films this one is for you.
The acting is amazing, and the story if fresh look at a little known part of Civil War history.
The only problem with the film is time spent watching the men weaken and starve.
Those scenes could have been cut a bit, but overall they are needed in order to feel the despair of the men.The story and characters are completely enthralling and I recommend this film to everyone.
John Frankenheimer pain stakingly chronicles prisoners of war struggling to survive in an ill run Confederate prison camp during the Civil War. New prisoners are savagely introduced to the pecking order in this small pit of hell.
As a practicing Civil War re-enactor, I have found myself drawn into viewing this movie several times.
I have studied the true-life accounts left to us in the words of both Union and Confederate soldiers found in exerpts from the pages of their personal diaries, and in so doing, I have been able to combine this newly acquired knowledge with other experiences and studies related to this time period in our nation's history.
After doing this, I was then able to formulate unbiased opinions about the movie.We have to remember that the people of the middle nineteenth century were men and women just like us.
I felt that these natural human reactions and outlooks were well portrayed by the actors of the movie, "Andersonville"..
Andersonville reveals so much about human nature as clans of prisoners form and battle each other for limited resources, some become delusional and die in the throngs of madness, and others starve from sheer despair.
The complex characters in the film are its most compelling element, and their realism will convince the viewer that he is watching these scenes unfold from the guard tower.
It gets even better when you realize that 15,000 prisoners actually died in this camp in the Civil War..
This is a sobering, if perhaps a bit too long, recreation of life in the notorious Confederate Camp Sumter (better known as Andersonville after the neighbouring community) which housed almost 50000 Union prisoners of war during the last year and a half of the Civil War. I found it difficult to determine from what perspective the story was being told - which perhaps makes it a fairly balanced movie.
There's no doubt that the Confederate guards were portrayed as ruthless, and that Captain Henry Wirtz, the Camp's commander, was portrayed as both ruthless and perhaps a bit insane, but the bulk of the movie really deals with the problem of factionalism between the Union prisoners, as a group known as the "Raiders" establish their own ruthless control over the other prisoners, stealing from them, withholding supplies from them and sometimes murdering them.
The point at which the rest of the prisoners rebelled against them and finally, with Wirtz's approval, put them on trial, seemed to mark a transition in the movie.
After their trial and the execution of the ringleaders, the movie took on more of an air of hopelessness (and perhaps became a bit less interesting), as the prisoners await a liberation that, in the movie at least, never comes, as the movie ends with the prisoners being transferred to other prisons.The movie begins somewhat abruptly with Union soldiers captured in battle being sent into the hellhole that was Andersonville, but there was no real historical context given.
The whole Andersonville issue is historically controversial, and the movie alludes to the controversy, with Wirtz pleading with a Confederate colonel sent to inspect the camp for more supplies, and many today think Wirtz was unfairly condemned after the war for a situation that was largely out of his control.
Others complain that conditions in Union camps were also harsh, but that's neither here nor there for the purposes of evaluating this movie, which certainly presented a sobering enough look at the conditions in this particular camp - which was, after all, its purpose.The movie features not a stellar cast (there are some fairly well known faces, but no mega-stars) but a solid cast that did a pretty good job with their roles.
A Civil War Morality Tale....
"Andersonville" is John Frankenheimer's most pivotal step in his quest to regain a perch on Hollywood's "A" list of directors, and he is in true Frankenheimer form in this latest of TNT, Civil War-oriented mini-series.
Quite simply, it's about a group of Union soldiers and their span of a year doing hard time in the most infamous of Southern prison camps, and one of the most infamous of prison camps in recorded history, Andersonville, Georgia.
Andersonville the prison is literally a fenced-in cesspool of humanity: it's grossly overcrowded, there's not enough food to go around, there's no shelter from the heat or cold, the creek used for drinking water is the same used as a latrine by the camp's entire population, and, on top of all this, there's a vicious gang of marauding prisoner's that prey on their weaker counterparts, taking their clothing and what little food they may have for themselves.
I began watching this film expecting a smaller, tamer, less original version of "The Shawshank Redemption", and at several points you'll think  likewise: we witness acts of both harsh brutality and stirring compassion, and follow our hero's as they decline physically and struggle to succeed morally.
What's interesting about this big-budget, well-hyped production, though, is that the entire cast are relative unknowns, the lead role being held by a young Broadway actor named Jarrod Emick, who's acting demonstrates he is just that: a Broadway actor.
look for a deliciously vicious role by Frederick Coffin as the evil prison gang's leader, and William Sanderson as his cowardly right hand man.
Macy as a Confederate prison inspector who discovers the camp's horrors and condemns it .
Even if you do not normally like 'films of this type', this film is worth watching or even studying, because of the overall excellence.
An admiration of the quality of this film is probably the reason that the brutal story that it portrays did not place a heavy or negative feeling upon me.
This film from John Frankenheimer however is one of the better ones.
A tale of imprisonment and survival inside the notorious Confederate POW camp known as Andersonville.
Civil War historians would probably with certainty find various historical inaccuracies but it is worth viewing although a tad on the long side.
Good performances from many of the cast but it seems Frederick Coffin and William Sanderson do the best job as two of the ring leaders of the camps vicious "Raiders" gang.
A must see for any Civil War fan..
Excellent Civil War movie..
This is one of my favorite Civil War movies ever.
Set in Andersonville prison in the last years of the Civil War, this movie follows the fate of a group of prisoners captured at Cold Harbor.
Superbly directed by John Frankenheimer, this movie was very well done, and all the actors involved did a great job.
Having recently visited Andersonville prison site, thoughts of this movie ran thru my head as I walked the grounds of the old stockade.
Movies like this help us remember the great sacrifices made by both the Blue and the Gray during our nations Civil War..
The American Civil War, and Union soldiers are imprisoned at Andersonville, a crude stockade establishment presided over by the inept and cruel Captain Henry Wirz.
It would prove to be a another dark and soul destroying chapter from the war.Lets get it out there right away, Andersonville was not the only hell hole prison operating during the American Civil War. Information from both sides of the coin is available on line for those wishing to explore further.
That said, Andersonville is a story that deserved and is needed to be told, and this John Frankenheimer directed two - parter brings it vividly into the viewers' lives.In filmic substance terms it has all the standard POW movie cliche's.
Macy.Yet even though 30 minutes could easily have been shaved off of the run time, Andersonville is a production that should stay with you.
This was a good Civil War movie.
This was a good Civil War movie.
It doesn't say so here but I'm pretty sure this was a made for TV movie?
The story focuses on the infamous Andersonville prisoner of war camp in the south during the Civil War, where starvation, cruelty and disease were rampant among the captured union soldiers.The movie holds back a lot, I think because it was made for TV like I said, and they obviously didn't put tons of money into it, but the story is good and the acting is quite good which elevates this to a higher rating.
He sent me 6 gorgeous pictures of my cousin's grave, of the whole cemetery, the dead house, and the 6 buried off to the side.
When we showed him the movie, and Cliff De Young tells one of the soldiers to be quiet, because of the tunnel?
He shouted out; TOBIAS!
It was fine to me, because my great great great grandmother's maiden name was Tobias..
Good movie, some electric acting and action scenes, but drifts into the arena of silly on more than a handful of occasions.Gotta disagree with some of "historynut"'s points....for one, I think the TV Guide review of this film hit the nail on the head with regards to the acting: "the performances have the subtlety of sports broadcasting".
And that excludes Jan Triska's performance as Captain Wirtz, which I think stole the film along with William Sanderson and Freddy Coffin.
Where it slips away from him seem to be the stunts...check out the prisoner v.s. raider brawl, led by Limber Jim. There's some play-fighting going on that has not been seen since my high school production of West Side Story.And as far as past reenactor usage in film...I agree they were used well in Glory.
There was a FAR more strict screening process in the casting of onscrean reenactors than in "Gettysburg" (I, too, participated in that film).
When reenactors were chosen to "get hit", they were then properly coached in how to take a death fall, and placed strategically away from the actors and stuntmen.
"Gods and Generals" also had a much higher production value than here, but that goes with the huge budget the film had..
Awesome - The Title For That Great Movie Should Also read War Is All Hell.
For a long time, I was rather suspicious about this movie, despite my lifelong interest in the US Civil War theme.
The movie seemed to be bland, long, vapid, without stellar cast, or rather grim.
It lasts for almost 3 hours, and yet, it is one of The best movies I have ever seen for along, long time.
This movie must be shown to all those who like to think that was is fun and action.
The movie is long, but never wastes a second of a precious time.
The brilliantly made casting, with such greats as Willaim Macy or Mr. Forrester among many, helps to build a great tension and produce a lasting impression - war is all hell.
The terrible fate of Andersonville prison camp inmates is shown so brutally vivid, so real, so true to life that nothing of an illusion remains whatsoever.
I like this tremendous film, it is Highly Recommended.
The hell that was Andersonville.
To this day Andersonville will connote unspeakable barbarism and suffering in a prisoner of war camp.
Yet one has to note that part of the problem was the lack of resources the Confederacy had to maintain prison facilities like Andersonville or Libby.Before Ulysses S.
No big names are in Andersonville, but that added to the realism.
Standing out are Frederic Forrest as the Massachusetts sergeant who sees his men the best he could, William Coffin as the head of the 'Raiders', and his second in command William Sanderson the last word in bottom feeders and young Blake Heron as a drummer boy prisoner.One thing that producer Ted Turner did not do was get too explicit as to just what young Heron might have had to deal with among a bunch of isolated and starving men.
Then again this was a made for TV movie, on the big screen prison rape might have been dealt with.Andersonville is an excellent production, a must see film for anyone even mildly interested in the American Civil War..
Civil War POWs survive war inside camp.
I believe this is one of the best and most fair-minded Civil War movies ever made.
The actors all give a first-rate performance, and the director keeps the movie focused and on track, without laying blame to either side.
Most of the movies facts are historically accurate and the dialog reproduces (in my opinion) the attitudes of the times.The Raiders were a historical reality, and the trial and subsequent execution were unique during the Civil War. While many parts of the movie are memorable, the most poignant scene is at the end when one of the major characters is buried in the cemetery.
Seeing nearly 13,000 headstones of real-life prisoners who died at Andersonville really puts the film in perspective..
I saw this film when it first came out 1996, and for all its flaws it's always had a special place with me - especially among the more romantic / heroic Civil War stories - for telling a story few of us have heard.
I've recently watched the film again having just returned from a trip that included a visit to the actual site near Americus, GA.
Read the real history of this camp and the history of the Union equivalent in Elmira, New York.
Having looked forward to seeing this film for quite a while, I was quite let down when I finally managed to view it.
Andersonville is a story that needed to be told, but this telling of the tale rattles and rambles trying to find its sense of direction.
It could have been, and deserved to be, so much more.So unless you really have to see a movie about this notorious prisoner of war camp, I'd give this one a miss..
Big fan of American Civil War era films here, and this one is close to perfect.
This is the "Nazi concentration camp" story of the American Civil War. Be ready for lots of sadness at the utter inhumanity displayed.